Scrimbaby,

forgive me please and don't take this the wrong way but the harmonic balancer is not adjustable and they don't break. I've never ever heard of a harmonic balancer breaking. I truly do not think that is causing your problem. It just does not sound logical to me. A harmonic balancer is like a counter balancer on a v-twin motorcycle engine. It is just a weight that moves in the oposite direction of the rotation of the cyclinders to offset the changes in weight distribution that causes vibration. It is not something that breaks. It just doesn't sound logical, not saying your wrong. But please keep me posted on your findings as they arise, ok?

Thanks,

Tom

 

I just went into a sight about harmonic balancers and it gives you the signs of a bad one and I have almost all of those.The site is www.ventureproducts.com They do crack and they can become non working otherwise I don't think that many shops would replace them. It may be just a weght but if you think about it, it goes by magnatism. I have called a couple auto shops and it's not going to cost all that much to get it replaced it is only $82.50 for labor the part is what gets you in the pocket. If that is not my problem then I am sure that the mechanic will tell me that before he goes off and replaces it and if it does get replaced and that turns out not to be what it was then guess what I am out even more money and I got something I didn't need.lol See the first thing that we noticed that wouldn't work was the ac even though it has a new compressor and has been charged still wouldn't cool now it is starting to overheat so therefore my water pump is not working right either which both are symptoms of that being bad. I will let you know how it goes though.

 

Ok great. Well my AC works great and so does my water pump so I don't think this is related to my detonation problem. But let me know what the mechanic says after he looks at it. I'm going to check out that site you posted. Thanks,

Tom

 

Yeah, none of these are my problem. I know what the balancer is now though. As soon as I looked at the part I knew what it was. Unfortunately this is not my problem. I wish it was though, as it would be quite the easy fix for me.

Leaking from main seal.
Deterioration of the rubber between the hub and the outer ring.
A visible cracking of the balancer hub or in the outer ring.
Any wobble of the balancer or wobble in the drive pulley.
Excessive engine vibration.
Slipping or noisy drive belts, belt damage or accelerated belt wear.
A highly polished spon on the pulley grooves, means a warped balancer.
Elongation of the balancer key-way or wear on the balancer hub or crankshaft.
Failure in the alternator, power steering pump, A/C or water pump.
Engines that don't run properly when adjusting the timing.
Poor engine performance, irregular idle

 

See my truck just started over heating yesterday so it is basically is completly shot.

 

The harmonic balencer is keyed to the crank. If this keyway becomes worn it will definitely cause an incorrect timing signal which can cause pinging or worse symptoms. As I said in a earlier post there is a tone ring on the back of the balancer that the timing sensor reads. If the relationship between the balancer and the crank changes, your timing signal will be off causing ignition timing to be wrong. This can also cause overheating in some circumstances. I do know a little about all things mechanical. I was a heavy truck technician for eleven years, five of those I worked in a Ford dealership and I currently teach a diesel technology class. I teach people how to work on the Big Rigs. Scrim, I still think if you get your balancer fixed your truck will be back to normal. Busa, I am not sure on yours, but it is a possibility.

 

fplorer, where is the MAP sensor located?

Tom

 

Fplorer I am definetly getting it fixed nobody can talk me out of that except the mechanic. I should have listened to you at the start and then I wouldn't be out over $600 but I guess you learn from your mistakes.

 

I'm in awe of the brainpower in here! wow...

 

Hey, how can I check to see if my PCM is malfunctioning? That is a consideration I think. When my plug wires came off my coil pack while driving and were arcing all over the place, it is very possible that i shorted something in my PCM which and am now getting false readings and bad air/fuel mixtures without throwing any codes. I can't imagine it being the balancer as my truck only has 17K miles on it. however, it very well could be my PCM. I'm sure all the mud holin' I do, it's probably gotten wet a few times as well. But the problem is, that the pinging started RIGHT AFTER my plug wires poped off and cracked my coil pack. So, it HAS to be something to do with that. It's possible, i think, that the current surge fried something on my PCM board. Who thinks that's possible? Raise your hands

Tom

 

Tom, Is this a test? The 4.2 doesn't have a MAP sensor. It is a possibility that your PCM is fried. I have seen very few bad ones though. I can get my hands on the Ford diagnostic manuals but it may take me a little time. Let me do some digging and I will get back to you. After I think about it though if you were running rich or lean wouldn't you get ao2 sensor code? I think it must be ignition related, but that could be caused by the PCM. Whatever you do, do not go out and buy a PCM until you have positively identified it as the culprit. I have seen a lot of them changed just to have the same symptoms after the change.

 

Another thought Tom, have you checked your IMRC? If the long runners are not opening up it could cause your symptoms. I wouldnt stray too far off of the coil pack incident since that is where your problem started.

 

That's what I'm trying to determine. If the PCM is bad, perhaps it won't throw ANY codes regardless of the timing being off or a lean mixture. But how can I test it? I was just reading an article about PCM's and it mentioned that a common failure to the PCM is a current overload or surge. That got me thinking about that night when I fried my coil pack, plugs and wires. How can I tell if I fried my PCM as well. What else could of happened that night that would cause these symptoms. My truck runs el perfecto at normal driving speeds. but let it downshift into higher rpms and it pings like crazy and loses all power. If the timing was off due to a mechanical reason, wouldn't it be off all the time and cause my truck to run bad even at idle or normal driving speed. Why would the timing issue only rear it's ugly head at high rpms? That's why I'm thinking it's fuel/air mixture. Because a lean mixture wouldn't cause pinging unless the motor was under stress. I've been around and around with this so much that my brain is just fried. I was thinking of disconnecting my MAF today and driving it to see if that was a problem. I know when those fail that they send incorrect info to the PCM causing it to mix the air/fuel incorrectly. But again, wouldn't my truck run bad at all speeds? The only reason I would even think about my MAF is because all the water that get sucked into my motor when playing in huge puddles where other cars are stuck during rain storms. Other than that, my PCM is my last guess. BTW, it has to be a lean mixture. I checked the plugs and they are clean as a whistle. No brown at all. Nothing on them what-so-ever. As if i just pulled them outa the box, and I've got 8K miles on them. I don't know, like I said along time ago....I give up. Oh, and one more thing, if it were mechanical, wouldn't it start to get worse and worse. This has stayed exactly the same since it happened. As much as I have ignored it, it hasn't gotten any worse or any better. C'mon, there HAS to be someone that can come to some sort of conclusion to this based on all the facts. It's got to be the computer. I won't change it though until I hear second notions.

Tom

 

I would definitely unplug the MAF and drive it. It will give you a MIL and will revert to closed loop and will run fine if the MAF is the problem. I have seen the MAF let you drive ok until you floor it then the vehicle will start cutting out and fall on it's face.

 

i'll try it on the way home from work today and see what happens. I should get a code thrown on that while driving with it disconnected right?

Tom

P.s. What's an IMRC?