We have an '89 Aerostar XLT Auto w/ Floor Shifter.
It's our ONLY Road Worthy vehicle at the moment.

She broke down yesterday while my dad was driving home from work, Had to be towed home.

After trying and checking several things with no success, I'm nearly at a complete loss as to what has gone bad here...

HELP!

This is what my father said happened when it broke down:
"I was just driving along normally, Then all the dash lights lit up and the engine shut down~I rolled to a stop"

When he got home i tried starting it, And it did nothing but click and dim the lights dash lights until i let off the key,
I put the charger on it for a couple hours~Came back and tried again, No change.

I got my code reader and pulled: Code "18 c - Loss of tachometer input/IDM circuit failure/SPOUT circuit grounded"

Wiggled the Dist Module/Wires and tried starting it again~This time it tried to turn over but couldn't and thunked like it was stuck on something.

I took the module off and saw that the terminals were corroded~Cleaned em up and tried again... This time she started for about 2 secs VERY ODDLY SOUNDING and clunked off.
Tried to restart and it would only turn over clunking/thunking in the flywheel/distributor/tranny tunnel area each time it did a full rotation...

After trying to listen to where exactly this was coming from, Something possibly knocked loose or got more stuck and made and even louDer thunk/grind noise and i did not try and start it anymore.

I pulled codes again, Only to get 14 and 96, Which are random circuit faults...

Today i pulled out the distributor thinking the gear was the issue, Only to find it was in great shape!
I'm at a loss here... What the hell is thunking around and keeping it from starting???

We do have an odd problem with the tranny, It shifts VERY late into 3rd~I've changed almost everything except the governor and played with the bands to try and fix this with no success.~Could a broken band be affecting this at all?

 

I did notice the other night it was doing what i would call "Surging or Pulsing" while it was in Idle (Park).

 

My guess is the crankshaft is broken. I had this happen on an Olds Silhouette; same thing just was cruising down the road and it just died and would not crank.

 

>.<
I've just gone out and played with the distributor some more, Then tried hand cranking...
It cannot make a full revolution without getting caught up on "something" but with alot of force it can force through it, But just continually gets caught on whatever it is.
It takes so much force that the battery cannot even move it now, I'll back it off enough and try and start it~The it just gets stuck on the "spot" and kills the battery~Have to keep fixing my radio station. ;-)

Anyway to diagnose by dropping the pan in the driveway?

How hard would it be to swap one out in the driveway, Engine in the vehicle? Even worth it?

 

This is good information, if this is a 2.3L engine it sounds more like a broken timing belt. Good news is that the 2.3 is a non interference engine, so the valves are not damaged. This happened to my 90 mustang. To check this, there is just a cover that needs to be removed. I hope this is what the problem is.

 

and if this is a 3L V6, it's probably the timing chain broken and piled up in the bottom around the crankshaft toothed gear.

does the distributor shaft spark rotor spin any as the crank is moved?
if not, T chain. 3L is also an non interference engine.

new T chain gear set $50 and you're back on the road, 1 weekend of hell to replace.

many 3L engines will easily last 300k miles before they require a major overhaul
how many miles on it?

 

Trying to wrestle the oil the pan off currently, Oil was pitch black and the gasket was leaking badly.

Oil pan is handing on the backside/transmission end... is there a lip or something back there?
Read something about having to unbolt the tranny to get it out, Hoping that's not true.

I do hear hear something small and metal clanking around in the pan as i wrestle it around!

It is a 3.0 V6, with 242k miles, 175k when we got it last year.
And I'll try and check on the dist spin as soon as i can, but my helper is not around ATM.

 

Took the cap back off the Dist and Hand cranked again, When i hit resistance i heard something plink down into the now empty and dangling oil pan.
The Distributor did not appear to move at all.

 

I cant get the dam lower tranny bolts loose and ones starting to round off!!!
argh.
I stuck a magnetic rod thinger in the pan holes and fished out a couple small pieces of metal, and one fairly large thin and long curved piece~Which looks to me like piece of a piston ring....

 

Hold up, what engine do you have? If you have the 2.3 your timing belt is broken, If you have the 3.0 your timing chain is broken. There is no need to take the oil pan off, but there are bolts up in the housing that cannot be accessed without pulling the trans back a bit.

 

I was only going after the oil pan because i heard stuff falling into it.
It's a 3.0 V6.
I stuck my hand in and fished out a bent and nearly complete piston ring from the pan on the drivers side...

*Update:
Holy shnikeys:
I fished out a piece of a freaking piston from the pan!!!

Put a fork in her, Shes done...

 

240k miles
RIP

 

Sad, But true...

Thanks Lots for the guidance though guys!

 

all is not so bad. 3.0 is very popular engine, you can get any 3.0 made in 90-s ore later, use your air intake, sensors, distributor and all other stuff, but you will get not so old engine that will run for many years...

donors? what donors? Taurus, Ranger... what a problem. I got the good engine for $300 some years ago and this 3.0 still runs well.

the most expensive stuff I had to purchase for this transplantations was a gasket kit and I advice U to change gaskets when engine is not inside.

so seems to me you will do all for less $$$$ you think.

 

Sorry I'm late to this...I was gonna say -- it sounds just like what happened to my nissan car - basically I was told the bottom end of the engine went bad...

Solution - rebuilt engine. Better than throwing parts at it that may or may not be the exact problem.