Car lost some "pep" and pulley dancing
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2,596 Posts
is it a stick? if so, might be your clutch.
besides, i hear more often that escorts are more notorious for not having strong enough kick in for 2nd gear.
besides, i hear more often that escorts are more notorious for not having strong enough kick in for 2nd gear.
I'm with 91 sleeper. Kinda.
First thing I'd do is check the timing. And what pulley are you talking about that's sliding all over? What engine do you have? Any unusual sounds?
I know from experience that if your timing belt slips, or if the crankshaft timing belt pulley slips out of the keyway, then all hell can go loose. Your car will lose its responsiveness, and generally just acts like a hesitating, stuttering piece of crap.
Some people may jump to say plugs and wires, but the only time when you need to change your plugs and wires is if your car is misfiring. Just something to think about.
If I were you, I'd check the obvious stuff like timing and the general health of the plugs, along with fuel pressure, etc... and then I'd find a spare afternoon and check all the timing marks on your cams and crankshaft timing pulley.
First thing I'd do is check the timing. And what pulley are you talking about that's sliding all over? What engine do you have? Any unusual sounds?
I know from experience that if your timing belt slips, or if the crankshaft timing belt pulley slips out of the keyway, then all hell can go loose. Your car will lose its responsiveness, and generally just acts like a hesitating, stuttering piece of crap.
Some people may jump to say plugs and wires, but the only time when you need to change your plugs and wires is if your car is misfiring. Just something to think about.
If I were you, I'd check the obvious stuff like timing and the general health of the plugs, along with fuel pressure, etc... and then I'd find a spare afternoon and check all the timing marks on your cams and crankshaft timing pulley.
I don't think the timing belt has ever been changed actually. I know that this is almost standard issue from all other Escort owners I know and have read about.
As for pulley, I need to consult my Haynes. Post tomorrow.
You know....when I pulled into first this afternoon, the car or engine for that matter, felt like something was slipping...
As for pulley, I need to consult my Haynes. Post tomorrow.
You know....when I pulled into first this afternoon, the car or engine for that matter, felt like something was slipping...
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1,170 Posts
hummm....your clutch might be worned out....causing a lack of acceleration and power...since the discs can't transfer the engine's power to the gears/axles....dunno we need more infos..
I had a loose crank pully which damaged both the crank and pully key way. It resulted in a loss of power and a hoter runing engine because it changes the value timing. The sulution is a new pully and a new crank shaft (the crank is not weldable, tryed it) To save $$$ and work I solved the problem . . . . I alined the pully to the crank, held it ferm then drilled a 3/16" hole about 3/4" deep centered between the crank and pully so half the hole is in the pully and half in the crank. Next I drill (clean up) the same hole with a reemer. At the local tool suppy I bought a blank drill rod which fit the hole about .001/.002 interferance. Cut the drill rod to the hole deepth and pounded the rod in, put the nut and washer back on and IT WORKED perfict. $6 and 3hours labor.
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8,446 Posts
If I remember, you have an LX. Can't remember if its auto or manual though. For the purpose of the textual diarrhea that follows, I'll assume you have a manual.
If all your gears were sluggish, then I'd go looking for problems. But I think this issue is much simpler...
I don't believe in such a thing as a single sluggish gear, unless the gear is damaged. I do believe that engines run most efficiently in narrow rpm ranges and I think this is your problem. I notice hesitation in 2nd gear of my 91 LX manual, but only in the < 2000 rpm range. I'm sure people would notice sluggish performance in any gear in this rpm range, but 1st and 2nd are the only gears where you might spend time here. Simply upshift quickly from 1st to 2nd when your rpms are at least 3500 rpm in first and the problem should away. Unless you upshift at really low rpms in the other gears, you never see <2000 rpm in third, fourth or fifth (unless you change gears really slowly).
Try it and then get back to me about how it works.
As for the pulley, I also don't know which one you're talking about (I assume its an accessory driven off the serp belt, not the timing belt), in which case you may simply have a loose pulley bolt.
If your car's got more than 150,000 km or so, there's no way you're still on the original timing belt. You should change the timing belt every 100,000 km. Fortunately, the LX is not an interference engine, so if you believe in the "fix when broken" philosophy, you'll do no damage. However, you're at the mercy of Lady Luck...if you're really unlucky, it'll break in Hamilton or Windsor.
If all your gears were sluggish, then I'd go looking for problems. But I think this issue is much simpler...
I don't believe in such a thing as a single sluggish gear, unless the gear is damaged. I do believe that engines run most efficiently in narrow rpm ranges and I think this is your problem. I notice hesitation in 2nd gear of my 91 LX manual, but only in the < 2000 rpm range. I'm sure people would notice sluggish performance in any gear in this rpm range, but 1st and 2nd are the only gears where you might spend time here. Simply upshift quickly from 1st to 2nd when your rpms are at least 3500 rpm in first and the problem should away. Unless you upshift at really low rpms in the other gears, you never see <2000 rpm in third, fourth or fifth (unless you change gears really slowly).
Try it and then get back to me about how it works.
As for the pulley, I also don't know which one you're talking about (I assume its an accessory driven off the serp belt, not the timing belt), in which case you may simply have a loose pulley bolt.
If your car's got more than 150,000 km or so, there's no way you're still on the original timing belt. You should change the timing belt every 100,000 km. Fortunately, the LX is not an interference engine, so if you believe in the "fix when broken" philosophy, you'll do no damage. However, you're at the mercy of Lady Luck...if you're really unlucky, it'll break in Hamilton or Windsor.
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9,869 Posts
HAHA mine broke on the way home, on the main street that my street comes off of. I coasted onto my street, and got to within about 10 houses of mine. I would have got closer, but there was a pile of dirt reducing my street to one lane and of course there was a car approaching, who stole the wrong side of the street to occupy the available space, so I had to stop to avoid a collision from his stupidity. So I pushed it home, no biggie, and spent a week of evenings replacing the belt.
So I guess I was lucky.
So I guess I was lucky.
My car is a 1994 EGT. Not sure about the timing belt. How can I check? I bought the car used last year. I guess I should have asked.
As for the pulley, yeah...it's making noise and shaking side to side. Having that checked Monday morning.
Get back to everyone after I finished with the EGT.
As for the pulley, yeah...it's making noise and shaking side to side. Having that checked Monday morning.
Get back to everyone after I finished with the EGT.
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8,446 Posts
There - you see how poor my memory is? It's a GT retard.
There is no way to know how old your timing belt is. If you've gotten to the point where you can actually see enough of it to assess its condition, you're so far along that you might as well change it.
The only way is to keep a record of changes. How many km on your LX (that part was a joke)?
There is no way to know how old your timing belt is. If you've gotten to the point where you can actually see enough of it to assess its condition, you're so far along that you might as well change it.
The only way is to keep a record of changes. How many km on your LX (that part was a joke)?
Memory loss? Don't worry. Sometimes I even forget my own name. I love it when I tell myself jokes I don't even know...
As for KM, my car has 159,000 on the clock. I would be hardpressed to think that my car's timing belt WAS changed by the previous owner.
Is it hard to do myself?
As for KM, my car has 159,000 on the clock. I would be hardpressed to think that my car's timing belt WAS changed by the previous owner.
Is it hard to do myself?
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9,869 Posts
Like I said, a week of evenings and some knuckle skin. Just carefully follow the directions in the Haynes and it's like lego. the tough part was figuring how to stop the crank when turnig the nutoff, because the instructions are for an automatic.iLabmAn said:
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278 Posts
im gonna try the keyway idea....
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