Loud clunk, CE light, no start, dead tach

[rendyx]

I hope this isn't too serious. I was driving along this morning, and noticed that my RPMs had dropped to about 1500, so I promptly downshifted. It didn't seem like they were so low. As I then went up a hill, I saw the RPMs were extremely low, and dropping slowly. I pushed in the clutch, revved the engine a tad, and the tach jumped. It was quite cold out, I figured the tach froze up. No major problem. As I then pulled into a parking spot as usual, I thought I'd move over a foot or two. I back up, begin to pull forward, and hear a very loud clunk. Instantly I thought I had hit some chunk of ice, but the sound was still quite loud for that. To add to that, I then noticed the CE light was on, and when I tried to restart the SHO after turning it off, it failed to even crank. The lights dimmed a little, the second try, the starter solenoid clicked. I did replace the alternator Saturday, and it only seems to have problems under heavy loads, as the belt on it is junk and likes to slip. Any ideas? And BTW, there was no chunk of ice under the car after that. What is this coming to? frown

 

[Dr.Evil]

Where did the loud clunk come from? If it is in the engine bay, it may be a thrown rod or something serious internal. (its weird because the motor was not at high rpm's) If the bat and starter are good and it will not crank in neutral, something serious happened internaly, most likly. I can think of anything else it could be. Drian the oil and look for metal specks. Your bottom end might be gone. Hopefully it is something less serious. I am sure you will get different explinations than this one. Good Luck.

 

[rendyx]

Some good news! It appears as though the alternator I put in Saturday still did not have its belt tightened enough. It must not have been charging the battery properly, so the car would not start at times (it did later today twice, other times failed). The belt then began to slip some. The CE light, tach, and lack of power I later noticed, must have been because the ignition system was running from only what was left in the battery, which was slowly draining. I'm getting a Goodyear Gatorback belt tomorrow, and hopefully installing that will help some. I will also make sure it is tight, as the current one seemed tight, but may be a little too loose, as we can see here! I still do not know what the clunk was, which seemed to come from under the car, or all around it. This may have been due to the loudness of it, however. Some sort of backfire, misfire, or other problem which might be caused by the ignition lacking power (oh, and it did a little bucking at one point)?

<small>[ January 02, 2003, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: rendyx ]</small>

 

[rendyx]

Replying to my own post! Ha! Well, I ran the EEC codes, and I got 24 and 66 form the KOEO test (ACT sensor out of test range & MAF voltage lower than minimum). The engine was slightly warm, but due to the slipping belt, I was unable to drive it around first, along with run the KOER test. I suspect 24 is from not letting it fully warm up first, and 66 because of the really low voltage it's getting. Does anybody know of an easy way to tell if the belt is tight enough when I put in the Gatorback? Thanks guys.

 

[yamahaSHO]

rendyx:
Replying to my own post! Ha! Well, I ran the EEC codes, and I got 24 and 66 form the KOEO test (ACT sensor out of test range & MAF voltage lower than minimum). The engine was slightly warm, but due to the slipping belt, I was unable to drive it around first, along with run the KOER test. I suspect 24 is from not letting it fully warm up first, and 66 because of the really low voltage it's getting. Does anybody know of an easy way to tell if the belt is tight enough when I put in the Gatorback? Thanks guys.

The belt should have a little play but not much, becarful you don't over tighten. Good to hear that it was not serious(knock on wood). thumbs_u

 

[rendyx]

An interesting thought I just had, if the belt didn't seem to be slipping over the past few days, wouldn't the alternator be charging the battery? Could there be a problem in between there? And if it won't stop slipping, and I go over to the garage, am I better off driving it while it slips madly, trying to cut the belt (that might scare me a bit), or what? It's just very diffucult to get to the tensioner when it's 10 degrees out, and with minimal tools (but I can do it if necessary). I appreciate your help again, as this alternator is really bugging me, like my old brake problems.

 

[jthomas68]

So is it running now at all?One time i had mine so that when i got in the car,it had full power,but as soon as i turned the key,everything went dead.I cleaned the battery cables at BOTH ends and it`s been fine ever since.Even though they weren`t disturbed,they still broke connection out of nowhere.I would think the belt would have to slip an aweful lot to not charge,so i`m not convinved that`s the problem.Once the car is running,disconnect the battery cable(either one).If it dies,the altenator isn`t charging.
Btw,i have a spare MAF electronics if you need it.

 

[Jeff93ATX]

The clunk from underneath may have been subframe bolt(s), but if you were able to drive away, I doubt it. When they go, steering is virtually impossible. Even one side will make steering very tough. My early warning sign was a lot of torque steer.

FWIW, mine went 3 weeks ago, and even though Ford's records said they had been replaced under the recall, the service manager pushed them and they still honored the recall notice (saved me $300).

Jeff
93 Arrest Me Red ATX

PS - How are things in my old stomping grounds of Buffalo NY

 

[rendyx]

Jeff93ATX:
PS - How are things in my old stomping grounds of Buffalo NY

Not bad , but this snow while I'm having SHO problems...

Based on what you mentioned about the terminals, Jeremy, you may have hit it right on. I had some terminal problems, although I though they were corrected by tightening them up on the battery more. Perhaps they could use a little cleaning, or even replacement of the cables. Thanks for the advice, this seems nicer than mysterious not-charging-alternator issues!
Jeff, I've heard this sound before, oddly enough, and it was when I had some other alternator problems, with the old unit. The recall has been done, but the subframe has been out recently, and perhaps the bolts have a little problem. I may check this out. Steering, however, was fine.