Who Has Experienced A Broken Crankshaft??? | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Who Has Experienced A Broken Crankshaft???

Do you have knowledge of a broken crankshaft on the 4.0L Ford?

  • Crankshaft Failure on a 4.0 OHV

    Votes: 7 46.7%
  • Crankshaft Failure on a 4.0 SOHC

    Votes: 8 53.3%

  • Total voters
    15

Runnin'OnEmpty

Explorer Addict
Joined
July 20, 2002
Messages
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City, State
Southeast USA
Year, Model & Trim Level
2000 Sport
Another broken crankshaft has come to my attention; on a 98 Ranger 4.0. The crank always snaps right behind the harmonic balancer, with no warning, and at mileages somewhere between 60K and 130K miles. It apparently happens to both the OHV and SOHC engines.

Various theories have been presented: Bearing tolerance "stack-up" during assembly, oil changes extended too far, belt tensioner being too strong, crank forging defects, over-revving, etc....

The purpose of this poll is to see if there's anything common to the failures; such as model years, oil type that's used, driving habits, OHV vs SOHC, etc. Please post any info you're aware of on this problem.
Thanks.
Don
 



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Hi, I see from a poll on your board, That this has happened to at least 3 other people. What i can't find is what they did?
My '97 XLT was just passed on to my teen when I got a new '04. It has 98500 miles on it and we have just passed the 7th year sales date. It will cost 3900 for a new re-built engine(with a 100000 warrenty) Other than that the car is immaculate. We kept up with all maintence and oil changes. beside the tires the only other recall work done was the timing chains.
I see here that the 4.0 SOHC engine has had many problems. So am I stuck with this bill or has anyone heard of Ford coming through on this???

Also We would rather keep this car than spend the 4000 on a little rat-trap for our daughter to drive. Any thoughts on this??? Thanks
 






KaBinks, sorry to hear about your crankshaft. Ford has to be aware of this problem, but I haven't heard of anyone getting it covered. As to the engine replacement, replacing the crank is another possibility, but considering the labor cost the rebuilt engine sounds like a good alternative. Especially with a 100K warranty.

Since posting this poll, I've heard another possible reason for the faulty cranks. The theory is that the cranks break after the harmonic balancer is removed and reinstalled, such as after the timing chain guide work. An installation tool is supposed to be used in reinstalling the balancer, along with a new bolt, and special torqueing procedures. If the work isn't done correctly, the balancer dosen't seat properly and eventually the crank fails.

I don't know if this theory is true or not. It would be interesting to know if any cranks have broken that haven't had the harmonic balancer serviced.
 






So, if (in theory) the work on the timing chains was done at a regular garage instead of the dealership, this could have led to the break. It would be interesting to hear if others had the same thing happen that I did. The timing chains were serviced by our mechanic way before the recall and when the recall came we were reimbursed by Ford.

Thanks for your info, we have deceided to go ahead with the work and have a few other things done too, like replacing the water pump, new plugs, etc. Like I said, when you have your kid driving you can't be too safe. Thankfully we have another year before the college bills start.
 






I have a 99 Explorer XLT with 93K miles. We had the crankshaft break as well. I am not a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to vehicles, so don't know exactly where the crankshaft was broken. I know that it was at the front of the engine, because I could see that the crankshaft pulley was gone and the serpentine belt was just hanging loose.

The mechanic that we had the vehicle towed to told us that he had never seen a crankshaft break and that this had to be due to manufacturing defect.

I am wondering if anyone has ever gotten Ford to assist with the replacement of the crankshaft? Also, for those of you who have had this happen and replaced the crankshaft, how much did it cost?? I am just curious, since our mechanic is saying that this will cost somewhere in the 3000-4000 range.
 






Off topic - but I actually had a cam shaft that showed in the mail once that was broken in half.
 






Busted my flywheel.

myX023.jpg
 






I am wondering if anyone has ever gotten Ford to assist with the replacement of the crankshaft?
Ken, from what I've read on different Ford message boards, no one has gotten any cost breaks from Ford for this repair. It's a shame, because the broken cranks seem to be more prevelant than they should be.

One theory is that the crank breaks after having the timing chain service recall. I don't know if this is true. It would be interesting if someone would post that has a broken crank, without the harmonic balancer ever being off.

Let us know how your's turns out. Good luck.
 






Crankshaft breakage

I have a 99 XLS and my crankshaft broke last spring at 41,519 miles. I had owned the EX for about a year prior to this, and when I bought it it had about 31,000 miles. I had no idea how it was maintained before I got it (It was a lease turn in), but I have maintained it myself as required.
Ford told me they would not help in any way financially.
So I relplaced the crank myself at a cost of about $550, that price included everything, gaskets, fluids etc. I spent about 20 hours doing the job (hating every minute of it).
It has been almost a year since the crank was replaced, and about 6000 miles. So far no problems, but to be sure it doesn't happen again I'll probably trade it in this summer.
I would recommend to anyone who has this happen, that if you can replace a crankshaft yourself DO IT. If not just get a motor from a wreck and have that put in, that would be cheaper than paying a mechanic to tear your motor apart.
Ford really dropped the ball on this problem, and will lose some customers forever !
 






Mine just went last night. 98 XLT SOHC w/ 98K miles. Just driving along Rt. 76 outside Philly and heard a light clunk and the engine just stopped. I coasted about another 3/4 of a mile and found a little bit of shoulder next to a snow bank. Had it flatbedded to Ford. They looked at it this morning and told me: broken crankshaft. Recommended a rebuilt engine. This car had an extended warranty that expired 12/23/04. Horrible timing.

One dealership is giving me a price of $4500+tax for a rebuilt long block installed. Another is quoting me a similar price but is also offering the following options depending on what they find: a crankshaft replacement for $800 or so or a used engine (not rebuilt) for about $3500. The second dealer will also cover my rental car during the fix which will take about a week. I can get AAA to move the car for free once.

Thoughts?? Any available recourse with Ford? Wife wants to look at Toyotas tonight.

Thanks,
Mike
 






Sorry to hear you have the same luck as I do !
If you can get a just the crank replaced for $ 800ish DO that.My crankshaft broke off clean outside of the bearing an therefore no internal damage resulted. As long as the engine was well maintained you should be fine with just a crank. I would start calling wrecking yards ( there is no shortage of EX's that rolled over) to locate a used engine, some of them here in NY will install engines they sell. I would expact to pay about $1300-$2000 for a wrecking yard installed engine. I'm sure you are aware that a 1998 with 98k on it is worth little more than $5000, so putting a $4500 + tax engine in seems crazy to me.
Also check ebay for used engines, if you can find someone to put it in for you.
As for recourse with Ford, GOOD LUCK with that ! I'm sure they will nicely tell you to put your broken crank where the sun doesn't shine.

I have pictures of mine if you are interested they are here http://mysite.verizon.net/ntfd61/explorer crankshaft.htm

Best of luck
 
Last edited:






19xls99,
Thanks for the sympathy. I am coming to terms with it. I'm trying for the cheapest fix possible. I'll have someone determine if the crankshaft replacement will work. Either way, I was out looking at 4Runners tonight. Nice truck. Trying to keep with the "buy American" but I got an ear-full from a friend with a 1993 Pathfinder w/ nearly 300K miles. The Exploder, FORD - Found On Road Dead, etc... I still haven't made a decision. I figure if I put any more than $3K I'm in for the long haul or at least 10K miles until the tranny goes or the differential gives up.

Guess I haven't completely come to terms with the situation, yet! I just think a well-maintained car built by any manufacturer after 1980 should make it to 100K without a catastrophic failure. So far: My 87 Tempo cracked the block at 90K, Beretta ate 4 alts and a tranny before dying a mysterious death around 95K, my parent's Olds went through 3 tranny's and an engine rebuild before being junked at 80K. They also had two Chrysler minivans that went through transmissions like wiper blades. All vehicles were well maintained. My Explorer only used Mobile 1, had nearly every scheduled maintenance performed by Ford and never failed an inspection on the first try.

Humbling: In 1997, I graduated from college. I gave my '89 626 to my dad to use as a daily commuter for his 8 mile trip to work. He figured he would run it til it died. It had about 110K on it. He is offering to give it back to me while I try to figure out to do with the EX. It has 170K miles on it and beside a broken power window and a flickering radio display is perfectly fine. This can't be coincidence. Someone (Ford) please restore my faith in American car brands!!!

Mike
 






The crank on my 07 ranger broke last night. Right at the block. had the crank pulley fall off 35000 miles ago and had the reapairs made at a local shop. Ford will not cover anything. They suck!!!! 110,000 miles always used full syn oil always maintained and took exceptional care of the truck.
I'm fixing it and selling it and buying rice!!!!!!!!!!!!
 






I might possibly be in this situation. 04 Explorer 4.0 SOHC 187K miles. Heard loud bang and engine started chattering, noticed balancer had wobble. Replaced balancer, still has wobble. Looks like broken crank.
 






Broken crankshaft

Crank shaft broke off right at balancer. I had timing belt work done about 6 years ago. Car was running perfectly and all of a sudden "pop" and she was gone.
 






Had my crank break off before the balancer in my 99 ranger a few weeks ago. I'm going to be doing it myself when i find time. I'm pretty sure the problem is because of bad casting in the ford plant for a few years (pre 2001). Good luck to anyone else that has this problem. I will probably post my results after i finish it.
 






Had my crank break off before the balancer in my 99 ranger a few weeks ago. I'm going to be doing it myself when i find time. I'm pretty sure the problem is because of bad casting in the ford plant for a few years (pre 2001). Good luck to anyone else that has this problem. I will probably post my results after i finish it.

Sorry to hear about this. Good luck getting it all fixed up.
 






crank will break from bad balancer it is really a harmonic balancer that takes the harmonics out of the engine if you replace a crank because it broke change the balancer
roscoe
ps I don't know if they still do but cummins engine used to cast fords cranks
 






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