I did not escape this Maverick trip with just a broken A/C clutch plate.(Those who attended the Gathering know what I am talking about. ) The motor in the Mav decided to partially self destruct at mile marker 156, north bound I-75 just south of Findlay, Ohio a little after midnight... I am now in the Super 8 Motel in Findlay. I'm a little over 100 miles from home...gotta wait for my dad to bring the car trailer down to get me tomorrow... The harmonic balancer and all the pulleys are hanging loose. I am guessing the crank broke. I was cruising along at about 65 mph when there was a loud bang followed by bangity-bangity-bangity-bang until about the same time the car came to a stop. No external damage except for the belts being wound around the crank pulleys. After I untangled everything I blipped the motor to see what happens...it starts and the really loud bangity-bang starts with it. She's all done. On a side note, I highly recommend Haggerty classic car insurance. I called and the lady had a flat bed out to me in 20 minutes and even called nearby hotels and called me back to ask which one I wanted to stay at and she made a reservation for me. Not bad for midnight on a Sunday. They pre-paid the flatbed, I get to pay the hotel, of course. An Ohio State Trooper pulled over to make sure everything was okay and I ended up talking to him and the tow guy for about 15 minutes about my car and Mavericks in general. The trooper was young enough that he had never even heard of a Maverick let alone seen one... At least I didn't wreck the car or my new alternator and electric fan (came close to wrecking that). Damn...I brought just about everything I could think of to get out of a jam on the road...I guess next time I'll have to bring a new motor too... Now I get to listen to all the "I-told-you-so's" from my wife about how my car is a death trap and she new it would break down, etc, etc, etc...
Mark maybe it will just be a broke harmonic balancer..... I hope it all works out!!!1 keep us informed maverick brother!!!!
Wow that really sucks, but at least it happened on the way home. Since I have Hagerty, glad to hear they are great to deal with. Hopefully its not too serious. Knowing your car, its a days work just to get to the engine.
Years ago I had a 318 that had the balancer self destruct at speed. The problem got worse when the shock of the balancer exploding took the timing chain with it. Since I was still moving, still in gear, the chain letting go sent the valves into the pistons, bending a nice assortment of them. The engine still cranked over but you could hear something was wrong.
Oh man! ...and I was giving you a hard time for that "oh so important" air conditioning! I hope the new problem is just a harmonic balancer and I'm glad to hear that you got a hotel and are getting home. Let us know how it goes. I guess this means that next year you might be driving in with a new motor?
No and yes? I'm not sure what you mean. I gave mark a hard time about his air conditining problem on Friday - saying it wasn't that important. What I'm saying now is that I hope his current problem is a harmonic balancer and not an internal engine problem. I've clarified the post above.
Sorry to hear that Mark. Probably unlikely you will find a shop like the one on Route 66 that will loan you tools to fix your car. Time for a stroker kit.
I know exactly what you meant. I was just being scarcastic that he'll fix the A/C clutch before he fixes the broken motor!
Hello Mark. That is terrible news of what happened with your car. Glad to hear of the quick response and added help from roadside assistance, and also of the state trooper stopping to check. Hopefully by now you have the car on the trailer and are headed back to Michigan.
Just got home about a half hour ago. My mom and dad came down with the car trailer to rescue me. It has been a loooong time (too long!) since I have had a motor apart where I took the pulleys and balancer off the front...I can't remember how everything connects. If the balancer is directly connected to the end of the crank, it looks like the end of the crank broke off. If there is something else between there, perhaps that "something else" (like a spacer or something?) is broken. Looks like the crank to me, but I'll know more when I start taking it apart. Funny thing about the A/C is I had to shut it off for part of the trip when temps were near 100...the A/C was cooling fine, but it was causing the car to overheat and it killed my fuel economy to below 14 mpg!! With the air off and the windows most of the way down I was getting near 17 and the motor ran near normal termps. Still not great mpg, but more reasonable. Methinks that compressor has something wrong with it causing huge loads on the motor. No matter, I'll fix it. Yep, if the car is driveable next year, I am hoping to do something a little better with the motor, a stroker is what I have always had in mind. Now, just to find the money tree...
Dang Mark that is some tough luck. You sure are one heck of an easy going guy to take it so well. I am glad you got taken care of promptly on the road. Dan
