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Its been a while since I have posted. I blew the first engine (3.0) bout 2 years back, and now have gotten a new 01 engine that is now in. I have a new problem that I was hoping someone maybe interested in bouncing some ideas past me. I tried to turn it over tonigth and it crancked for about a second or two and then stopped. Thinking immediately that I bought a bunk engine, i placed the trans in gear (haines inc mtx 75 w/ less than 1000 miles) and pushed the car back until i could see the cam sprocket reversed past its original starting point, then pushed the car forward and the cam sprocket spun past its original position that it had gotten "stuck" earlier. I dropped the oil pan and there seems to be no probelms below, and by seeing the cam sprocket spin past its original "stuck" position more and more every time, I think it may be a safe bet that 1, the engine is not seized, and 2, there is no foreign debris in the cylinder preventing the piston from reaching top dead center. Prior to installation, both the engine and trans spun freely with no problems. A few issues came to mind after pondering for a few hours and was hoping someone could offer some feedback. first, perhaps the engine and trans are not mated properly, causing the spline to bind somewhere between the engine and trans. 2) (this one is probably reaching but i'd figure it may be a possiblility) could there be an improper bolt that i had installed that may be two long, passing through the trans case and prohibiting the rotating assembly from reaching a certain point 3) could there be a problem with the starter meshing w/ the flywheel 4) could the clutch/pressure plate/flywheel assembly be installed improperly causing the binding? I appreciate any advice anyone may be able to offer before I begin to tear the engine back out.

thanks in advance

oh.... 95 se w/ 01 taurus 3.0 and mtx 75 trans

battery, fuses, relay's, testing starter off the car...all I can think of that is easily checkable

fuses and realys would still allow the engine to turn over correct? just not fire? when I manually reverse the engine past its "stuck" point, it will turn over to another certain point, the engine turns past the original spot, but perhaps the trans is stuck at the same point??? I think that this may eliminate any of those?

I am sure you pulled the pilot bushing right or at least cut it off. Check your engine ground too for starter problems.

Originally posted by contour_envy:
... i placed the trans in gear (haines inc mtx 75 w/ less than 1000 miles) and pushed the car back until i could see the cam sprocket reversed past its original starting point, then pushed the car forward and the cam sprocket spun past its original position ...

Um, forgive me, but couldn't turning the crank in the wrong direction cause slack in the timing chains & potentially have the cam skip timing? Even if it doesn't skip, could the slack in the chains throw the timing off enough that the pistons could potentially touch the valves?

Seems like a bad proceedure to use rather than just putting a wrench on the crank bolt & turning the engine forward by hand.

Yes, i have cut off the pilot bushing flush w/ the crank, and ground the excess smooth. Tour De Force, I see your poiint. Just out of speculation, I am not sure that the timing chain would skip, perhaps though. As far as the slack in the timing chain, wouldn't that be taken back up within milliseconds of the engine turning over? I suppose if one of the pistons were close enough to TDC that it come into contact w/ a valve before the slack was taken back up. Definately a perspective that I hadn't thought of. My concern was breaking the head of the crank bolt off in the crank, also, reversing the position from the crank would have the same effect as the previous method wouldn't it?

After re-reading, I see you point a little clearer. The problem is, once the engine/transmission assembly reaches a certain point, it gets "stuck". The only way to advance again is to "back it up".... Now, as i noted before, the engine will turn past its original stuck position once i do this (marked the cam sprocket)..... This would suggest that the engine is not causing the problem. It almost seems like theres something in the cylinder preventing a piston from reaching tdc.... A stupid problem to have, but again, the engine is rotating past a single piston at tdc. Just wondering if this could be some spot in the trans (my installation, not Terry's build, Ive ran it before, plus he doesn't make mistakes

....) since the two rotate at different rates

Sounds like it may not be time correctly? Valves may be hitting the pistons and stopping it from turning? This is a "reach" as well but you may want to check that out first.

I suppose that's entirely possible. I rotated the crank until the lines on the cam aligned, but they could still be 180 out?

the exhaust valve should be fully open at tdc correct? if the cam was 180 out, i suppose the intake valve could be fully open but doesn't have that much greater stroke than exhaust?

I don't remember what the lines are supposed to be on the cams when timed. It is on the CD though. When the #1 piston is at TDC, all four valves should be closed on the #1 cylinder as the represents the top of the compression stroke IIRC.

sounds like timing is messed up...

With tranny in neutral, can you turn the engine around (2 full rotations minimum) with a breaker bar and socket on the damper bolt? Do this with the spark plugs out so that you are not mistaking cylinder compression for an actual internal engine problem.