serpentine belt slipped off

i think it balances the belt lol , i dont know the mechanics of it haha , i just called my local ford dealer to order seals for it and the lady did not know what i was talking about , does anyone know the part number for the seals ??
 
Based on what I read, its purpose is to absorb the vibrations of the engine basically. I could be wrong on that and I'm sure that Joegr is going to correct me (I mean that as a compliment.)
 
cobey said:
Based on what I read, its purpose is to absorb the vibrations of the engine basically. I could be wrong on that and I'm sure that Joegr is going to correct me (I mean that as a compliment.)
Click to expand...

No, your answer is correct, just not detailed. This says it better than I can.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonic_balancer

A harmonic balancer (also called crank pulley damper, crankshaft damper, torsional damper, or vibration damper) is a device connected to the crankshaft of an engine to reduce torsional vibration and serves as a pulley for drive belts.[1][2]

Every time the cylinders fire, torque is imparted to the crankshaft. The crankshaft deflects under this torque, which sets up vibrations when the torque is released. At certain engine speeds the torques imparted by the cylinders are in sync with the vibrations in the crankshaft, which results in a phenomenon called resonance. This resonance causes stress beyond what the crankshaft can withstand, resulting in crankshaft failure.

To prevent this vibration, a harmonic balancer is attached to the front part of the crankshaft. The damper is composed of two elements: a mass and an energy dissipating element. The mass resists the acceleration of the vibration and the energy dissipating (rubber/clutch/fluid) element absorbs the vibrations.

Additionally the energy transferred from the piston to the crankshaft can induce as much as 2 degrees of twist in the crankshaft, which has many follow-on effects on all engine elements that require adequate timing such as valve opening, cam timing, ignition timing etc.

Over time, the energy dissipating (rubber/clutch/fluid) element can deteriorate from age, heat, cold, or exposure to oil or chemicals. Unless rebuilt or replaced, this can cause the crankshaft to develop cracks, resulting in crankshaft failure.

Performance enthusiasts have been known to remove harmonic balancers, usually when the balancer is attached to the crank pulley, deciding that they aren't necessary and their mass reduces the performance of the engine. However, this is unproven and potentially very risky because the danger of damage to the engine from the vibrations the damper is intended to prevent is too high.[citation needed]

Certain cars, however, do not come equipped with an external balancer on the crank pulley, and as such, can have the pulley replaced with a performance oriented product which counter-acts these resonance frequencies.
 
So can a bad Harmonic Balancer cause an ETC failsafe warning? I got one for the first time after driving for 45ish miles in the snow. I pulled off the freeway as soon as I could, shut it off in a parking lot and restarted it and it drove fine for the remaining 5 miles or so that I had before I got to where I needed to go. I know coils are a common cause to this, but I replaced all 8 approximately 25-30k miles ago.
 
cobey said:
So can a bad Harmonic Balancer cause an ETC failsafe warning? I got one for the first time after driving for 45ish miles in the snow. I pulled off the freeway as soon as I could, shut it off in a parking lot and restarted it and it drove fine for the remaining 5 miles or so that I had before I got to where I needed to go. I know coils are a common cause to this, but I replaced all 8 approximately 25-30k miles ago.
Click to expand...

Forgot to add that I also had a CEL that came on regarding the BARO/MAP sensor about a month or 2 ago that went away by itself after a day or two and hasnt come back since.
 
Update: I drove the 50 miles back home without failsafe coming back. I kind of babied it and never got after it. RPMs never went higher than 3k and mostly stayed around 2k
 
cobey said:
So can a bad Harmonic Balancer cause an ETC failsafe warning? ...
Click to expand...

No.
Did you use Motorcraft coils?
Were they from a trust-able source?
Did you replace all plugs at the same time?
Did you verify/set the gap to 1.0mm?
 
I got all coils from rockauto, didn't get motorcraft because I figured running cheaper coils for a while is better than running the bad few I had for a month until I could get motorcraft (I know, I know), put off plugs for some reason too, I don't remember why, but it was against my better judgement and all 8 got replaced with ngk platinums about 2 months later. I know what's coming next from you guys already so I will go ahead and swap all 8 coils and plugs again and do it properly this time. In my defense, I didn't really read this forum apart from the tech article on coils prior to swapping the coils either, so I didn't know this car is this picky at the time.
 
Hey Ghost, how long did it take your mechanic to do this? I got the part used and I have a guy who said he would put it in for nothing if I got the parts, but I want to give him something fair for his time and effort.
 
if he has the proper tools and stuff maybe 1 hour and a half , i left my car at 12 and at 2 i called and it had been ready
 
Oh cool. The Tires Plus/NTB type place that I brought it to after it threw the belt for a 3rd time in -10 degree "heat" said it would take at least 3.5 hours but I'm pretty sure they just wanted to hose me for more money, but they wouldn't even touch a used part at all so I told them to just put the belt back on
 
I didnt even bother with a final quote, but I believe he said that I was looking at 300-350 in labor alone, along with the fact that I would have to go through their parts person so you could probably add around $950-1K for the balancer. If my math is correct, I would have been looking at around $1,500+ (they recomended replacing the tensioner as well)
 
wow i spent 150 in total , i might do the tensioner next cause the car is still squeeling the belt , the balancee runs straight now so im happy
 
I paid about 40 for the balancer and I am really excited to get this fixed because I am getting sick of praying that the belt will stay on every time I start it. I may put the tensioner off too because it is a major PITA to find here and the Balancer is shaking pretty aggresively when its cold out and I want to get it done.
 
good ideaaa , let me know what part number you get for the tensioner
 
Oreilly has it as BT81 for the Motorcraft part. Do you think an aftermarket part would be ok for this since it isnt electronic/electric, just mechanical? I found an oreilly here that has a Gates tensioner available at an oreilly about 35 miles away
 
see idk much about that man but i saw a thread on here discussing that , im not entirely sure which would be better
 
Aftermarket tensioner should be fine and Gates tends to be decent stuff.

Problems with the balancer will not cause a check engine light. They'll cause the crank to break. It's an extreme case, but that's what it's there for. You may notice more engine vibration than normal, particularly at high RPMs.

I'm quite certain the yard did not "test" the balancer. If it hasn't fallen apart then they'll sell it. I don't think failures are all that common so it's certainly worth a try.

Labor will be high because the fan has to be pulled, and I think the radiator does to get enough room to work 'easily'. Then you're looking at a cooling refill and bleed. Some patience and the special tool and it could be done simpler. Christopher's on eBay rents the puller. It's a better setup than the generic type of pullers. Also note that the bolt is supposed to be single use. My balancer had a good press fit so I reused my bolt. YMMV.
 
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