kcoyne

I have a 1994 Ford Tempo and am having a problem with it and I hope someone can help me. When my car is in reverse, drive, 1st or 2nd gear there is a rattling/clicking noise coming from the right side of the engine. When driving it, you hear the noise continuously. I had it looked at by a friend and he said it is the harmonic balancer. Is this easy to change?? I'd appreciate any info.

LunaticSVT

are you having problems with your belts? are they shredding?

Unfortunately, it's not a job you want to do yourself. Ford engineers, in their wisdom, put the engine about an inch away from the car's frame. And the harmonic balancer is 2-inches deep. So you have to disconnect the motor mounts and move the engine in order to change it. It'll cost you a couple of hundred bucks to have someone else do it for you, but it's one of those jobs where it's well worth it. Unless you don't really mind losing your knuckles.

LunaticSVT

Any updates you would like to share?

afterburn27

I signed up for this forum because I am having the same problem with my '94 Tempo 2.3. I replaced the belt tensioner, the water pump, and the idler pulley in the hopes that one of those would cure the problem. They all had some play in the bearings, but I still have that damned noise. grrr.... That water pump was a nightmare to replace.

I would also like to know some updates here because I feel I may be replacing a harmonic balancer very soon... :(

I have never had any problems with my Tempo until now. It is my daily driver and my 1974 Triumph TR6 is my toy. :)

Darin

I realize this posting is past due. This may give some encouragement. I have replaced the harmonic balancer and it was quite the knuckle busting job. A mentioned b/f you MUST remove the top engine mounts, with this off and as much of everything up top disconnected you will then be able to pry the engine just enough to remove and replace the new balancer. It took two of us. One standing on the engine prying while the other was working vigourously to get the bolt on. It took a few tries but was possible.

MizzCherylz

I have a 94 Ford Tempo that I bought used in August of 2002. So, it's lasted me about a year and a half. About a couple of weeks ago, it started to make a metal clicking/rattling noise. So, I asked my boyfriend what he thought it was and he immediately thought it was the crankshaft pulley. I went on the internet to further research whether or not anyone else had the same problem and low and behold, there are more of me out there. However, after getting the car repaired, I was shocked to learn that it cost over 700 bucks(parts and labor). Now, my concern is, should I go ahead and keep the car or dump it as soon as possible??? Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.

LunaticSVT

keep it until it is dead then sell it to a bone yard for like 50 bucks

gary__

MizzCherylz, At this point you might as well keep it. Replacing the balancer cost $700? If that's the case I think you should have called around. An independant shop replaced mine for 1/3 of that amount parts and labor.

MizzCherylz

Gary,
Yeah it cost 700 bucks. I was rather shocked! But, let me ask you this, in changing out your harmonic balancer, did the shop find it necessary to drain the AC (then recharge it upon reconnection) along with flushing the coolant system? I thought it was kind of weird that the shop I took my car to did this. (they were an independent shop too) In doing the above, it cost about 200 bucks on top of the other charges. I had read elsewhere on the internet that this kind of repair cost from a couple hundred bucks to $350, with no mention of messing with the AC and coolant system, so I was surprised when my bill came out to over 700 bucks!!

The shop I took it to has a pretty good repuation. My boyfriend actually recommended it and since he's into repairing his own vehicles, I trust him. He's taken his vehicles to this place if he's been unable to do the repairs himself and he swears by their service.

I guess what I'm really worried about now is, is this the beginning of many more repairs to come? That's why I posed the question of whether or not I should hang onto the car or sell it to some sucker? *lol* JK! I'm certainly not in the position to pay for more costly repairs, but then again, I may have to just drive this car until it's dead because I'm also not in the position to be getting another car. *argh* This is so frustrating! Any and all advice is much appreciated! :)

gary__

They didn't do anything but replace the balancer on mine. It's a 4 cylinder engine if that matters. I don't know what the value of your car is, but I don't consider mine worth much. The way I look at things is if I spend money on something, I've got to keep it long enough to get my money's worth. If I spend $1000 on repairs and turn around and sell it right away for around $1000, I haven't accomplished much. What's $1000, 5-10 car payments? So, if I spent that money on a repair and it lasts that long, I figure I'm back to even. After that it's free driving. In the case of my '93 with 125k miles, if it needs something major, to the junk yard it goes. Don't care if they give me anything for it. I for one never understood the 'fix it up so I can sell it' concept. Good luck with yours!