Mickr Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I was driving today when I heard a loud bang from the front of my car and when I tried to change gear nothing happened. To cut a long story short I stopped the car an lifted the bonnet and noticed that the engine was further forward on the passenger side and the air inlet pipe was cracked. I called out the RAC and was told nothing much that I hadn't noticed. The mechanic told me that the gearbox mounting bolts were snapped and the engine mount had actually broken and he had never seen that before and that the engine mount doesn't break without reason and that he felt that the mount breaking had caused the bolts to break. Damage to the drive shaft which has pulled out of the engine means that needs replacing. The air intake pipe was cracked and the fan cowling is also broken. He said that other damage would need assessing but he couldn't see anything else. A rough estimate for repair was from no change from £500 at best to £0,000's if the gearbox is damaged. The mechanic noticed that I had recently had a new alternator fitted and he thought that one of the engine mounts may have been disconnected to gain access to allow for the easy removal of the alternator and that might be the cause of the original problem. The alternator was replaced just less than 2 months ago and today was the first time that I'd taken the car on a motorway and driven at 70mph or slightly higher. I think I've driven roughly 1500 miles since the alternator was replaced but all of those miles were done at less than and rarely 40mph. Do people think that this may have something to do with the alternator change? I would hate to go back to the garage that replaced the alternator and make a fool on myself. Can anybody offer any advice? Thanks, Mick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 To be honest u do need remove gearbox mount to do an alternator on ur model but if it was indi garage an guy hadn't much experience wit ur type engine he might have wat work have u had done in last few years besides alternator Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I ment u don't need romove it typing error sorry Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Hi Mick85, thanks for the reply and input, That is the only work I've had done on the car other than normal service work like changing oil, filters etc which is carried out for a normal service. I've had an intercooler hose changed which I replaced myself and only took 5 minutes to do. In November I had a rear end smash while waiting at a roundabout but the speed of the shunt was low although I was pushed forwards less than a cars length and don't know the speed of the vehicle which hit me. Is it less or more likely that the rear ender has caused this? I've spent many hours researching this engine mount failure on the internet and it just doesn't seem to happen so I don't think the damage is a coincidence. It would be easier if I didn't have the rear ender or the work on the alternator carried out so that I could just write this off as a bad experience. Because of the doubt, I can't do that. The only reason I had the garage change my alternator was because I looked at it and noticed the lack of room in the engine compartment around the alternator. I did a few hours searching around the internet and a lot of people were saying that it was a pig of a job and a few mentioned having to remove engine mountings to create enough space. I would appreciate anybody's input on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Can u post picture I could tell u more by looking at mount both sides an broken bolt in mount Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 It will take a short while to get photographs, maybe 10 to 20 minutes as the car is not outside of my house. It's at the end of the street because the RAC couldn't get to my house because of parked cars and my drive is 90 degrees to the street. I'll get my camera and get back soon and thanks for your input, it's really is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Wats u mileage I seen this happen before due to to bad workman ship cross threading bolt back in an been left loose is top piece of bolt that snapped still there or gone Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 The mileage is around 65,000. The engine mounting has actually snapped and one bolt is still attached while the other has sheared probably 1 thread into the tapped hole. It might actually be flush with the first thread as the threaded hole might have a chamfer. Daft question, how do I upload a photo? I thought I could just upload it to a hosting site and add a image tag but that doesn't seem to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 I actually don't know myself mate I sure someone can help but set up new topic how upload pictures Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 This isn't the best way but it should work, it's a link which will take you to one photograph, I will upload more and add links. http://tinypic.com/r/2iqo5s4/8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 Here's are a couple more although I may have uploaded an actual photograph. http://tinypic.com/r/oppzdf/8 http://tinypic.com/r/21998hj/8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 OK, here's more. I've worked it out, you attach the file from here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 Looks like over tightened with air gun was there any noises was this while driving on flat road or did u go over ramp or something Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 1, 2014 Author Share Posted March 1, 2014 I has just driven off a motorway which I had been travelling on for 10 to 15 miles. I approached the roundabout to turn left and tried to accelerate as I turned. I heard a loud thud from the front when changing gears and thought I had missed a gear but I would now say that was the drive shaft coming away from the engine/gearbox/diff. I would hate to think the outcome of this at 70mph, the thought of that happening is not a pleasant one. While I was driving up the motorway I felt a momentary loss of power which was over as quickly as it had started, it must have been a tiny fraction of a second and my thought pattern was that I had driven over a slight dip or joint in the road surface. I actually had driven over speed bumps earlier and now that I think about it, it's probably the first time I have driven over a speed bump since the alternator was changed. The road I travelled both ways down had possibly 10 speed bumps so I will have probably went over them 20 times but I wasn't driving fast and I didn't really feel them as the car was either side of them. Again, thanks for your input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 1, 2014 Share Posted March 1, 2014 To be honest there no way u could prove it was there fault u could ask an tell them u wont use them anymore but they won't take responsibility Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 I agree with what you're saying and I don't want to look for blame, I just wish that I hadn't had the original work done on the car and could just write this off as a bad experience and just another car going wrong. Is it possible that the drive shaft went first and whipped around and broke the engine mount? The drive shaft would have still been whipping around as I was free wheeling to get the car parked in a safe place and it was still connected at the wheel. I'm going to contact the garage tomorrow and ask if they did anything with the engine mounts, if they say they didn't then I'll accept that as I'm aware that this could be a coincidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 No I say driveshaft popped out after bolt snapped is drive shaft all still there like u might only need cv boot clip an top mount Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Yes the drive shaft is still attached to the wheel but it was hitting the road as I free wheeled to a safe location which was probably 100 yards from the original indication of a problem. I was on a busy road so had to keep going as I would have blocked a road and possibly caused an accident. A few seconds earlier and I could have pulled onto the hard shoulder and stopped the car immediately, unfortunately that wasn't an option for safety reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mick85 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Understandably safety first only a car at end day if u didn't loose any bits off inside shaft u should be good use it again an just buy top mount scrap yard are u going fix it yourself Sent from my iPhone using Ford OC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 I don't have time to fix it myself as I have to spend long hours at work and couldn't wait until I had the time, I'll need the car back on the road as soon as possible as I do some work at weekends for a charity and only have one car. I would think that I'll be lucky to have it back by next weekend as it will be sometime on Monday when it's been checked then possibly a couple of days for parts to arrive and maybe a day to put everything right. I will probably have the other engine mounts checked and have those bolts changed in case they have been stressed. A few bolts changed for the sake of it is better than missing a potential future problem. I might even ask the garage to remove the other engine mounts so that I can NDT them and check them for cracks with dye pen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stoney871 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 If the shaft dropped on the side where the mount broke then it reads logically that the shaft dropped due to the engine shifting forward. Half shafts don't just 'drop out' by themselves. That is as a result of the mount going not a cause in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickr Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Thanks for that. Can anybody explain what the arrow in the attacked photo is pointing at? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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