Ford Escort 1990, What is this thing?


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Old 07-02-13, 08:35 PM
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Ford Escort 1990, What is this thing?

So.. I was driving down the road, and heard a dis-concerning noise, something had rattled itself loose somewhere about my vehicle. I looked in my rear-view mirror in time to see it go flying up into the air, thrown as it was by one of my rear tires going 35 miles an hour. I promptly stopped to recover the lost piece, and took it to several auto parts stores, seeing if any of the employees would recognize it. No go.. So, below are some pics, and hopefully someone out there can direct me to where this thing belongs. It was heavily covered in oil/grease which makes me think it belongs up near the engine block, but who knows?

Thanks for your help.

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Old 07-02-13, 08:48 PM
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Gee you recovered the bolt too???

IMO its a Ford and the part probably is not needed...

Hows it drive without it???? Hey now you have a free boat anchor.......

All kidding aside though it looks like some kind of stabilizer bracket...Possibly because of the subframe vehicle that it is....( I think they were anyway) Looks like a part for the rear IMO... There should be a matching one on the other side if anything....

Jack the car up and look around... Look for clean spots on the frame where the part may have came off of....( Do this safely with proper support)

Rear torsion bar support of some sort???.. Dont know and is just my educated guess from my experience with cars... Possibly others here are more knowledgeable...so stand by...
 
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Old 07-03-13, 04:34 AM
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Nothing really leaps to mind looking at it. You can see where the bolt had been on one end, but the other end does not appear to have had any hardware recently attached. Weird.
 
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Old 07-03-13, 04:38 AM
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Late thought (after remembering seeing an RV going down the road yesterday) could be one of a pair of brackets to mount a tow bar up front maybe, although items mounted that far forward wouldn't normally be grimy.
 
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Old 07-03-13, 05:10 AM
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I would peruse the local dealership. The parts dept should have pictures.
 
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Old 07-03-13, 08:54 PM
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This did not come from your car. it is clearly a hand made piece and nothing factory made would look like this or be in one peice if it came loose.
 
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Old 07-04-13, 07:22 AM
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For what its worth, I tend to agree with the last two posts.

My initial thought was, it was something in the road that you just didn't see because of the way it was positioned possibly. Your front tire kicked it up into the engine compartment & it just sounded like it came of your vehicle. This is just a guess because, I don't have a clue but, I don't recognize the part from anything I am familiar with.

Having said that, my second thought was, take it to the parts department at the Ford dealer & show them &/or pass it around the shop & show some of the mechanics.

Good luck & let us know if you find out what it is.. I am curious now
 
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Old 07-04-13, 07:53 AM
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Hmm, two round holes suggest mounting, the slot suggests adjustment,

First guess is that it's a bracket for an idler pulley.
Perhaps a mounting bracket for some accessory you don't have, a/c or power steering?
Check the belt diagram, could be a kludge fix, somebody bought a too-short serpentine belt and
removed an idler pulley but left the bracket?

Second guess is that it's a bumper mounting bracket.
 
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Old 07-04-13, 08:18 AM
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Good point Hal. If someone removed say an air conditioner compressor or something & never replaced it, It could be a left over bracket.
I just went on the assumption that everything still worked as normal so it wasn't likely that it came from the car. However, if there wasn't an air conditioner compressor hadn't been on there for a while for example, then things would be working as normal...
 
 

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