I have a '93 Ford Escort manual transmission 1.9ltr. Just this past Wednesday I was headed back home for the holidays. On the way, my check engine light popped on a couple of times. About 10minutes after the last light came on, my car lost power. I pressed down on the gas and nothing happened. A few seconds after that, my car just shut off. Tried starting it but it would not start. It would "turn over" but it sounding really strange when it did. I was thinking that it may have had something to do with my fuel system but found that it was not. I had it towed to a shop and they "checked" it out. They said that my car had no compression and that it sounded like it was the heads or head gaskets. However, I had them replace just last year and my vehicle was neither running hot nor rough at the time of cutoff. Also I still had antifreeze in my radiator and reservoir.

I was thinking about a strange noise that I had been hearing for the past 2weeks in the timing belt area. It sounding like it was "knocking/flapping" against the cover.

Would the belt make my car lose compression and not start at all, or would it be something internally? They plan on opening my engine to check the heads and such, but I really don't want to pay for that if I don't have to. That's an additional $250
If anyone could help me out, I'd really appreciate it.

 

How good of a shop is this? Sounds like you broke the timing belt? If the cam cannot move then you will not have any compression. When you crank the engine does it just sound like a free wheeling engine with no torque against starter?

 

I do not know how good of a shop this is. It was the first place that I could get it towed to since I didn't know the area. When I tried to start it, it did in fact sound like a "free wheeling engine". I hope that the problem is only the timing belt.

 

I'm not sure if that engine is interfernece I would look for another shop if they could not tell you any more than that. Also you should replace water pump and timing belt tensioner pulleys when servicing. If it is 1.9 liter engine I'm pretty sure the replacement is pretty easy. Less than $350 dollars with water pump, timing belt, and tensioner, and coolant flush.

 

The 1.9 is not listed as an interference engine. I am researching the area for other shops, and I also called the current shop to hold off on repairs for the time being. Thanks for all of your help. If you think of anything else, feel free to let me know.

 

Sure, if by chance the timing belt has slipped (thus not in proper position,
it could cause a compression problem; if the belt has broken, there will be
zero compression.
To see if the belt has broken, remove your distributor-cap, have someone
crank the engine, if you can see the distributor rotor-button turning while
the engine is cranking... then the belt is not broken.
To check if the belt has slipped, you will need to center the crank-pully
mark to (Zero/TDC), then see if the distributor rotor button is aiming at
the number (1) cylinder position in relation to the distributor-cap...if its
not, then the belt has slipped and needs to be properly replaced with a new
one

 

Only problem with all that is the fact that it is a DIS ignition.

 

Yes, it could be your timing belt. If it breaks, the car stops. If you're going slow at the time, damage may be minimal. Sometimes the timing belt slips, and that can lead to it being "off" in timing. This is a fairly new car - what led to the head gasket being replaced? And when you say the "heads" were replaced, do you mean the actual head was replaced? If so, do you know what caused the damage?

Have you or anyone else run this car out of water or oil? Either event can cause damage.

If it was the head gasket, your engine light would probably come on, because the engine would get very hot - did the temperature gauge read hotter than normal? Did your oil look milky or odd when checked? Did you get white smoke out the tailpipe, and a smell like a wet dog? Did it overheat at traffic lights? Did the engine misfire and/or stutter? All these are symptoms of a blown head gasket.

If you "burn" a valve, the edges of the valve get nibbled off due to hot gasses, and you get a sort of clattery, dull engine noise, because one (or more) of the valves are not sealing correctly and are having hot gasses bypass, and you lose power and compression, which causes the engine to run rough. I can only describe the noise as something that sounds like "blat".

Your head would only need to be replaced if it was seriously damaged. If it is warped, it can be surfaced and checked against the block so that the two flat surfaces match.

Anytime your engine light comes on, and you subsequently experience difficulties, I would suspect something serious. You need a good mechanic. This is not a do-it-yourself job for the average person.

Racerkat