Ford Escort Engine

I have a 99 escort with split port single overhead cam 2.0L. My wife was driving it home one day when she said she heard a thump and then the engine died. She had it towed to the ford dealership where she had them look into it. They took the timing cover off found that the belt way "ok". After an hour they stated that it was intenal problems and needed a new engine. I brought the thing home and checked it out. The engine will start and run for about 30 seconds. No acceleratiion or it dies and will not start again for several hours. It runs like its only hitting on 2 cylinders. I was thinking the timing belt might have slipped a tooth. But, the belt was changed 20K ago. Anyone else come across this problem? I don't see how it can require a new engine to resolve this problem. Any thought would be appreciated.

 

How many miles on the engine? Perform a compression test to see if you have burnt valves or a hole in a piston, etc.

 

Yhey should have provided you with more information than "internal problems" if they told you you need a new engine
They didn't say anything other than "internal problems"?

 

I agree, you need better diagnostics than "belt ok" or "internal problems". Conversely, you probably got your money's worth and need to spend more money just for good diagnostics.

You need to have someone pinpoint the problem... did the belt skip a tooth?... is the compression good for the engine? Only then can the problem be fixed.

 

Here is the kicker. The engine has 202K miles on it. She only paid for the first hour of work. ($75/hour). She did not want to waste very much money on an engine that has so many miles. But...these are all highway miles. It uses <1 qt of oil between oil changes at 5k/. and has not shown any problems with loss of power or engine wear. The plugs look as clean as the day I put them in.....160K. This was also when the timing belt was changed. I do not own a compression tester....Guess I will look into renting one.

 

Generally when someone says ' a banging noise and engine died', to me ,that sounds like it threw a rod or something just as serious. Thats why I suggest a quick compression test. You can buy the tester at any auto supply.

 

I finally had time to do a compression check on the escort. #1 and 2 hole 150 but #3 and 4..........the big zero.......Looks like the engine has just become a big paper weight. Anyone out there have a used SOHC 2.0l for a 99 escort? Intake is an A1. standard emissions.

 

you should look into more on why you have zero compression a burnt valve is cheap to replace if you take the head off, i am big into the turbo stuff and when things don't go right with the fuel system we burn holes in valves, look in the cylinder with a flash light through the spark plug hole and try to see if there is a hole in the piston, if there isn't you may just need a valve and not an entire motor

its an escort i wouldn't bother with a whole engine. see if you can get away with at most a head.

also check to see if the piston moves when cranking while you are looking in with a flash light

 

usually it is a head gasket blown between 3 and 4 cylinders but it could be another problem also, like a broken camshaft you can remove the valve cover to check the cam, not sure I would be pulling a head of an engine with 200,000 miles on it for repair of a head gasket, unless it was just to be able to sale it to get another vehicle. you would be better off with a complete engine either used or remanufactured if you was wanting to repair the vehicle and keep it to drive.