97 Escort timing belt replacement

My son has a 97 Escort 2.0 with 155k. Can't say it's in great shape, but the engine usually runs pretty smoothly. The other day, he was leaving the house and the car lost power and ran roughly. He got it back to the house, and today it would not start. 30psi fuel and spark was present. (Just pulled a plug and visually watched as cranked.) Then pulled off the timing cover an found a broken belt. (Never replaced.)

The belt replacement seems like a pain but doable. What I don't know is there was any head or other damage that would make replacing the time belt a waste. I've read historical threads referring to "interference" vs. "non-interference" engines and don't know what that means.

Any advice on evaluating the engine condition before proceeding?

The belt doesn't seem expensive, but I would hate to waste time replacing it only to find the head is no good.

This would be my first timing belt replacement.

Thanks for any help,

According to wikipedia under "Ford CVH engine" and also this chart from Gates http://www.gates.com/downloads/download_common.cfm?file=GatesTBR.pdf&folder=brochure your engine is a non-interference engine. What that means is, even if your engine goes out of time, the piston will not touch the valves if they are opened when the piston is at the end of it's stroke. An interference engine is the opposite. There shouldn't be any damage just a broken belt. Inspect the gear teeth for damage and change the water pump too while your in there. You can buy a timing belt kit that contains the water pump too.

Prompt reply and good advice about the water pump. I hope you're right about the engine, but I'm a little concerned about the info in the Gates document as it also doesn't indicate that the water pump is driven by the timing belt (but of course it is).