Died on freeway, fuel cutout light...

I was driving down the freeway and the car just died. I pulled over to the side of the road and tried to start it again. When I try to start it the fuel cutout light comes on and I get no power. Everything else comes on (music, lights etc...) but it won't turn over.

Any odeas? I checked the fuel cutoff button in the back and that was not it.

How many miles are on it and when was the timing belt changed last?

Check for fuel pressure.

When you say it does not turn over do you mean when you turn the key the starter does not crank?

How many miles are on it and when was the timing belt changed last?

Check for fuel pressure.

When you say it does not turn over do you mean when you turn the key the starter does not crank?

It has about 150,000 and I don't think we have ever changed the timing belt. How would I check if the timing belt is working?

Also, how do I check for fuel pressure?

It basically turns over but it seems as though it is out of gas, even though it has a full tank.

Thanks for your help!

I would bet a beer that it is your timing belt.

funny thing about the fuel cutout light... I rememebr from a post months ago... someone had some type of problem then suddenly noticed the fuel cutout light was on... but the fuel cutout light, along with other lights, always comes on when you first start the car.... you just never paid attention to it before.

funny thing about the fuel cutout light... I rememebr from a post months ago... someone had some type of problem then suddenly noticed the fuel cutout light was on... but the fuel cutout light, along with other lights, always comes on when you first start the car.... you just never paid attention to it before.

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, but when I checked it was the only light that comes on when I turn the key.

Can I check the timing belt myself or do I need to take it in?

You'd have to take it in, unless you want to tackle it, kind of time consuming. In a thread a while back, there was a guy whose fuel cutout was working opposite what it should...try that? pop the button up and see if that makes any difference.

It is fairly easy to check... bore complicated to fix yourself. You should be able to loosen the nuts on the timing belt cover and peek behind it to check the condition of the belt (you won't be able to get the cover off though, you will only be able to move it an inch or two).
If you don't already have a good idea of what is involved in changing the belt yourself, get it in to a shop. At an average shop with $80-90/hr labor you may be looking at something in the neighborhood of $200-300 total. Most shops will recommend that you replace the water pump at the same time and I agree that it is a good idea that you do since the labor involved is just the same. Would suck to pay a bunch of money for a new timing belt then a couple weeks later have your water pump go and have to pay the same labor all over again. A water pump should be $40 or so.

If it's the original T-belt with 150k on it I can bet it's toast. They usally only last 100-120k.

It's not really hard to fix, but it's not super easly either. If you have tool's, and are machinicly incline and can read the shop manual than you can do it your self and save some $$. The belt it's self is $15-25 and the water pump is aound $30-40, if you DIY.

I don't know if you know this but i have an escort as well and i hit a huge bump and my fuel cutoff switch went off. All you need to do is look in the back of your hatch and on the right hand side there's a little door. Open her up and inside is your fuel cutoff switch....turn it back on. This switch goes off when your car gets low on gas. Safety procedure for your fuel pump. :) Mines a 92 escort 1.9L by the way so i'm not sure if this will work for you. good luck

I had same problem in a 93 escort gt first got gallon gas make sure wasnt out nope wasnt it wouldnt start, second checked the fuel cutoff button fine wasnt tripped, third was the charm fuel filter was clogged and wasnt getting pressure buy one at walmart what i did and drove 300 miles after that to get home and still going strong and that was last month so try the fuel i bet my life on it

Well gee... it was over 2 years ago. I sure hope it is fixed by now :P

I am happy that I found this thread (and another one that I have not stumbled across again). My wife was driving down the road when her car cut off and the fuel cutoff light came on. Because of that light I was sure it was the fuel system. After checking out the fuses, cutoff switch and fuel pump, I was scratching my head when I came across this web site. Because of the comments about the timing belt, I thought I should check it EVEN though I was told the belt was replaced by the previous owner (I assumed recently but will have to check his records; he was very organize!!).

The bottom line is the timing belt was broke and I probably would not have checked it for a while since I KNEW it was ok. Hopefully he has a record of when (mileage) it was replace. Anyway I am happy I found this web site. It is a good site for information for shade tree mechanics.

:cool: