Rough Idle

3 days ago while traveling the Timing Belt broke. After the garage we took it to replace the timing belt alot of smoke came out of the exhaust. I was told it was because there was a buildup of oil inside the engine when I tried to see if it would restart. To me that does not sound right as the car never smoked before and I did not think it should of smoked now. The smoking did go away by the time I got the car back home 5 hours later.

However now I am noticing that the idle seems rough when I am sitting at a stop light and the cars seems lack some of the power it used to have.

The mechanic assured me that there was no damage to the valves or pistons but now I am wondering if there was.

What is the year and engine size? They might of got the timing off.

It is a 1995 Ford Escort 1.9L

The valve timing could be off by the marks on the head and lower pulley. I had mine off by 1 notch. It idled rough and when I drove it, it just went baaaah and had no power. I'd bet dollars to donuts the valve timing is off by at least one notch. I hope you can take it back. Your engine is a noninterference engine ie. the pistons and valves can't be damaged if the timing belt breaks. They need to take the timing cover off and check the marks to make sure they line up. If they're off even 1 notch the car will have noticeably less power. I hope you were close enough to home to take it back to them. There is no reason it should have smoked except for the timing to be off.

Unfortunatly I can not take it back I live in NYS and the car broke down when we got into Maryland. I will take it to a Ford Dealership here at home and have them check it. Thanks.