My mom's 99 Escort quit running. We pulled it to a mechanic who said the problem was in the cylinder head, or in that area. I'm guessing a timing problem. I loosened the rockers and none of the valves pulled out, so there are no broken valve stems.

Any ideas on how to check the timing on this thing? It has the 2 liter SOHC motor.

Any mechanics in the Pittsburgh, PA area who can help me with this mystery problem? If I at least knew what was wrong or how to check the codes that would be a start.

Put piston #1 at TDC on compression, lign up the timing marks, and it should be pretty close.

What is the eaxct symtoms of the car. Describe the problem.

It's either the timing belt (can skip a tooth also). The 97+ have a problems with fuel pumps also.