98 escort wont start but engine turn over

Ok last month I got in my '98 Escort and drove my son to practice... Then two hours later my car wouldn't start, but would turn over. Some time making an odd sound while it tried to turn over.
Now I've checked the fuel pump, fuel filter, spark plugs (they did seem to be very dark and smelled of gas only 3 month old), battery, all seem to funtion ok. We have taken one of the plugs out and checked to see if we had spark againt the block (and do) and I'm stuck I need more direction, I have limited funds so I need to do as much of the work my self as possible, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh, by the way the car had ran fine up until it just wouldn't start, and the "check engine" light had been on since I got the car.

Welcome to AF!

You are getting fuel (wet spark plugs) and spark so it could be that the timing belt has broken. Shine a light into the oil filler hole while turning the engine over. If you can't see the valve train moving you have a broken timing belt. When the belt is broken, it will turn over unevenly.

Ditto on the timing belt.... easy to check but expensive to repair at the shop... or time consuming if you do it on your own.

Ok, sorry I was on vacation last week so no internet access. So I took off the timing belt cover and looking at the valve components while turning over the engine showed now movement and before I got the timing belt off, we losened up the cover enough to see that the belt did not move (only a little when we were done trying to turn it over) so we figured the timing belt was broken........ that's not the case, it still looks in tact and in one piece. So my next question is before I tear this thing apart anymore is would it or could it be ignition, neutral saftey? Ahhhh!!!! This is frustrating. HELP!!!!

You say you visually verified there is no movement at the valves... and you also saw that the timing belt was not turning....

Your timing belt is broken. Depending on where the break is, and how it is sitting on the pulleys, it may appear to be intact and even feel as if there is some tension on it if the teeth of the belt are still in the grooves. The only reason that it would not turn is if it is broken.

By the way- and I am just taking a wild guess- your check engine light is probably related to the oxygen sensor. You should get the code checked out.

If the engine is turning over the timing belt should be turning unless it has stripped off the teeth on the belt. I've had them shear teeth off before. Changing the timing belt on an Escort is a pretty easy job if you're mechanically minded. If you take it to a garage to have a belt put on don't let them tell you your engine is probably ruined, because the Escort has a non interference engine and seldom have any damage. I had one break on my '88 Pony several years ago and all I did was bring it home, put it in the garage, line up the timing marks, put a belt on it and fire up. That engine now has 495K miles.

FordMan is right. The teeth on the belt shear off at the crankshaft. Belt will look all right, but won't turn.

Ok, all great feed back so far guys!!!! So can any of you tell me if this timing belt issue is the ONLY reason for the engine to turn over but not start? Did I mention that I put a compression guage on the first 2 cylinders??? At #1 it only read about 90lbs, and the #2 cylinder only got to about 55lbs and that is where I stopped, thinking that no valve movement plus the belt only moving after we stopped trying to the engine over (the belt only moved about a 1/4" to 3/4" if that much) and not moving at all that we had figured it out.
And even if the belt were broken and just in a wierd spot where it appears to be intact, would the fact that when I had a buddy tow me home I put the car into 1st gear (4 speed manuel) it seemed to not have much to any compression.... It didn't jerk hard like normal for a push/pull start.... wouldn't that have moved that timing belt around to where that belt would not be on track any more?? And it if so, could we be looking at a different issue?? Neutral safety, starter not engaged correctly, Hmmmmm???? And does this Escort have a trouble shooting code that make the engine light to "blink" a number times to give some kind of indication of an issue?

I've replaced the timing belt on my '94 many times and have also noticed a tooth or few missing before.

For every two turns of the crank shaft, the cam shaft turns once. If the cam doesn't move precisely along with the crank, a stripped and/or broken timing belt or tensioner is the likely possibility. Confirm this by turning the crank to it's timing mark then checking the cam against it's mark. If after two turns they never line up, then your timing has slipped.

It's possible for belts to fail prematurely due to excessive slack, most often the result of stretching but also can be caused by the tensioner slipping from it's locked position. In anticipation of belt stretching I've started giving the spring loaded tensioner a bit of help prior to locking it in place. Belts seem to last a bit longer for me that way.

Check the maintenance schedule. It may say that the TBelt should be replaced every 60-100 thousand miles. Heed this. I never understood why folks just wait until they break when this is an inevitable eventuality; especially on other vehicles with interference engine designs such as the Dodgy Neons.

If you really want to know how difficult the repair is and what is required, those Haynes manuals pay for themselves countless times over. Spend the $15 or whatever. Borrow some tools and be sure to return them undamaged, until you can afford your own. Make sure those bolts are torqued to spec. Be sure to change the oil after you get it running because you're dumping a lot of fuel in there. Make sure that you get the timing marks and tensioner torque perfect.

Doing the job yourself does require some aptitude only meaning that you'll want to have some experienced help with you. Take'em out to dinner or something; still far cheaper than paying a garage.

You have already confirmed it- it is your timing belt.

Intuit, thank you for that helpful info. That is the first place that I'll start. And Thank you to all of the rest of you for some guidance with my car repairs, this car is a piece of crap, but it's the last thing my brother owned before he passed away last June 12th, so it's not a car that I wanted to just get rid of or part out. I'd like to keep this in the family for a long time to come. Thank you all, I'll keep you posted on my adventures with this thing as I go!

Sorry about your loss.

With a little bit of familiarization, you may get a better impression of the Escort. I find them rather tough little buggers ... some quirks, yes ... but overall an easy car to keep on the road.

Have you taken the plastic belt cover off? It's a bit of a challenge ... a knuckle buster. But once off, you can leave it off ... or you can do a bit of altering so its not so difficult to remove later. Anyway, only with the cover off can you see what's moving and what's not. Sometimes marking a pulley with "Wite-Out" helps keep track...

Yes, I got the plastic cover off, the altinator and bracket off so now I can see the belt, and it looks like it's in one piece. I still need to get the motor turned over while I see if the teeth (on the belt) are gone and it's just stationary while the crankshaft pully turns. So how hard is it to change out my water pump while I'm this far into the front of this little motor, I briefly looked it over and felt like this is going to be tougher than the timing belt. And I work with a guy who was going to give me an email adress for a site that has a REALLY good & detailed "how to", similar to a chiltons manual, but much, much better. He said it's about $14 to $15 on line. This guy is a space case and I can't get him to remember to bring it to work so I can look into it..... any thoughts on a name guys??
Hey, can we post pic's on this site to show each other what it is we're all looking at?

He was probably referring to http://www.alldatadiy.com/about_alldata/index.html but personally I wasn't impressed. Had one experience with an old Chiltons manual and all I can say is "never again". Haynes seems to be as good as it gets in my opinion and nothing is bullet-proof.

Ok guys, I have turned the engine over with the timing belt cover off and I can see the water pump pulley turning and my belt is not! So I called a local auto parts store for prices on the water pump, timing belt and tensioner & accessory belt and the lady at Pep Boys is trying to tell me that my engine is NOT a non-interfrearnce engine. I was under the impression that it was.
So my question is.... does it matter? If I drove the car from point A to point B, the my car never started after that then either way I should be fine right??? No valve damage to worry about?? Hhhmmm??? Because my plan is to install a new water pump, tensioner, timing belt & accessory belt and be done (after setting my timing marks). Advice guys, Thanks...

You have a non-interference engine. for a number of reasons, I avoid Pep Boys at all costs.

If your belt isn't turning then your water pump pulley shouldn't be either... I'm thinking you are looking at a different pulley. If you have the cover off it should be easy to determine if the belt is broken or stripped... did you figure out why it isn't turning?

You have a good game plan... save your money and stick to it... and find a better store to do business with.

Starter attaches to the flywheel and drives the crank right ? So he probably meant that he saw the damper/crank pulley turning and the belt not. That's the lowest pulley in the line-up. The waterpump and tensioner will be the 2nd from the bottom and the camshaft pulley at the top.