97 escort ran rough then died, wont start

[hwoolfolk]

My daughter has this escort that died 2 days ago. She told me that she it had been running rough, that to go up hills she would need to put it into low, and that at a stop light she would need to rev the engine with one foot on the brake to keep it running. It died and when I went to check it out I put some gas in the air intake and it tried to start.. but ran real rough and sputtered. Couldnt get it to run well at all.

It has maybe 90K miles.. Im thinking fuel pump. I should be able to hear it cycle up when I pop the trunk, right? put my head in the trunk and hear it?

Also, her muffler system is gone (hanging). Could that have anything to do with it? Like an O2 telling the brain something it shouldnt? There is a CEL but I dont have a tool to check it.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[dlbdata]

Are you getting spark at all cylinders? My ignition coil went bad & was only firing 3 cylinders, ran real rough.

[GTP Dad]

There are several possible issues here. First the coil is a definite possibility. I would change it and check and possibly replace the plugs at the same time. Second thing to check is the fuel filter. Has it been replaced. If the fuel pump is operating then the filter could be blocked and causing the engine to starve for fuel. Another possibility is a blocked Cat. If the car won't start and has fuel and spark then the cat may be blocked choking off the engine. This is probably why she had to put it into low to climb a hill. Finally, has the timing belt been changed every 70K miles. If not the car may have jumped time and the belt will need replaced and the engine put into correct timing. Just a few places to look at when trying to repair this one.