No compression

[Partsman41953]

I have a 1997 Dodge Avenger ES with 128,000 miles but the car is in excellent condition. My wife and I use the car sparingly and being an ex-mechanic I take care of the car and do routine maintenance on it periodically. I got out of the business when I hurt my back.

Yesterday my wife went to start the car and it cranked like normal, then she heard a pop, then the engine started turning over freely like there was no compression. Two and a half years ago with just over 110,000 miles I had the timing belt replaced and thought it was the same problem that maybe the belt that was used was defective. The mechanic that is working on the car tells me that the belt is fine but 2 of the front cylinders have 20 and 40 lbs of compression while the 3rd cylinder up front is 140. He did say that there was some oil in the cylinders as well but no oil in the radiator. I was thinking maybe rings but not all of a sudden like this.

Any ideas what might be the problem? The car ran fine before this happened.

[theFREAKnasty82]

that doesn't sound too good. It sounds like the timing belt jumped teeth and it bent a few valves, thus the low compression. Have your mechanic remove the intake plenum and check compression on the back three cylinders. That way you'll know if you have to have both heads removed or just one.