Timing Belt Problems

[Rs2sensen]

I've got a 1985 Ford Thunderbird Turbo Coupe.
I had the timing belt changed on the car. It was starting to get several cracks in it. Also did the thermostat and waterpump at the same time.

The car runs fine when it's just the timing belt on it. When the belts for the water pump, etc. are hooked up, and the timing cover is put on, the engine stalls right after you start it.

We changed the distributer cap and rotor because they were pretty worn. I also put on new battery cables, spark plugs, and spark plug cables. The fuel pressure is fine. Timing marks are lined up perfectly, and the timing reads perfect with a timing light. We've gone over every vacuum hose we can find to make sure there are no leaks.

I had been working with two local mechanics, and we've about run out of ideas. We brought the car to a local Autolab shop to have the computer tested and see if they could think of anything else. They checked the timing, pulled everything apart, and ran into the exact same thing. The car runs perfectly when it's just the timing belt.

Any ideas?

Ryan

[97Bird]

Did it run well before you replaced the timing belt? How does it run with the other belts removed?

[Rs2sensen]

It ran perfectly before changing the timing belt.



When it's just the timing belt with the other belts off, the engine runs pretty well. When the other belts, timing cover, and pulley get put back on, the engine stalls out.

[97Bird]

With everything put back together except the fan belts, see how it runs.

[rhandwor]

Originally Posted by Rs2sensen

It ran perfectly before changing the timing belt.



When it's just the timing belt with the other belts off, the engine runs pretty well. When the other belts, timing cover, and pulley get put back on, the engine stalls out.

Roll over the other pulleys by hand if hard to turn or seized up replace check idler pulley for the A-C as the weather got cold.
Otherwise I think the belt is a tooth off easy to do double check all timing marks.

[Rs2sensen]

Hey guys,
All of the pulleys seem to be turning correctly. The car is now at a shop that runs about $75 an hour and have gone through everything my mechanics and I have done (who are less than half that price). They've verified that the timing is perfect and the belt is perfectly on. The car runs when its everything but the V-belts, but, it doesn't seem to have much power at all now.

The shop did look at my spark plugs, and found that they had gotten pretty oil-fouled, which concerned me. I changed the plugs only a month ago.

The vehicle only has 75k miles, and I know the original owner, but the car sat for several years before I got it. I had intended on replacing all of the valve seals and other gaskets anyways (I was just hoping to wait until around Thanksgiving/Xmas when I had some time off). At this point, I'm thinking I'll pull it home from the shop again, and try changing out all of that stuff. I figure I can spend money on a diagnostic that isn't finding anything, or I can put that money towards ripping off parts and improving the car for when we get it running. (Or, getting the head off and finding the engine isn't worth looking at).

Even if it doesn't run after we do that, it at least likely needed to be done anyways.

My only other thought is that somehow the water pump we put on is bad/reverse flow/something that could maybe possibly kinda stall out the engine. But, unfortunately the original pump got put to scrap before we realized it, so I'm out of luck there as far as an easy scientific method.

[Rs2sensen]

We also verified that the turbo is working correctly. The computer isn't putting out any error codes and seems to be operating correctly.

[rhandwor]

Originally Posted by Rs2sensen

Hey guys,
All of the pulleys seem to be turning correctly. The car is now at a shop that runs about $75 an hour and have gone through everything my mechanics and I have done (who are less than half that price). They've verified that the timing is perfect and the belt is perfectly on. The car runs when its everything but the V-belts, but, it doesn't seem to have much power at all now.

The shop did look at my spark plugs, and found that they had gotten pretty oil-fouled, which concerned me. I changed the plugs only a month ago.

The vehicle only has 75k miles, and I know the original owner, but the car sat for several years before I got it. I had intended on replacing all of the valve seals and other gaskets anyways (I was just hoping to wait until around Thanksgiving/Xmas when I had some time off). At this point, I'm thinking I'll pull it home from the shop again, and try changing out all of that stuff. I figure I can spend money on a diagnostic that isn't finding anything, or I can put that money towards ripping off parts and improving the car for when we get it running. (Or, getting the head off and finding the engine isn't worth looking at).

Even if it doesn't run after we do that, it at least likely needed to be done anyways.

My only other thought is that somehow the water pump we put on is bad/reverse flow/something that could maybe possibly kinda stall out the engine. But, unfortunately the original pump got put to scrap before we realized it, so I'm out of luck there as far as an easy scientific method.

Check that the upper and lower radiator hose is getting hot. Verify that the engine is at proper operating temperature. A thermostat that is stuck open will cause the engine to run very rich.

[97Bird]

We changed the distributer cap and rotor because they were pretty worn. I also put on new battery cables, spark plugs, and spark plug cables. The fuel pressure is fine. Timing marks are lined up perfectly, and the timing reads perfect with a timing light. We've gone over every vacuum hose we can find to make sure there are no leaks.

Were all of these things done prior to replacing the timing belt and the engine ran well with normal power after they were replaced? How long have you been driving it since it sat for several years? I would also do a compression test at this time.

[Rs2sensen]

Hey guys, ended up re-adjusting the distributer and cleaning a few sensors and got the car to fire right up. We must have adjusted that timing 4-5 times.

Car ran fine for a couple weeks, and now isn't running again, but that's a new thread!