1993 Ford Escort 1.9L LX

[Ebranste]

Hello. I am looking for help with my brother's escort. We had it towed to my place from the interstate. At this point, it will not turn over.

I ahve checked for fuel after the fuel pump, i know the fuel pump works because i disconneced the outgoing line from the pump, put the ignition to 'ON' and was able to get a decent amount of spray. Also, I pulled a few fo the plugs and was able to confirm spark. I haven't pulled ou the air filter, but I do not suspect that to be the problem.

What happenned to this thing is his girlfriend was driving it and the car overheated. After that, the story gets a llittle gray. I assume she let it cool got some coolant into it and continued to drive it around. That happened 1 week prior. What it has beendoing is when it was idleing, it would spray coolant from a little box with a round hole(release valve?) located on the top front right of the engine(facing it) just below the valve cover. This of course seemed to be aimed directly at the radiator cooling fan which nicely dispersed rusty colored coolant all over the place........like everywhere.

Last night the car died while doing 55 down the interstate, but it restarted and made it about 10 more minutes before dying again. Now it will not start at all.

The way it cranks is hard for me to describe. Its like if I pull out the spark plugs from my honda and crank it, it is just smooth turning, with the exception of the sound of the starter, but the engine does not shift at each interval or anything like that. The escort basically does that, but every 2 to 3 seconds, it will shift and make that sound like its trying to do something. I believe this is caused by lack of compression in most of the cylinders.


My idea is that the head gasket is probably shot.........primarily because i've seen it happen before on a domestic that ran, but just spewed coolant form a release valve in the engine compartment...i think it was a ford too.

If anyone can help out with some advice, my brother and myself would really appreciate it. Thanks everyone.

[mechy1barry]

pressure test it to find out! or fill with water turn engine over for a few secs,does the water overflow.? yes-head gasket! no, suspect cam belt,but do confirm by pressure test.

[Ebranste]

so just refill the radiator with water and try to crank it? it wont turn over, but it will crank and crank........

where am i supposed to look for water? should I remove a few of the spark plugs or should I notice water from somewhere else?

sorry......not entirely sure how to do this yet.

[mechy1barry]

you say it won,t turn over?but it will just crank and crank?it must be turning the crankshaft then?if you take out plugs and crank it, you may see water ejected.other wise leave plugs in,crank it over ,water should come from filler if gasket gone big time.are the plugs wet with coolant?is the oil contaminated?

[jeffescortlx]

Check the timing belt, it could of jumped a few teeth.
If it did over heat, it could be a head gasket, or droped a valve seat

[ebritt]

if it turns over like there are no spark plugs in it you have a chewed up timing belt.

[Ebranste]

I checked out the timing belt and it is tight and looks to be in good shape. What I need to know is how to check for compression properly.

[bigrod118]

hey I can help. I just finsihed fixing this problem about 30 mintues ago....PS, make sure you ahve more antifreeze then water...makes the car run. but anyway. when you said that there was coolant spraying from a little bolt hole thing right under the valve cover...thats the thermostate. if its leaking, it of course needs to be replaced. then of course, after that, completely drain then refill the coolant. try to start it. hopefully thats all the problem is. but, what might have heppened, is what just happend to me. if it didnt want to start, or wont now, and at first was stuttering, like it was underwater trying to breath. take out the spark plug covers and check for water, a little bit seeped in mine and I cold tell right away. and if there is some there, soak it up really good. and try running it. if it fills up. you probably blew the head gasket. if that car overheated, there wasnt the right concetratino and if it was cold enough, all that water froze then expanded and craked everything it could. but there are a lot of things that could be wrong. I can gaurentee you that it wouldnt be the air filter, that wont stop the car from running. well, I suppose it its bad enouhg, and it isnt getting enough air, the mass air flow sensor wont like that and it'll kill the car. I hope any of this helped.

[jeffescortlx]

Originally Posted by Ebranste

I checked out the timing belt and it is tight and looks to be in good shape. What I need to know is how to check for compression properly.

I just got done working on a 91 scort where the T-belt looked fine but it jumped about 7 teeth.

[Ebranste]

thanks everyone for all your suggestions so far..

One of my replies never made it. I was wondering what exactly do i need to do to properly check for compression in each cylinder?

Also, when I check for the head gasket, should coolant be flowing out of the spark plug socket holes withot the sparks plugs in?

[bigrod118]

--Also, when I check for the head gasket, should coolant be flowing out of the spark plug socket holes withot the sparks plugs in?--

oh lord no. nothing should be in the spark plug sockets except spark plugs. if there is coolant in there, ever, its bad. you cracked something, proly the head. nothing but air and the spark plugs should be in the sockets.

[mechy1barry]

try this to check for coolant in the cylinders,insert plugs,leave leads off,turn engine over a dozen or so times ,remove plugs and see if any coolant on them,shake into your hand.to check your compresions you will need to borrow the correct tester.or buy one ,they are quite cheap.

[Ebranste]

I should be clearer in my question. What I need to know is to test the head gasket, what exactly should I be looking for? Please be specific. The car is gonna go to a scapyard if I can't get the thing running again. It's in pretty bad shape. The only thing it had going for it was it ran and the a/c worked. Otherwise, it's kinda a POS.


Someone please give me detailed instructions on testing the head gasket. Thanks everyone.

[Fritz The Cat]

Run a compression check. Remove plug, screw in compression tester, turn over engine (watch the needle, you want the needle to pulse at least 3 times), write down results. Repeat for other cylinders. Then repeat test, this time squirt about a teaspoon of motor oil thru the sparkplug hole just before screwing in the compression tester. Do the same for the rest of the cylinders, post your results here.