93 Dodge Spirit problem

[porcelina68]

I bought it used a few months ago, and it was fine up until yesterday. While driving home from the store, as soon as I turned off the main road, something happened to it. I didn't hear any noise, but I felt it loose power, and begin to sputter. I parked it in the driveway, and let it cool down a bit. When my husband and I went to start it, it did start, but it was idling very rough. Black smoke was coming out of the exhaust, and it smelled like gasoline.

Under the hood, it doesn't look like anything is wrong, but there looks to be a broken connection of a couple of wires leading to a component that I think said "Compressor Clutch" on the side of it. Could this broken connection be the cause of my problems?

[porcelina68]

The mechanic said that hubby should be able to drive the car in, so he will be doing that in a little while. Everything I've read on the internet this morning leads me to believe that it is most likely an O2 sensor. Hopefully it isn't anything major.

[porcelina68]

After not starting for a while, hubby was able to get it to the mechanic. I don't know how involved they were able to get yet, but they told him that it looked like it was the timing belt. Does anyone know how expensive a repair this is likely to be? I've never had that happen before.

[theFREAKnasty82]

what engine do you have, a 4 cylinder or 6? Second, does your check engine light come on? If it's running rough like that, it could be a bad sensor, like you mentioned before a bad oxygen sensor, MAP sensor, TPS, or even a bad fuel pressure regulator, just to name a few. As far as the timing is concerned, unless the timing belt was recently replaced and the tensioner was too tight or the belt was out of alignment, your belt jumping time could happen, but most times when its worn, it breaks. How many miles are on the car?

[porcelina68]

Originally Posted by theFREAKnasty82

what engine do you have, a 4 cylinder or 6? Second, does your check engine light come on? If it's running rough like that, it could be a bad sensor, like you mentioned before a bad oxygen sensor, MAP sensor, TPS, or even a bad fuel pressure regulator, just to name a few. As far as the timing is concerned, unless the timing belt was recently replaced and the tensioner was too tight or the belt was out of alignment, your belt jumping time could happen, but most times when its worn, it breaks. How many miles are on the car?

It's a 4 cylinder, and it has roughly 163,000 miles on it. When I bought it a few months ago, the mechanic that works at the used car lot told me that it had just had an oil change as well as a tune up. Nothing was mentioned about the timing belt, and I doubt that the lot would have those records. Up until Tuesday, when it started giving me trouble, it was driving like a dream.

[porcelina68]

UPDATE: It's my camshaft. Isn't THAT wonderful?

[CanaMark]

Cam aint to bad, crankshaft is worse