93 Escort 1.9 sluggish

[8996EBBroncos]

Hey guys, I have a 93 Escort with the 1.9 in it. Lately when the car warms up a little, it is VERY sluggish off the line. It's like you push the gas pedal to the floor and nothin. I have to hold it there till it SLOWLY gets up to speed. I have been told that it is probably the timing. If any of you have ever done a head job on one of these cars or replaced the timing belt, you know what a treat it is. Any ideas of anything else to look for before I have to tear the car all to pieces to check the timing?
The cat isn't stopped up BTW, so that can be ruled out.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

[8996EBBroncos]

With all of the Escort guru's on this site and nobody has a clue? Thought for sure I would get some good advice here, so give me some, LOL!

[Davescort97]

Ford Escort Guru says---What type of tranny do you have?

It could be incorrect ignition timing--fault in the fuel or elctrical systems--spark plugs--coil--brakes binding--low fluid in autotranny--clutch slipping--Fuel filter clogged--emissions control system--low or uneven compression.

[AzTumbleweed]

The timing is not adjustable. The only way it can be out of time is if the timing belt were put on wrong. If it were off then you would probably experience backfire through the tailpipe or throttle body. You might want to check the compression. At low RPMS there's not enough compression for good fuel burning. Do all the wheels turn freely? A brake could be dragging. Could also be a throttle position sensor. There are markers on the cam shaft and crankshart to show if it in time. You've got to get the cover off first. I took mine off and threw it away. Sorry for the delay in posting. I have another job besides this

When you are accelerating is their high RPM or low. Auro or Manual Tranny?

With this information maybe we can figure something out for you.

[8996EBBroncos]

Originally Posted by AzTumbleweed

The timing is not adjustable. The only way it can be out of time is if the timing belt were put on wrong. If it were off then you would probably experience backfire through the tailpipe or throttle body. You might want to check the compression. At low RPMS there's not enough compression for good fuel burning. Do all the wheels turn freely? A brake could be dragging. Could also be a throttle position sensor. There are markers on the cam shaft and crankshart to show if it in time. You've got to get the cover off first. I took mine off and threw it away. Sorry for the delay in posting. I have another job besides this

When you are accelerating is their high RPM or low. Auro or Manual Tranny?

With this information maybe we can figure something out for you.

It is an autotomatic and the car only does this once it warms up. I have good acceleration up until it warms up, then it gets real sluggish from a dead start. I have to hold the gas pedal down until it gets going enough to get me up to the speed of traffic. I thought it might be the cat, but it wasn't. I'm wondering if the timing belt has jumped. I've told a few Ford mechanics about the situation, and the first thing they come up with is that it sounds like a timing issue to them.
I just wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar problem, and find out what to look for.

[Davescort97]

Originally Posted by 8996EBBroncos

It is an autotomatic and the car only does this once it warms up. I have good acceleration up until it warms up, then it gets real sluggish from a dead start. I have to hold the gas pedal down until it gets going enough to get me up to the speed of traffic. I thought it might be the cat, but it wasn't. I'm wondering if the timing belt has jumped. I've told a few Ford mechanics about the situation, and the first thing they come up with is that it sounds like a timing issue to them.
I just wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar problem, and find out what to look for.

Timing belt could have slipped. I was off one notch on the camshaft-crankshaft gears when I replaced my timing belt and it ran with no power. You'd floor it and it wouldn't go anywhere. It made this sound like---baaaaaahhhhhh. Didn't miss out, it just had no power at all.

[dlbdata]

I had a similar sudden loss of power, but the car was stumbling very badly, idling very rough. When I took the spark plugs out I immediately noticed 1 cylinder stunk like raw gas, and spark plug looked gasoline soaked. I left that spark plug unplugged and started the car, car ran exactly the same. So it was obvious that cylinder was not firing. Swapping spark plug cables around I determined it was not the cables, which narrowed it down to either the ignition coil pack or something beyond that. Picked up a new coil pack, and problem was solved.

As I said though the car was running extremely rough, don't know if yours is doing that or not. Good luck.

[Davescort97]

Originally Posted by dlbdata

I had a similar sudden loss of power, but the car was stumbling very badly, idling very rough. When I took the spark plugs out I immediately noticed 1 cylinder stunk like raw gas, and spark plug looked gasoline soaked. I left that spark plug unplugged and started the car, car ran exactly the same. So it was obvious that cylinder was not firing. Swapping spark plug cables around I determined it was not the cables, which narrowed it down to either the ignition coil pack or something beyond that. Picked up a new coil pack, and problem was solved.

As I said though the car was running extremely rough, don't know if yours is doing that or not. Good luck.

Thanks dlbdata for letting us know. I'll have to remember about it being the coil pack. Hey! It fixed the problem and you didn't have to tear half the engine apart to get it. Good job!