My baby let me down today and I'm not sure where to start.
Was doing about 50 mph and the motor died instantaneously, no coughing and sputtering. I thought I threw a belt but Now it will crank, and sounds like it's ready to go but no life. Has to be either fuel or spark right? But I'm not sure where to start. Unfortunately I was in the MIDDLE of the freeway so had to have it towed and it's now at a small shop that was close by.

Gentlemen, what are the first items that I (or the guy in the shop) should be going over?

Your help is very much appreciated.

Thanks,

BK

 

Is the MIL/CEL on? If so, scan it and see what codes came up and go from there.

Personally, without any more info, I would think it's the fuel pump. Can you hear it run when you turn the key "ON"? If no, then check your inertia switch, fuses, and wiring. If it runs, then:

If nothing, then check for spark & fuel. See if the plugs are sparking (all of them), make sure the injectors are injecting (should be able to hear them click if you put a stethoscope on them), make sure you have good fuel pressure. If all checks out, then check timing, as the belt might have slipped, or has a few broken teeth on it causing it to skip.

If all passes the green light, I.E. its in time, its got spark, its got fuel, then it becomes serious, because it could be the camshaft out of whack, broken or bent valve lifters, burnt out valves, or even bent connecting rods that could cause this problem. But I would quite think it's a fuel/spark/time issue, perhaps a blown coil, or a damaged belt.


That's what I would do in this situation. Somebody may have a better idea. Good luck.

 

your engine should have a timing belt

if it does , did you have the belt changed over to a new 1 ,

sounds like your timing belt snapped ( not good )

 

IF his belt snapped he would have heard\felt the pistons hitting his valves unless its non interference.

Pull a plug, hold it to the block and check spark if spark check fuel pump fuse if that's good check compression.

An engine needs 3 things.
Spark, fuel, oxygen. One of those missing and no more running engine.

 

Good/Bad news. Bad news is that it was the timing belt. Thought that may have been the case but didn't think it would crank without the belt. Good news is that my initial research sounds like it's not an interference motor. Plus I didn't hear any bumping and grinding when I tried turning it over.

It died so fast, I mean instantaneously, that I was pretty sure it wasn't fuel since that almost always sputters out before it dies. I'm grabbing a trailer and going to get it. Guys at the shop will do the job for $300 which is a good deal but once I found out it was timing belt there's no guarantee it will run after replacement so I'd rather do it myself. If it still won't run then I'll be shopping for a rebuilt motor. :) Thanks gentlemen! I'll let you know how it goes.



BK

 

+1 for Cheese_man

 

timing belts need to be changed at regular intervals

usually every 40,000 u.s miles depending on what the service manual states

 

should probably run. i've got the 2.3 motor and that's a non interference engine, the 2.5's bigger so even more probably is.

 

Yeah man, the 2.5l is a non interference motor. Expect the job to take you the better part of a morning if you have another set of competent hands. I used a how to i found on google which ran down all the steps with pictures.

And 300 a good price, cheapest i got quoted last summer was 450 from ford.

 

I had the same thing happen on my '96 2.3. Like you, I freaked out when I saw it was the timing belt. But I got the belt replaced and no problems since. You should be fine.

You should replace it every 100k miles I think. My original belt broke at 164k