93 Escort Wagon stalled, won't go
 

Hey there-- my girlfriend owns a '93 Escort wagon with the 1.9L engine. A couple of weeks ago I was driving it around and it started to stall, as if it wasn't receiving fuel. I got it towed back home, and the consensus around my buddies was that it was the fuel pump (the car has about 85,000 miles on it). So, went ahead and replaced the fuel pump (what an adventure that was!) and hoped for the best. The starter is going, but it won't turn over, although I can hear the fuel pump whir for a couple of seconds when I turn the key to "on". She's owned this car for a long time, and we don't make a ton of money, and I really don't want to take it into the dealer for an expensive repair with all the extras they'll try to get me to do.

Here's the troubleshooting so far: fuses all look good, the car's electrical all seems to be fine, worked absolutely fine before this stall, just replaced the battery a few months ago, and there's definitely plenty of fuel in the tank. I'm pretty technically savvy, as I own a '68 VW Bug (sorry, folks) but a car this new with ECUs and EFI and all the other stuff is beyond me. I'd appreciate any help you can give me!

Oh, yeah.. forgot to mention that all the belts seem to be in working order, and I don't remember when the spark plugs were changed last, but this car doesn't see a lot of miles so it's probably been less than 5,000 miles since last plug change.

Hi Chris..

At 85K if the timing belt wasn't replaced at some point (?) it might be suspect too.. When the engine is cranked over does it sound like the cranking speed is 'unbalanced' or any popping out of the intake or exhaust? Any excess fuel smell? If you've already checked it for a good healthy spark, and if you can check for a decent fuel pressure/volume at the fuel rail it would help to try and diagnose the no start.. Will it fire off with a short shot of ether into the intake? If it does run on the prime shot,, then you can take the belt and spark related components out of the equation..

I was thinking timing belt too. You'll need to check it good on the back side, because lots of times they don't actually break they just shear some of the teeth off and the timing gets so far off the car will not run. If the timing belt checks out see if you have fire going to plugs.

I'll check the timing belt again. I thought I had checked all the belts, and they had looked in good shape, but I'll check again.

The cranking doesn't sound unbalanced or in any way different than a normal start-- I'm not sure where the fuel rail is on this model (no manual has been helpful with this so far), and I have no way of checking the pressure, since I don't have any kind of instruments for that. There's no excess fuel smell too, and I'm not seeing any fuel leaking or anything else inside the motor or outside the car.

Thanks for the input so far-- I'll check the timing belt and get back to everyone. If that doesn't work, I'll take a spark plug out and check for fire to the plugs (from my VW experience, that's an easy thing for me...)

While I'm waiting to check the timing belt, does anyone have an idea of an easy way to change that blasted fuel filter? I've found it, and it doesn't look like it's easy to come at from either above and below, with those crazy clips... my VW uses regular hose clamps, but it's a totally different animal, so I didn't know what way to go at it.

Okay, I found out that the serpentine belt on the outside passenger side is not the timing belt... without taking the head cover off, is there an easy way to see if the timing belt is working or not? I thought I heard someone mention taking off the oil filler, and shining a light down into it to see if the valves were turning, but I figured I'd ask you guys.

I would recommend taking the timing belt cover off (black cover behind the serpentine belt) and checking the timing belt. Be sure to check the belt all the way around because usually they don't break they just shear off some teeth. It is possible that the valve train would still be moving, but the belt could have lost some of the teeth therefore jumping time. If the belt is broken or has missing teeth all you'll need to do is line up the timing marks and put another belt on it. There shouldn't be any engine damage regardless of what some mechanics will tell you, because the 1.9L and 2.0L Escort engine are non interference engines and the piston won't hit the valves if the timing is off. I've had 2 timing belts break on my '88 Escort Pony and it hasn't ever caused any damage. It now has 499K+ miles and is still being driven daily.

Okay, I haven't gotten to the car lately, but I'm going to have a mobile mechanic that a co-worker has recommended take a look at it--once we start taking stuff off the motor to diagnose it, I quickly start getting out of my depth. Anyway, if anyone has a good method for getting off the fuel filter without resorting to quadruple-jointed arms, I'd love to hear it!

I've never owned a 2nd generation Escort so I don't even know where the fuel filter is located on it. Maybe someone who has a 2nd generation will chime in and give you some tips.