I have watched all the utube videos on how to change the timing belt on the 1.9 liter and none of them address the problem of a broken belt , they always say to align the marks on the crank and the cam and then pull the belt off at that point your good to go to install the new belt , but if you do that when the belt has broken you only have a 1in 4 chance that the spark will be at the right time. if you have a distributer you could solve this issue by rotating the crank untill the roter was ponted at the #1 wire but with the escort you dont have that option (no distributor ) now if I bring the # 1 piston to TDC and install the belt with the proper marks that increases the odds of spark hitting correctly from 1 in 4 to 50/50 , I would like to know how to find out which one of the 4 crank revolutions will send the spark to the # 1 cyl when I line up the crank and cam marks.
Thank you
Eddie

 

Hello and thanks for your reply but I understand all that on setting up the timing for the cam and the crank, the part I dont understand is if the belt has broken
and you are not able to set the timing marks on the crank and cam at TDC BEFORE you remove the belt you have 4 different positions of rotation of the crank before the cam turns one time , one of those rotations is when the #1 spark plug fires and that is what I am trying to establish . If the 1.9 had a distributer you could roll the crank up to 4 times till the roter pointed at the # 1 spark plug wire and the crank would be at TDC at that point you would line up the cam and install the belt.
If you were to rotate the crank 360 degrees more, the 2 marks would still be on but the spark would be going to the wrong cylinder, Right?

 

I believe you will need to remove the #1 spark plug ,turn the engine over in the direction of normal rotation until the #1 piston comes up to a compression stroke and a timing mark lines up with the crank gear. Then you would need to rotate the camshaft so both valves for #1 cyl are in fully closed position. You probably could confirm the position by confirming the dist rotor is pointing to #1 spark plug wire tower on the cap. The timing mark on the cam gear should be pretty close to the desired position.Now the marks are lined up correctly and the belt can be installed. Just remember to rotate the engine at least 2 full revolutions MANUALLY, to confirm all is well by checking that the timing marks are still lined up correctly. Make sure when you adjust the tensioner you take up all the slack so there is no slack as the crank gear pulls the belt on the cam gear.

 

Thanks for replying Hanky and you input is much appreciated , but all I see is a coil pack where a distributor should be. Am I missing something? Please PLEASE help me solve this problem I have searched and searched till my fingers bleed and found nothing on how to get the spark to hit at the right time.

 

Suggest you check ,
www.Easy Auto Diagnostics
select, FORD 1.9L-2.0L
Because it is quite lengthy , better you see all the checks.