Cam belt gone on 96 1.4 litre Escort :(
- Thread starter PuncH
- Start date
Man of Honour
Very likely time for a new car unless you can do all the work yourself.
Man of Honour
It's a CVH, easiest to get a second hand head for about £20 and swap it yourself. The piston crowns MAY have been damaged but you won't find out until you lift the head off.
My belt went on my old 1400s fiesta (same engine)..i put a belt on it but had no compression on 2 cylinders..as i was skint at the time i drove it for over a month like that lol..
Go get your-self a haynes manual as its an easy engine to work on..
Go get your-self a haynes manual as its an easy engine to work on..
Associate
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- 4 Jan 2005
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- 407
Many years ago, I had a 1.4 CVH Escort. Slowing down for a roundabout, the engine died. When I tried to restart it, it whizzed round really easily, with no induction/exhaust sounds. I assumed that the cambelt had failed, and called the AA.
Turns out that it had run out of oil, so the hydraulic lifters weren't pumping up. 4 liters of oil later, and it ran fine for another 40,000 miles. Never did find out where all the oil went, or why the light never came on.
Company car, so I wasn't really bothered!
My next car was a 2 litre 8v Cavalier. Same thing happened, but this time it was the cambelt. AA fitted a new one at the side of the road in under an hour. No other damage done.
Turns out that it had run out of oil, so the hydraulic lifters weren't pumping up. 4 liters of oil later, and it ran fine for another 40,000 miles. Never did find out where all the oil went, or why the light never came on.
Company car, so I wasn't really bothered!
My next car was a 2 litre 8v Cavalier. Same thing happened, but this time it was the cambelt. AA fitted a new one at the side of the road in under an hour. No other damage done.
rs125 said:My belt went on my old 1400s fiesta (same engine)..i put a belt on it but had no compression on 2 cylinders..as i was skint at the time i drove it for over a month like that lol..
Go get your-self a haynes manual as its an easy engine to work on..
hmmm....i only really know how to change the spark plugs, battery and wheels! oh, and top up the oil etc of course
update for you all...
towed my car to a mechanic last night who fitted a new cam belt for me and ran a compression test.
he told me each cylinder should score between 140-180 to be considered normal.
cylinder 1 = 180
cylinder 2 = 140-150
cylinder 3 = 140-150
cylinder 4 = 170
talk about lucky!
towed my car to a mechanic last night who fitted a new cam belt for me and ran a compression test.
he told me each cylinder should score between 140-180 to be considered normal.
cylinder 1 = 180
cylinder 2 = 140-150
cylinder 3 = 140-150
cylinder 4 = 170
talk about lucky!
![[huzeeee]](/styles/overclockers/avatars/3.png){kind=avatar}
:O i dont know how you didnt bend your valves, your so lucky lol. Just learn how to time it online-normally a question of lining up some marks on the pulleys, slot on the new cam belt, and then tension. You should be able to do it yourself!!!
can i presume that a compression test would show up even the smallest amount of damage?
i'm travelling to reading this weekend (2.5 hours on dual carriadgeway and motorway) so really need to know if it'll be ok based on the tests already done.
thanks.
ps...i'm also getting a full service done before the weekend.
i'm travelling to reading this weekend (2.5 hours on dual carriadgeway and motorway) so really need to know if it'll be ok based on the tests already done.
thanks.
ps...i'm also getting a full service done before the weekend.
Associate
i had the cambelt go on my 106 gti on only 38k miles, pulling out from a junction, all 16 valves were replaced..... total in the end was just over a grand.. 
glad to hear yours is ok, i had the same type of escort before i got the pug (1998 ish) and i had to have the engine changed after it ciezed solid as there was no oil and what there was looked more like mud.
glad to hear yours is ok, i had the same type of escort before i got the pug (1998 ish) and i had to have the engine changed after it ciezed solid as there was no oil and what there was looked more like mud.
Associate
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- 2,435
PuncH said:
If it drives/goes fine, just like before, then it should be ok.
Man of Honour
Almost unheard of on a CVH - lucky boy!PuncH said:
Caporegime
Lopéz said:
Absolutely!
Is the engine back up & running yet? it could very well still be borked, equally, it sounds like you are blessed and it isn't!
Impressed if thats the case - lucky so & so!
R124/LA420 said:Absolutely!
Is the engine back up & running yet? it could very well still be borked, equally, it sounds like you are blessed and it isn't!
Impressed if thats the case - lucky so & so!
Yep, the mechanic had to get the engine going to do the compression test
PuncH said:
The absolute pressure is not as important as the variation between cylinders, which should be no more than ~10-12% on a good engine. The lower pressure on the two center cylinders could possibly point to slightly leaky valves or a number of other potential issues, but personaly I would just drive it and not worry if it's running ok. A complete second hand engine could be had for very little in the worst case, they aren't particularly sought after engines.
well...got her back tonight and all seems ok. fingers crossed!
the mechanic has given me the old cam belt and all that had happened was that about a dozen teeth had sheered off the belt.
i can hear a slight ticking sound when idling, but i swear it did that before the cam belt problems and the sound doesn't get faster as i rev the engine.
also got a nice burning smell from the new front exhaust section that's been put on as part of the service i had done. the mechanic said there was a paper label on it which he couldn't remove completely and there is a lot of grease around the area where new exhaust meets the manifold(?). and to be fair the burning smell is getting less and less the more we drive her so the paper/grease is probably burning away ok.
we've taken her up to 70mph for 15 mins on a dual carriageway and so far, so good.
the mechanic has given me the old cam belt and all that had happened was that about a dozen teeth had sheered off the belt.
i can hear a slight ticking sound when idling, but i swear it did that before the cam belt problems and the sound doesn't get faster as i rev the engine.
also got a nice burning smell from the new front exhaust section that's been put on as part of the service i had done. the mechanic said there was a paper label on it which he couldn't remove completely and there is a lot of grease around the area where new exhaust meets the manifold(?). and to be fair the burning smell is getting less and less the more we drive her so the paper/grease is probably burning away ok.
we've taken her up to 70mph for 15 mins on a dual carriageway and so far, so good.
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Soldato
The ticking is probably the injectors.
All Zetec engines seem to have ticky injectors I find.
All Zetec engines seem to have ticky injectors I find.
Tesla said:
ah course. it could be. my old cavalier used to make a ticking noise as well, although this escort does seem loud. but i'm 99% sure it used to do it before the cam belt went.
it's weird because i took all the car's little noises for being normal and now i'm totally paranoid about it so any noise is weird now and a potential problem.
it'll take a while for me to trust the car again.
Soldato
What's the worse that can happen? Total Engine failure?PuncH said:
If so then buy another engine for about £50.
It's really not worth worrying over my friend.