1999 Ford Escort ZX2 DOHC 16valve 109,000 miles

1999 FORD ESCORT
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MANK
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  • 4 POSTS
I have the 2.0 liter DOHC 16 valve engine in this car.

I am pretty sure that my timing belt/chain broke.

I have 2 questions:

1)Does this engine have a timing chain, or a timing belt?

2)Is this engine an interference design, or a clearance design where possible valvetrain damage might have occured as a result of the timing belt/chain breaking?

I need to know if my valvetrain is ok before I replace the belt/chain and try to drive it again. Any help is appreciated.
Dec 24, 2006 at 5:51 AM
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GARFIELD
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Your car does have a timing belt, secondly the engine is an interference style engine. As for damage it is hard to say without pulling the head off to visually inspect it. Once you get the new timing belt on you can try to rotate the engine by hand and see that every thing moves freely( like watching the valves go up and down while rotation to do a comparison on how each one moves against the ther valves. Secondly do a compression test to make sure that you have good compression,if not it is time for a tear down to find out what is damaged. Hope this helps.

Gary
Dec 24, 2006 at 7:40 AM
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MANK
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Many thanks for the reply.

Luckily there was no valvetrain damage, but the idler and tensioner bit the dust and needed to be replaced also. Back to running again..:)
Dec 28, 2006 at 6:13 AM
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