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Urgent help required

L

loggerbomb

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jun 10, 2004
Messages
3,744
Location
Kitchener, ON Canada
Well about a block away from home the car died. Tried to pass someone that was turning right and bam, something let go and the car started to die, all the lights came on and I lost power steering. Quick look shows nothing apparently wrong so I am wondering what the hell happened.
I tried turning it over just to see if it would start and all I get is a weird wooshing sound. Can anyone offer any help on this?

I just hope it doesn't get towed from the parking lot I walked it too before I get someone to help me tow it the 2 blocks home.
 
The fact that all the lights came on means either your car died, and the lights did the same thing they do when you first turn te key to the "on" position, or.. you actually lost oil pressure, alternator charge, etc.. In which case I would look at the passenger side for the serpentine belt and make sure it didn't break, or the tensioner didn't go loose on you.
 
Yeah I looked for the serpentine belt breaking but it was ok, turns out it was the timing belt. I took it to the local Midas and they want 788.45 to tear it down and than 548.59 for the Head Set to put it back together. That DOES NOT include any pricing if any valves were bent or heads damaged. They said that has cost around 500 bucks for a head to be rebuild.
 
Well ok for some reason the how to for the timing belt doesn't show up on the main ZETEC HOW-TO screen, but I did find it in the last post replied to post, though its for post 98. Any difference for Pre 98?

Are you sure that there wouldn't be any damage? Two mechanics I talked too said there would more than likely be damage and the one said I was likely better off buying another vehicle.... I'd hate to buy a new belt and get the sucker apart to find out it is mashed and needs worked on.

It would really make my day if I could do it myself. Would save me a lot of hassle. I am not ready to part ways with this car, even with the minor troubles I had up till this point. I read the How-To but now have questions. Where do I get the ford service tool? What parts other than the timing belt do I need? Where do I find these parts for a reasonable price?
 
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like he said, non interference motors. That means that the valves can't hit the cylinder heads. Well, something really really bad would have to happen to drop a valve.

The one thing that gave me the most trouble was getting the crank pulley off of a 95 once. Couldn't break the bolt loose and had to take it to a dealer. $700 for the tear down and build. But that also included a new waterpump and gaskets. I was following a Haynes manual and not the how to here. Not sure if they are different.

The timing belt isn't that expensive and really isn't all that hard to do and should take about 4 hours at the most.
 
The Zetec is not usually an interference engine

The Zetec is not usually an interference engine

You are most likely to be able to replace the timing belt and tensioner pulleys/idler and have your car run fine. The 96 is Not mentioned as interference at Rockauto.com parts listing for Gates TCK258 timing belt/idler kit. Most CEG'ers have had good luck. Someone here recently did slightly bend 2 valves on a newer Zetec ('99) which is mentioned as interference in the listing of timing belt kits. I knew somone with a known interference engine (Geo Storm) who snapped the belt at low rpm, car still runs fine today. Maybe some Zetec owners have been there and can chime in..?
 
The crank pulley was tough. There are 3 holes in the face of it. I tapped some threads into each one, screwed a 8.8 bolt into all 3 so I could place a breaker bar across the pulley to hold it in place. Worked well.
Since it's a 1995, do the water pump as well. It's behind the timing belt.
You will have to remove the PS pump to do this.:cool:
 
A buddy of mine and I spent a lot of time working on Taurus SHOs. When we had to remove a crank bolt, we'd put the wrench on the bolt and lay it against the subframe. That done, one of us hopped in the car and bumped the starter. Just a quick turn of the key, nothing protracted, and the bolt would spin free. Using the torque of the motor makes it much easier. Just a thought, but with the caveat that there may not be clearance in the Zetec engine bay. You'll have to spec that out.
 
LauraSVT said:
A buddy of mine and I spent a lot of time working on Taurus SHOs. When we had to remove a crank bolt, we'd put the wrench on the bolt and lay it against the subframe. That done, one of us hopped in the car and bumped the starter. Just a quick turn of the key, nothing protracted, and the bolt would spin free. Using the torque of the motor makes it much easier. Just a thought, but with the caveat that there may not be clearance in the Zetec engine bay. You'll have to spec that out.
Click to expand...

Holy crap that is dangerous! Tool breakin', chunks-o-steel flyin' kinda dangerous.
 
Well thanks for the replies:cool:. I did get another price from the guy that my gf's grandfather goes to. He said it would be $340 for just replacing the belt and $550 if it needs the pulleys done as well. Thats INCLUDING LABOUR. So I don't know what the guy at Midas is smoking. I also called up a dealer and they said it would be $473 for replacing the belt.

As for doing the job myself I have a couple reservations.
1. I haven't done anything on this scale before, the most I have done is change the thermostat.
2. I don't know what tools I need or what exactly all I would need to do the job. (gaskets/seals, bolts, etc.)
3. I don't have a garage to do this in, so I would have to do it in the parking lot of the apartment complex, which, I wouldn't really mind doing as Friday is a holiday and I'd have all day to do it, but it is going to be cold and snowy!

Should I get the waterpump done as a couple have suggested? Anything else that should be changed while the engine will be half apart? I was already going to throw in a new serp belt as the one in there is overdue and while I was reading the How-To, it said that you have to take off a couple mounts? I know mine are in need of changing so would it be wise to change the couple you have to take off - or am I reading that wrong?
Does the $550 seem like a fair deal for someone to do it?
 
SquareHead said:
You will have to remove the PS pump to do this.:cool:
Click to expand...
Never heard or had to do this, replaced waterpumps on 1 95 and 4 96's.. Never once had to removed the power steering pump :shrug:.


BTW, any shop you go to (well, almost any) will tell you your non-interference motor is a interference just to screw you out of more money.
 
TourDeForce said:
Holy crap that is dangerous! Tool breakin', chunks-o-steel flyin' kinda dangerous.
Click to expand...

Haha -- :cool: -- Its only dangerous if you don't think about which way the crank is going to turn, and place the wrench in the wrong place. If you did that, it could come whipping around like something from a samurai movie. Think it through first and you're in there like swimwear.
 
Well an update to my broken timing belt problem. Shop called today and said the one pulley had pretty much disintegrated and that caused the belt to go. Also apparently the automatic tensioner on the serpentine belt had seized up as well. Apparently he had to cut the belt off to get it off, but I wasn't shocked when he mentioned that cause I needed to slap a new one in anyway. All said and done it wont cost anything more (other than for parts) since he was already having to take the belt and such off. Nice way to kill 2 birds with one stone - too bad I've been without a car for over a week!:blackeye:
 
Got the car back.

$800 for a new timing chain, serpentine belt, pulleys, automatic tensioner and valve cover gasket (think thats what he said).

Much better than what I was originally quoted - $1500. Again that was only for the timing belt.....
 
"BTW, any shop you go to (well, almost any) will tell you your non-interference
motor is a interference just to screw you out of more money."

Shop's don't always necessarily try to screw you. When my zetec's pulleys cracked, they thought I may have had engine damage. But I told them they are a non-interference engine. So they looked at it and told me I was right. They probably didn't know for sure since they don't work on the contiques that much.

BTW, I had all my pulleys, tensioners, timing belt, and serpentine belt replaced for about $450. That included all parts, labor, and tax.
 
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