Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Timing belt replaced - still won't start 98 contou

98 Contour 2.0L
Idler pully was toast - replaced both of them and belt - tensioner was still good. Used procedure from AllData but did not use the special ford tools. Still won't start!

I have done belts before so I thought this would be no problem. Yeah right!. I am pretty sure we got it dialed in right even without the special tools. TDC was right on and we secured the rear of the cams with flat metal bars and spacers. engine turns but wants to backfire thru throttle body. We redid it several times - same thing. Compression is 120 on all 4 cyls. Should run right?

Checked it with a timing light and found it is getting spark about 30 degrees late!! Just what the Variable Cam Timing can do, hmmmm. Disconnected VCT solenoid and cam position sensor, made no difference. Check engine light is not on!! From what I hear, it should still start even with VCT disconnected. What we can't figure out is why our timing retarded 30 degrees when we put the timing lite on!

We verified the TDC mark on the crank pully is right(scredriver trick), and even tried advancing it about 30 degrees to see if that would work. Nope!!

I am tearing my hair out, we have spent 2 days messing with this thing. Thought about getting the haynes manual, but alldata is supposed to be better than that though.

Anyone have any suggestions.

Sorry but this does not add up.

Base timing is set by the reluctor wheel on the crank and the crank sensor.

Firing 30 degrees late would backfire out the exhaust.

Verify that the exhaust cam sprocket is rotated all the way to the advanced position while the belt is put on. The VCT mechanism is supposed to be spring loaded but will stick in older engines.

Recheck firing order (1-3-4-2), coil is:
-----
1 3

4 2
-----

Can't screw up firing order, coil is labeled. Was one of the first things I checked.

You are right, it wants to backfire thru the throttle body. Thats why I checked timing in the first place.

Cam sprocket is fully advanced, but I have a question. Should it spring back when I retard it with a wrench? I can rotate it back and it will settle wherever the valves let it. Should it spring back all the way to 0 degrees?

I am thinking we will need to change the brain out cause:
- timing is 30 degrees retarded to TDC
- I am told if VCT solenoid is disconnected and Cam positon sensor is disconnected, it should still run, its not.
- No VCT codes are stored with VCT stuff disconnected.

The internal spring assy on the EXhaust cam is still a big question to me. Never messed with it before.

thx for the reply

Replaced the brain and that almost got it. Seemed to really want to start. Checked timing - 5 degrees retarded!! No more code 320 though. Reset TDC, belt, and cam sprockets again and again. Still same thing!! so frustrating. I got to thinking something has to be wrong with the crank position sensor. Pulled it out and the magnet was cracked in half!! don't know how it happened. Will get one tomorrow and see what else is bad!

still foggy on the VCT stuff, but I found the problem!!! Replaced the chewed up crank pos sensor and turned it over. Still backfired on me and code 320 showed up again, WTF??

Got really pissed! Calmed down, started thinking. Looked over the whole engine... all seemed ok. Think...think..think. Has to be something with the torque converter(that's where the teeth are that tell the brain where TDC is). What could be wrong?? All is well with engine and front of tranny(where the CPK is). What about the other side??? Hmmmm, I wonder. There has to be some kind of inspection plate or cover right? Other cars have them. Looked on back side of tranny and found a big rubber or plastic thingy that kind of looked like what I was looking for(I think anyway). Pried it off with a big screwdriver.....Plunk!! Thingy came off and a nut went flying also. Its all chewed up!! and it has a blue tint to it (WTF??) Rotated the crankshaft and watched the torque converter, it had the same kind of blue tinted nuts on it. There weren't any misssing that I could see, but they were the same kind.

Now for the good part! A lot of the teeth and nuts were chewed up! There were also missing teeth!!! At least 3 that I saw!!! This explains why the timing was off. Finally, I have an idea of what is going on!!

Now the bad news - I have to drop the tranny to even find out where that darn nut came from. Alldata says it is a 9 hour job R&R on the tranny!! I just don't know what to do. Should I just junk this now? Or hope it is some easy and cheap fix once the tranny is pulled.

Anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone had anything like this happen with their tranny? Somebody help me!!!