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.
