1997 mercury tracer - Car Troubleshooting


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1997 mercury tracer

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rwhisman
New User

Feb 22, 2009, 5:08 PM

Post #1 of 3 (3680 views)

1997 mercury tracer	Sign In

I checked the mercury tracer today it has no compression, can this be the timing belt, i pulled the top of the cover
back and could see that the belt is not broken. Also I took the valve covers off to see the were opening and closing. any suggestions
Ron

Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky / Moderator
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Feb 22, 2009, 5:50 PM

Post #2 of 3 (3677 views)

Re: 1997 mercury tracer	Sign In

If belt or a chain jumped compression would be reduced or lost completly. Some engine will allow valves to crash into pistons if belt is off too much or breaks!

T

Loren Champlain Sr
Veteran / Moderator
Loren Champlain Sr profile image

Feb 22, 2009, 6:07 PM

Post #3 of 3 (3674 views)

Re: 1997 mercury tracer	Sign In

Ron; Did you mean that the rocker arms are moving when you crank the engine? If so, turn the engine over by hand so that you can inspect all of the teeth of the timing belt. Many times, the belt will lose a few teeth, without breaking, and throw the cam timing off enough to lose compression. If they all look okay, you should pull the upper timing cover and line up the timing marks just to make darned sure it hasn't jumped a tooth or two due to just plain wear or a tensioner problem.
Were you having any problems prior to this? Overheating, running poorly? Overfueling can cause the cylinder walls to wash the oil off so that the rings cannot seal. Smell the oil. Does it smell like gasoline? If so, change the oil and filter, clean/dry spark plugs, put in a few squirts of oil into each cylinder and crank the engine over to distribute the oil in the cylinders. Then, reinstall the plugs and keep your fingers crossed. If it starts, it'll smoke until it burns off the oil, but you'll still need to diagnose why it was over fueling in the first place, or you'll be right back to where you were.
Loren
SW Washington

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