99 ford escort timing?

Question

My escort is misfiring and acting up. I belive the timing is off. I would like to replace the belt anyways. Is this a easy process to do? I know a good deal on cars, ive done alot of work to this ford so I think I am fully capabale of doing this. Is it something a avaragee joe like myself could do. I know I should take it to a garage, but this is a car I like to work on myself, so please no rude answers. If this is easy can I get a idea on how to do it. I am looking at autozone.com do it yourself and it looks simple. However I am looking at chilton online and it looks complicated. Chilton only shows the 1.8 and 1.9 engines. Mine is a 2.0 SOHC. And if I replace the belt will this put my timing back where it should be and no longer misfire. The car has a full tune up just done. Please let me know. thanks

Answer 1

As long as your sources show you a method of setting the timing back to it's proper setting, that you understand, then yes you could do it yourself (with the proper tools).  Just replacing the belt will not by it self bring the timing back to normal.  It sounds as if the belt skipped a cog.  NOTE:  These cars are known for breaking timing belts, so it is not a bad idea to have it replaced, weather you do it yourself, or have it done in a shop.

Answer 2

I just checked out the estimated cost:

http://www.driverside.com/pre-service-re...

Driverside is saying that its a little less than $200 (depending on your location) for the repair and about $60 for the part. This might turn into a bigger headache if you need to reset the timing.

Good luck!