I found out why my car won't start, the rotor is not turning. So the million dollar question, wtf happened? Looking at the Haynes manual, the dist gear meshes with the gear on the cam, which is turned by the timing belt, correct? The plugs are wet with gas which means to me that the valves would have to still be opening, but that might just be wishfull thinking (i.e. cam still turning, timing belt not broken). So, I guess I'll pull the distributor and keep digging till I find whats going on, or whats not going on. Any other suggestions?

thanks

 

forty--

If you've confirmed the distributor rotor is not turning with the engine, pulling the distributor isn't likely to tell you anything. It's rare for the distributor shaft/gear to fail. It must be the timing belt that has failed.

How much wear/age do you have on the current timing belt?

--SAM

 

Yeah forty....
It looks like your Timing belt might have gone...your battery is ok right?? might be that you left a light on and the battery went...but if your starter is turning then its probably the timing belt thats the culprit.

 

Well since any damage is already done. Take off the dist cap and turn the car over. If the engine turns and the dist doesn't, SAM is right. Or maybe take off the oil cap and then turn the car over. See if the valvetrain moves at all. Again if the engine is turning but nothing under the valvecover moves, T-belt is more than likey broken.

 

That exactly what I didn't want to hear. So now its probably time to start looking for some new valves/heads. Looks like a rebuild will be in order sooner than expected.
Thanks guys.

 

I pulled the back valve cover and had someone turn the engine over. The valves weren't doing a thing. So now I'm looking for another motor. I found a 75k motor out of a 94 GXE for $675 so I'm gonna make a few calls. Looks like I'll keep driving the ol' truck for while.