Cam belt

[justalphs]

I have a ford escort 1.6 petrol. The car is not starting now. When i turn the keys, the battery lights come up and thats it. The starter is not working. Is it a snapped cam belt. How can I find the exact cause

[v64paul]

no need to worry about a snapped cam belt at this stage, although i'm intrigued as to why you think it might be. simple test. when you turn the key as if to start the engine, does the battery light go dim? if so then its a flat battery and you need to find out why. if the light stays on, and all other things work ok for instance the radio; then its a fault relating to the starter or its wiring. look for loose connections/broken wires under the bonnet from the battery onwards. the two thickest cables you can see are the main areas to check, red is power to the starter, black is earth, usually. hope that helps!

[Jay70]

I have just had a battery problem on my Ford Escort (1994 1.4 PTE engine) where the car wouldn't start or even try to turn over and this was after it had been used succesfully the same day for a fairly long run.  The battery voltage would drop to about 6.8V with just the ignition on and did not have enough power to even attemp to turn the engine.  With no load the battery was however 12.8V.  When the battery was put on a charger the ammeter on the charger didn't respond at all.  I think either some cells were going down under load or heavy sulphation of the plates had occured.  I've never experienced a battery failing in this manner before - they have normally  reduced in capacity gradually and after a charge would be ok again for a day or two.  You may find that your battery will just require charging and you'll be ok.  when you re-fit it check the battery warning light isn't showing as this could mean your altenator isn't charging.  You can also do this by measing the voltage across the batery with the engine running it should be about 13.8V. 

[justalphs]

Thanks guys.. You wont trust what i was about to do. I almost sold my car for �150 thinking that the engine cam belt is gone. You guys saved me...lol