I have a 99 Ford Escort with barely over 102,000 miles. The timing belt is supposed to be changed at intervals of 100,000 which I'll do provided that my car is holding up well. Recently I heard a clicking noise whenever I braked which turned out to be grease that came from my busted ball joint. I've had this fixed and rarely hear the clicking nowadays but it occurs from time to time (I suspect the grease wasn't cleaned up all the way). However, whenever I heard the clicking noise and came to a complete stop, my car would kinda sputter/jerk while braking and even while accelerating from coming from a complete stop. I've visited several mechanics only to be told a multitude of things. I've been told that my transmission is going, whereas others will tell me that the transmission is fine. I've also been told that my timing belt might be acting up. I know there is no surefire way of telling if your timing belt is about to break, however are there any symptoms that the timing belt has jumped a tooth or two. I'm NOT going to spend $400+ for a timing belt only for the car to last me 2 weeks.How to tell if your timing belt jumped?If I assume the %26quot;clicking%26quot; came from a CV joint, because of a busted rubber cover allowing all the grease to be thrown out, then replacing the grease and rubber cover is unlikely to stop the clicking. The CV joint should be replaced.
If the CV joint is bad, it is a likely cause of your %26quot;sputtering and jerking%26quot;.
Another possibility is a brake problem, or even hub bearings failing.
A jumped timing belt is unlikely the cause.
I would have thought a timing belt should have been changed at 60,000 miles/ 100,000 Km.?How to tell if your timing belt jumped?Sell it and save your self the misery.How to tell if your timing belt jumped?Go to cartalk.com and ask there.Those guys run a garage and encounter all sorts of things like this. They've got a radio show on NPR Sat mornings that you can call into and ask your question + get advice. The nearest station to you and the time is at their website.
