92 Loyale with 1.8L

 

 

No ignition, so I took the distributor cap off and saw that the rotor doesn't turn when the engine cranks.

 

Bad distributor or timing chains? The latter were installed 2 months ago and are new.

You should check the timing belts first. *MOTOR NOT TURNING OVER FOR SAFETY* Theres a rubber oblong inpection/slack adjuster access plug that you can remove and get a finger into to see if the belt is slack. There are two plugs. You want the one to the right of the crank pully(lowest pully in center of motor) as you look at it. Thats the most likely culprit. If the belt is good it's possible that the set screw fell out of the rotor but I'd expect it to turn at least fitfully when you crank if that were the case. If your disty actually siezed you'd hear some funky sounds when you crank as the belt jumps teeth trying to turn that frozen gear.

Brad

If the distributor does not rotate you have one of three things. The first, and most common, is a broken timing belt, which is likely if the belt was not installed properly. The second and third, although not as common, can happen, and that is either the pin that holds the drive gear on the end of the distibutor shaft broke, or the drive gears are stripped out. You can check the belts by removing the covers, the one on the driver's side drives the distributor, so you can remove that side's cover and see if the belt is broken or not. Other possibility is a broken camshaft.

Probably a broken timing belt on the driver's side. That controls the distributor too.

Hey guys .. theres one more thing.. Although I agree its probably a timing belt issue, first check to make sure the little screw that holds the rotor in place is still there.. they work themselves out occasionally

I had this motor put in by a shade-tree mechanic who doesn't really know foreign cars, I think. These timing belts are new. How does one properly install them?

 

If the distributor does not rotate you have one of three things. The first, and most common, is a broken timing belt, which is likely if the belt was not installed properly.