Right, the car recently had a timing belt change, ran ok then one day i turned off the ignition.

the car then wouldnt re start.

I checked everything then found the cam pulley bolt loose, checked compression, re timed everything and all was spot on.

The car now wont idle smoothly its up and down and sounds like its running on 3 cyclinders.

With the car idling (albeit roughly) when i pull the plug caps individually the tickover doesnt seem to change much if at all on all cylinders!

it should obviously change dramatically the instant it is removed....shouldnt it?

Anyway has anyone else had something similar happen or can offer ANY ideas on things i could check for?

Possibly the cam position sensor

ill try it tommorow, ive got a spare lump with a full set of sensors etc on, its worth a go, im a bit of a noob but on this engine am i right in thinkng the cam sensor controls the signal for the injection? and the crank sensor for firing?

Have a read of this article and see if any symptoms match.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5903731_camshaft-position-sensor-failure-symptoms.html

with this engine the culprits ca be the cam sensor the coil pack the leads the pcv valve the pcv hose spark plugs or the timing is now out i know you retimed everything and my focus was the same but when it went to fords they found the timing was actually out not by much but enough to give it a rough idle so any of the above could be the cause its just the process of elimination

Right, some of the symptoms sounded the same as a cam sensor so replaced it with one from a working engine, also changed leads and coil pack, the pcv valve itself is moving freely but one pipe had a small split, as a temp fix i cleaned it off and put a load of insulation tape around it to make sure its airtight, i put in the crank pin and turned the engine over by hand until it stopped and the cam bar went in fine, it now runs a little better but sounds like poo. heres a link to the vid

http://youtu.be/kld6kM9IUD4

you say you retimed it after you found the cam bolt loose did it need retiming i,e had it slipped if so i,d say youve got a valve down if not are you sure you are getting a good spark on all four plugs .

she sounds like the valves arent happy .What are the compressions ?

its possible as said that the belts slipped the pulley was loose so it may have slipped as you turned off the ignition only damaging the odd valve

right, i borrowed my mates compression tester that works rather than mine with a sticky needle..........

anyway!

compression is as follows.. 1=0 2=160 3=160 4=170 measurments in pounds per sq inch

ive got a spare engine with a knackered bottom end so im going to take the head off of the engine in the car and make a working one between the two? any ideas or would i be better off just scrapping the car??

so its taken out the valve the head will need to be stripped to see the full damage.

if its just the valve id take it from the spare engine.

Inspect piston number one for any damage to the piston as well i,e where the valve has hit if its cracked it youll need a new piston as well.

will di, ill whip the head off at the weekend, !Removed! fed up with it though! anyone got a free engine lol!!

Until you strip off the head you won't know the extent of the damage.

Hopefully you've just got a snapped off valve or a blown stem seal.

Worst case of course is a stamped piston and head damage.

Just have a good look and go from there.

Ouch on no 1 cylinder Hopefully just clipped valves i have seen many well bent and got it back together with no further dramas If the bottom end looks ok and she will be finewith decent valves just check the valve guides carefully when you do though

Maybe a drop of locktight on the bottom pulley bolts may be in order this time !!!!!!!!!!!!!

well done and good luck in advance Paul

thats why i leave the dealer to do it if they muck up they pay