# 94 Ford Escort w/ 140,000 miles - Keep or Crush? **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Tags:** escort, ford, repair\ **Created:** [February 5, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875 "2010-02-05T02:49:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![shadew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d2c977/32.png) [@shadew](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shadew)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/1 "2010-02-05T02:49:46Z")
My 94 Ford Escort with 140,000 miles on it that I bought from my granny. I recently put new tires on it and now more problems… needs a new battery, new head gasket and a new timing belt at a cost of $1,000. I am a college student and short on cash but need wheels. So should i fix the Escort or send it to the crusher and look for a different car??? ---
**Author:** ![Triedaq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Triedaq](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Triedaq)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/2 "2010-02-05T03:24:10Z")
Well, you know the history of the Escort. You won’t find a car for $1000 that doesn’t have problems. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t knowl The timing belt and battery are standard maintenance items. ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/3 "2010-02-05T03:48:49Z")
The only thing that would make me hesitate would be the head gasket + age. With almost no trouble at all I put over 200K on a '91 Escort. I’d take that car again in a minute. Cheap and easy to care for. Reliable. Good on gas. (My niece ended up with it. It was still running when it left my possession). $1000 for timing belt, battery AND head gasket - pretty good. As Triedaq implied, you’re the one who knows the history so the real question is how is everything else? Brakes, suspension, cooling system? Maybe have a good mechanic look it all over to find out what major $$ items are next. ---
**Author:** ![nowmaybe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8edcca/32.png) [@nowmaybe](https://community.cartalk.com/u/nowmaybe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:52am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/4 "2010-02-05T03:52:46Z")
Don’t let them charge you any extra labor for the timing belt. At least the upper end has to be removed when they do the head gasket, and Escort belts are a piece of cake anyway. Shop for the best available price. Any good indy shop can do it. ---
**Author:** ![Jeffmw05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@Jeffmw05](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Jeffmw05)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/5 "2010-02-05T03:57:18Z")
A friend’s family once upon a time had an escort of this vintage and they drove it for a long, long time. $1000 total isn’t bad to have this done and now tires are one less thing to worry about. Motor on in this thing dude. ---
**Author:** ![wentwest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wentwest/32/6073_2.png) [@wentwest](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wentwest)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/6 "2010-02-05T04:11:48Z")
Actually, $1,000 for a battery, a timing belt and a head gasket sounds a little too good. Could it really be a valve cover gasket? Either way, it’s probably worth fixing, but a head gasket usually ends up costing more, because there are more gaskets, valves to be examined or ground, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ok4450](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ok4450](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ok4450)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/7 "2010-02-05T04:13:01Z")
Head gaskets are frequently misdiagnosed so is it known for sure the gasket is bad? What are the symptoms that led to this diagnosis? Battery and timing belt I would say fix it; a head gasket is a toss-up. ---
**Author:** ![derekmgold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@derekmgold](https://community.cartalk.com/u/derekmgold)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 10:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/8 "2010-04-20T22:23:43Z")
Hey, what ever happened with your Escort? I have the same yr, model, mileage, and I have a leaking cooling system. I was told I need to do these same repairs: head gasket, timing belt, plus water pump.) However, I have no symptoms of the old timing belt wearing out-- the engine runs fine. Does this make sense? ---
**Author:** ![the\_same\_mountainbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@the\_same\_mountainbike](https://community.cartalk.com/u/the_same_mountainbike)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/9 "2010-04-20T22:28:04Z")
Everything here is routine maintenance except the headgasket\> If that’s confirmed, I say fix it. But I’m just “voting”. Others here have hit the technical reasons. I liked in particular Triedaq’s comment: you won’t find a $1000 car without problems. At least yours are known. ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/10 "2010-04-20T23:43:15Z")
The only “symptom” of a bad timing belt is that the car will immediately shut down with absolutely no warning. Think of the belt as a toggle - its either off or its on - there is no in between. (Ok, on rare occasion a belt can jump a tooth, but that is rare and not what you wait for). In your case you would be lucky b/c yours isn’t an interference engine - on interference designs the other immediate thing that happens is bent valves and thus a wrecked motor. The only way to play the timing belt is to follow the time/mileage intervals. It won’t warn you. ---
**Author:** ![Caddyman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/caddyman/32/23_2.png) [@Caddyman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Caddyman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/11 "2010-04-21T00:20:55Z")
The OP posted this last February and never came back…This is a dead thread… ---
**Author:** ![cigroller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c68b51/32.png) [@cigroller](https://community.cartalk.com/u/cigroller)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/12 "2010-04-21T01:31:41Z")
Except for derekmgold (above mtnbike’s post)- who is the one who dug it up and resurrected it. At least s/he can locate and use a search feature (apparently) ---
**Author:** ![derekmgold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@derekmgold](https://community.cartalk.com/u/derekmgold)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/13 "2010-04-21T03:57:13Z")
thanks ---
**Author:** ![pleasedodgevan2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ad7895/32.png) [@pleasedodgevan2](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pleasedodgevan2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 4:01am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/94-ford-escort-w-140-000-miles-keep-or-crush/43875/14 "2010-04-21T04:01:25Z")
You have reached my arbitrary mileage limit on Ford Escorts. If you are short of cash, you don’t have to get rid of it. If the head is cracked, a new one will add $300 to the bill. I consider the Escort to be a disposable car. Repairs can be hit or miss on those things, especially if they put a cracked head back on it. A 94 Escort is worth $700 running.