My 1994 Ford Escort LX 2door hatchback is having an engine problem. It was having idle issues when I bought it (the RPMs kept dropping while idling in gear) and it slowly got worse. I tried bypassing the catalytic converter, put on a new idle control valve, and cleaned out the EGR valve. The oil and fuel pressures are good, spark plugs work perfect, battery is good, injectors are firing and the engine tries to turn over but won't fully start.

I'm a mechanic but only for cars from the 50's and I am stumped. The other day while working on it, I tried starting it and it kind of backfired, making me think maybe the timing is off but i just put a new timing belt on 4 weeks ago. My only final thoughts are maybe the camshaft position sensor but I have no clue...any ideas?

I bought the car for $150 from a neighbor. They said it blew a head gasket and that was why it wouldn't start. There was no water in the oil so it wasn't a head gasket. Everything works fine and it trys to start. Gasoline is getting to the cylinders. Fire is getting to all of the spark plugs. The engine is not locked up in anyway. The intake is working fine. The only reason any mechanic can give me for it not working is the pistons or piston rings. I am going to check the compression on all cylinders to see if that is the cause. If one or more pistons or cracked and/or the piston rings are fried it would show low or no compression on those so the engine wouldn't start. I will write more once i do the compression check.