No compression in cylinders

[royster]

Timing belt/chain broken? No compression on all four makes me think the valves aren't moving

This, along with Mr. Geezer's observation, are what I think the problem is. When my 2.4 stripped teeth on the timing belt, it did make a strange sound while cranking, although the engine turned. It wasn't until I started opening things up that I located the real problem. (And from there, my adventure began).

It's easy enough to check: take the top timing cover off and crank the engine. If the timing belt isn't moving, then it needs to be replaced.

A sudden loss of compression indicates the valves are in an open position, though Tortron may be correct. Again, you won't know until you look deeper.

[geezer101]

This, along with Mr. Geezer's observation, are what I think the problem is. When my 2.4 stripped teeth on the timing belt, it did make a strange sound while cranking, although the engine turned. It wasn't until I started opening things up that I located the real problem. (And from there, my adventure began).

It's easy enough to check: take the top timing cover off and crank the engine. If the timing belt isn't moving, then it needs to be replaced.

A sudden loss of compression indicates the valves are in an open position, though Tortron may be correct. Again, you won't know until you look deeper.

It doesn't necessarily mean the cam won't spin as it only takes a few teeth to be stripped out of the belt for the cam to no longer be synchronised enough to close the valves on a compression stroke. The give away will be that cam timing alignment mark.