broken timing belt?? If so how hard to replace

[busted]

I am brand new to this forum and to the eclipse in general. I just got a 94 eclipse (1.8 non turbo) from a guy that REALLY needed money. He said he thinks the timing belt is broken. When you crank it over it sounds hollow like the gears are not turning. Also when you look in to the crank case (though the oil fill) nothing is moving. I have heard that these engines have 2 timing belts, is that true? If so he said it was the lower one?? How hard is this to replace on my own? Do you need a lift or hoist?? Any help will be greatly appreciated by this newbie.

Thanks!!

 

[RoasT BeeF]

Sounds like one of the belts is broke. First thing is to figure out which one. There is a balancer belt and a cam drive belt. Both in a sense are timing belts. If the balancer belt broke which would be the lower one you are probably ok. If the cam drive belt broke there is a chance that you bent valves. Since you dont see anything moving when you look through the oil fill it would be my guess that the cam drive belt went. There is a good article on how to do a timing job yourself on vfaq. I dont know if it covers the 1.8 or not. If it doesnt you will probably want to pick up a chiltons manual or just take it to a mechanic. You will need a lot more than a jack and probably shouldnt count on yourself doing the job without mechanical experience. Check it out.

vfaq.com/index-main.html