1997 hyundai excel

Recheck your work,don't guess or assume anything

Any parts or wires that came off, may not be back where
they need to be

Otherwise you check for crank signal,injector pulse,fuel
pressure,spark,the usual players

It would cause an erratic fire, but probably won't start. If the chain or belt is broken, there will be no fire either. Remove the dist. cap and check to see if the rotor is turning while someone else is cranking the engine over... If not, belt is broken! Another way to check, is to remove the oil cap, if you can see the valves, get someone to crank it over, if they are not moving, belt is broken. In any of these cases, it sounds like it will need a new belt installed!

its got to be in the tank or on a bulkhead near engine

check ignition coil current supply and or distributor contact point or condenser/ ur cars current supply fluctuate when engine is hot....

it wouldn't turn over freely if the timing belt was broken

Then I would assume it's broken.

hi from uk from the symptoms you describe? it sounds like the cambelt has broken or tensioner has failt allowing belt to slip some teeth resulting in valve timing out ? hence pistons contact with valves however if you try turning the crankshaft backwards by hand using a socket or spanner? if it will turn then stop same as rotating clockwise ? this is a sure sign of belt problem did car suddenly cut out ? or some other reason ? any more info would help to help you ps advise you not to use starter again untill diagnosis of problem

hi--have the timing belt checked-- just remove the cover on the left side of the motor or #1 end and turn it over to inspect the belt--cheers

Check to see if you are getting fire at the spark plugs first.

did it start before you changed plugs?