I was just wondering...

Is the 1.8L DOHC (BPD) used in the 90-94 Protege an interference engine? or not?

I recently had the timing belt replaced, and the mechanic noticed the mark on the camshaft was 3 clicks to the left (he was sorta puzzled by that). He tried moving it to the mark, but the engine ran pretty rough... So, he moved it back to where it was. I was worried that the engine was interference (I thought I had read that somewhere), but the mechanic assured me that it was non-interference... I dunno, am I just plain lucky that there wasn't any damage done?

 

It is a non-interference engine Spunky. Not quite sure what you meant by the mark on the camshaft being three clicks off though.

 

I guess there is a timing mark on above the camshaft (in the center), and the groove on the sprocket was a little bit to the left... It was different than the diagram showed on the mechanic's shop manuals, so he was puzzled by why the car ran best this way...

He also asked me if I had an aftermarket distributor, but I don't know how that could make a difference.