Hyundai Repair: 1996 hyundai elantra, hyundai elantra, crankshaft sensor

Question
i was driving my 96 hyundai elantra 4 cyl. doing about 5o mph. when the car seemed to lose all power and just died i tryed downshifting but it was just dead i got it off the road and tried to start it again and it seemed like the starter wasnt engaging or something the starter is spinning but the motor doesnt seem to be cranking.i thought it might be the crankshaft sensor or fuel pump any ideas would help! would the crank sensor cause this sort of problem ? its a 1996 hyundai elantra 2.4(i think!)4 cylinder-for sure!with 98,000 miles i appreciate your help!

Answer
If your starter runs but the engine doesn't crank, you're typically looking at a starter issue.  But that wouldn't make the car stall out.  I suspect it's more likely that the timing belt broke and the abnormal noise you hear when attempting to start the engine is the crankshaft turning with little resistance.

I'd recommend first checking the cam timing.  If that's okay, then you'll probably need to move on to things like fuel pressure and compression.