Mid 90's Ford Escort Wagon Engine Troubles?

try checking your transmission? You may have a faulty gearbox..... not to sure what the knocking is...

May i suggest replcing the car rather than getting it repaired by a garage... might be woth more than the car. Just a suggestion

Good luck anywhos

I would suggest carbon build up on the back of the valves and in the combustion chamber. This will disrupt the air/fuel flow, causing a rough running engine, and would also account for the spark knock you hear on heavy acceleration. Assuming the engine compression and ignition is ok, removing the deposits may help tremendously. There are fuel additives that will help, so add them, but the fastest way is to use water as well. By that I mean a spray bottle full of water. Spray the mist constantly into the throttle body, with the engine at about 2000 rpm. Use about 8 ounces, and you may need to repeat it several times. This will dissolve the carbon. It might be a good idea to do it one bottle at a time over a few days, because you dont want it all to break apart at once, you want it to dissolve a little at a time. That way there aren't chunks of carbon flying around in the engine.

Have a compression check done. I would wager you have low compression on one or more cylinders