Hello,

I haven't checked for spark yet, but...
i think she woulda noticed a LOT of smoke.. so hopefully u r right.
the noise it makes: It first starts out like normal, and if sometimes it even does it twice in a row. but after that it makes more if a slower chug uh - chug uh - chug uh noise. not that speedy ruh uhuhuhuh sound. and hm, by twice in a row, i mean the noise sounds normal for double the time (randomly). like it almost starts up, but the engine doesn't wanna turn over. i hope that makes sense.
where would the belt be located? there's two belts that look fine on the driver's side. i also opened up the radiator cap and there was still water around the cap... everything looked moist. but the coolant tub is empty.
there are NO check engine lights.

ok, so pull out the wire over plug1 and hold a screw driver close to the opening? it'll spark that high up? (ugh, i'm scurr'd of electricity, been zapped too many times ) and it's that ez?

Thanks very much for the help! in the past, with other vehicles, it's taken much longer to get a response from someone