Engine a/c problems

[bxsouldier]

Hey guys. Looking to get a little or a lot of help.
Specs: 2001 ZX2 manual 5 speed, 2.0 DOHC
Ok so on Sunday, I'm driving and I notice that my ac goes out (i could smell the stale air). I get home and notice the clutch isn't engaging. step 1, get a can of refrigerant, I service the system just enough to get the clutch going. It works. Next day, on my way to work, a/c works. coming home though, same issue. Get home and use the rest of the can to service the system. Next day same exact thing, except that the a/c kicks back in after about 10 minutes.
Immediately after that, I notice a significant difference in my acceleration, or lack there of. Normally, when if I punch out of first, I get pretty good power. Now, it felt like an electric cart. Same with the other gears as well. Also heard a couple of weird of metal clunks. Next day (Thursday), I notice that when I start the car, it felt like the battery was dying. Same low acceleration problem, but the car runs. Get out of work, and BOOM car is dead. No power. Get a boost, and when I start the car, instead of hearing the normal fire up put put sound, its more like a smooth grind. Get it towed to the house. Pull of the timing cover. Everything appears fine. Belt is good, pulleys, guides, etc., looks and feels fine. boost the car a little more and had a friend look down the oil fill. When I tried to start the car again, I had him look to see if the cams are moving. NOTHING!!! Only this time it sounded like the normal fire up put put sound, minus the cams rotating and obviously turn over.
So, I'm trying to figure out the correlation between intermittent a/c failure, battery dead, and possible engine failure happening at the same time.
Has anyone heard of this, and can anyone help? I'm pretty handy although limited in special tools.
THANX GUYS!!!

[Hardline]

There is no relation, just two failures that happened at nearly the same time. It is quite possible the timing belt has teeth ripped off of it by the crank gear.

[bxsouldier]

Thanx. I'll look into that. But I think it might be more than that.

[iceracer]

Never presume anything.
The A/C was failing because it had a leak.
The engine died because the fan belt failed.
Battery could die for several reasons.
Doubt that any of this is related.
Get the engine running first and go from there.

[Hardline]

How about it died because it is 11 years old and may not have seen proper maintenance in it's past?

[iceracer]

True

[bxsouldier]

What I failed to mention is that after the a/c kicked back in after the 10 minutes, it stayed running for the rest of the trip home and even on the way to work the next day. So the a/c wasn't an issue anymore.
As far as the maintenance goes, I bought it in '06. I cant speak for the previous owner, but from the day I bought it, I've stayed on top of the maintenance. Oil, plugs, wires, etc. Back in '09, I did have a timing belt idler pulley fail. Replaced it, and its been running great. That's the first thing I checked. There was also a vacuum line I replaced, and a thermostat housing that had a leak.

[bxsouldier]

timing belt looks fine. went to crack it again, timing belt not moving. something must've sheared off.

[Hardline]

One of two things happened. The timing belt has a section of teeth missing that happens to be sitting on the crank gear right now, or the woodruff key has sheared off on the crankshaft. Timing belt missing teeth is 100x more likely, especially if it is the OE timing belt. Be glad it isn't an interference engine.