Fuel Injection Cleaner & then....

[Nihilist]

NO.
The dist bolt should be in the middle of the slot....not exact...but pretty close.

The timming belt needs to be moved one tooth on the head in the direction opposite that the dist has been turned.

Before the shop turned the dist so far they should have assumed such because either the car would not start or it idled poorly. Whenever a timing belt is changed on any running car....the base timming should require very slight or no adjustment.

For any mechanic (pro or home) familiar with a festy...this is about a 1/2 hour job.

I suspected the head had been off this car.

My car has almost exactly the same symptoms , and the dist. is ALL the way to one side of the adjuster (dist. turned CW) . So what you are saying is that I need to turn the cam one tooth CCW to get the distributor lined up properly ?

How will this affect performance other than ignition timing ? If my cam is one tooth off, then the valves are improperly timed with the pistons, right ?

No wonder this thing runs so erratic.

How do I check the IAC ?

I'll look for vacuum leaks , too.
.....................Blake

[jglutz]

^^It seems you understand the post correctly.

IAC...I'm not sure of a known test other that inspecting for vac leaks.

[BigWheel]

I forgot about this post and never updated it. The problem with Hot Rod turned out to be a coolant temp sensor. The TPS was good but the CTS was bad. Once I replaced it and adjusted the idles Hot Rod's been running quite well.

[Nihilist]

BigWheel ,

You say it wasn't a timing problem, but you did say your distributor was swung almost all the way CW , right ? Wouldn't this mean your cam/valves aren't properly in time with your pistons ?

Seems like you would still benefit from setting the cam in the proper position.

This is if jglutz is correct about the distributor location, which I assume he is. I haven't looked it up yet.

.......................Blake

[BigWheel]

BigWheel ,

You say it wasn't a timing problem, but you did say your distributor was swung almost all the way CW , right ? Wouldn't this mean your cam/valves aren't properly in time with your pistons ?

Seems like you would still benefit from setting the cam in the proper position.

This is if jglutz is correct about the distributor location, which I assume he is. I haven't looked it up yet.

.......................Blake

You're right that I said that but you would be assuming that I knew what I was talking about :laughing6:. When I loosened the distributor I actually had more room than I first thought just by looking at it from above. Once loosened we moved in CCW & CW only causing it to idle worse. We tried several things before I finally got to the CTS. Changed that and the problem was solved. Go figure. See what happens when you let a novice work on cars? I got a bunch of new stuff and none of them were the problem. I'm learning though and having fun.

[Nihilist]

When I loosened the distributor I actually had more room than I first thought just by looking at it from above. Once loosened we moved in CCW & CW only causing it to idle worse.

I wouldn't argue whether or not moving your distributor caused it to idle better or worse.

My question is about the location of the bolt in the adjuster slot. If the bolt is located far to one side of the adjuster slot, then according to jglutz your cam is out of time with the pistons.

You can have the distributor set so the car is running as good as it can be with the cam out of time. Adjusting the distributor will never fix the cam timing. The car may run OK with the cam out of time, but should run better if the cam is in proper timing.

Did you check to make sure your cam/crank/timing belt marks line up ?



.........................Blake

[BigWheel]

I wouldn't argue whether or not moving your distributor caused it to idle better or worse.

My question is about the location of the bolt in the adjuster slot. If the bolt is located far to one side of the adjuster slot, then according to jglutz your cam is out of time with the pistons.

You can have the distributor set so the car is running as good as it can be with the cam out of time. Adjusting the distributor will never fix the cam timing. The car may run OK with the cam out of time, but should run better if the cam is in proper timing.

Did you check to make sure your cam/crank/timing belt marks line up ?



.........................Blake

We checked the timing on two occassions and it is good.

[Nihilist]

You checked it how, with a timing light ? I am not talking about your spark timing.

Your spark timing could be correct , even if your cam timing is not.

When you check your timing with a timing light, you are checking the #1 cylinder's ignition timing to see if it is sparking at the correct time as compared to the location of the #1 piston (probably about 10' before top dead center, or BTDC).

While this portion of your timing may be correct (spark timing) , the timing between your pistons and your cam could still be incorrect .

This will be evidenced by the distributor being cranked way to one side of the adjustment range. It is all the way to one end of the range to compensate for the cam being out of time , which is requiring you to compensate your spark timing to "fix" the problem.

It isn't really fixing the problem. It is just making your car usable.

I will be checking into this on my own ride, tomorrow.


........................Blake

[BigWheel]

You checked it how, with a timing light ? I am not talking about your spark timing.

Your spark timing could be correct , even if your cam timing is not.

When you check your timing with a timing light, you are checking the #1 cylinder's ignition timing to see if it is sparking at the correct time as compared to the location of the #1 piston (probably about 10' before top dead center, or BTDC).

While this portion of your timing may be correct (spark timing) , the timing between your pistons and your cam could still be incorrect .

This will be evidenced by the distributor being cranked way to one side of the adjustment range. It is all the way to one end of the range to compensate for the cam being out of time , which is requiring you to compensate your spark timing to "fix" the problem.

It isn't really fixing the problem. It is just making your car usable.

I will be checking into this on my own ride, tomorrow.


........................Blake

Blake,

I know what you're saying and fully understand. All that you've stated above we checked and it's good. When I looked at the distributor I "thought" it was cranked too far to one side but I was mistaken because I'm a novice. Once we loosened it up I realized I had made a mistake. The timing is good. The CTS was bad, replaced it and now all is good. Just to make you feel better I had a long time certified mechanic check my work. I don't believe in band aids because they lead to bigger problems down the road.

[Nihilist]

Sorry if I was being "pushy".

I just wasn't sure if you were clear on what I was saying.

Well, if my cam timing is ok, then perhaps i'll look into the CTS.

Thanks....................Blake

[BigWheel]

Sorry if I was being "pushy".

I just wasn't sure if you were clear on what I was saying.

Well, if my cam timing is ok, then perhaps i'll look into the CTS.

Thanks....................Blake

We're cool. I'm far from being a mechanic so that's no big deal. Keep us posted on what you find.