struggling to stay alive, ignition timing off, erratic poor idle

[pickster1107]

I had a similar problem' mine turned out to be the pcv valve, hope this helps!

[Jesse]

Here is a link to pictures showing what happened to my 1990 crank.
Your timing pulley is on the end of the crankshaft behind the plastic timing belt cover.
I really hope that you find that this is not your problem.
Only practical way to fix is a new crank or a new engine. I chose a new engine.

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/festiva/photos/albums/971578798

I don't think it's that. The car ran decent before I parked it about a month ago and started tearing apart the interior.

[Jesse]

I had a similar problem' mine turned out to be the pcv valve, hope this helps!

PCV is new

[Jesse]

I received a distributor from another forum member and it made no difference.

Today I ran the car up to operating temp to rule out the IAC valve. It ran just as poorly at operating temp, and then it threw a code for a bad O2. I think I killed it from running too rich. Exhaust smells like gasoline.

I have the distributor in the full clockwise position (is that advanced or retarded?) - HOWEVER it and I have double confirmed the cam timing. Connecting the STI diagnostic connector makes the problem twice as worse.

The engine barely stays alive at idle. If you give it a little throttle it runs smoothly and stays alive, but back at idle it will struggle until it dies.

I bought it a few months ago and the engine ran alright then. I parked it a month ago and made several changes:
- new PCV
- new VAF meter
- oil change (added seafoam to the oil)
- new cap and rotor
- new plugs and wires
- lots of new steering and brake parts
- new interior (had the entire dash disassembled)
- new air filter

After these changes I began experiencing the very rough idle and the impossibility of timing the ignition. The timing marks just don't line up.

I am very close to taking this to a mechanic. Does anyone have a new idea?


EDIT:
To clarify the distributor location.
The engine runs best in the full clockwise position, however this position moves the timing mark on the pulley furthest away(behind - towards firewall) from the timing mark on the cover.
The engine runs worst in the full counter-clockwise position, but this moves the timing mark closest to the pulley but is still about two inches away from matching.

[1chrisapple]

y a new vaf if u have the old one try it just a suggestion.was the old one bad? sorry the dizzy didn't fix it but at least u have a new rotor button lol was there a problem before u did all this or after bc if after I would assume it is something wrong with the parts u installed or they are installed incorrectly

[Jesse]

Old one was busted. The plate inside would only open a few cm before stopping.

It worked OK before I was just trying to keep up on maintenance lol. I bought it a few months ago and don't really know the history.

[Jesse]

I got fed up and took it to the mechanic. He determined the problem to be bad gas. The gas in it was about 6 months old. He swapped out better spark plugs and the fuel filter (which was original !!) and put seafoam in the gas tank. Idle issues are gone and it runs much better. I plan to run seafoam through the intake this afternoon to give it a good clean.

Very happy with the result, but kind of annoyed it was something stupid like this.

[Chobobulous]

Thanks for the follow up. My car has been idling terribly since the completion of the build. I couldn't find a vacuum leak but the gas is 5 months old. I hadn't even thought to look there.

[Chobobulous]

And thanks a lot. It helped. Still not perfect but far better

[Jesse]

Glad I helped someone else. My mechanic advised me to find ethanol free gas (91 octane around here) and drive it a lot to flush out the old gas. It had less than a quarter tank of the old stuff when this problem started.

[bravekozak]

The separation between the water amd the gas is more pronounced when you get near the bottom of the tank. I always bite the bullet and use super Shell (no ethanol). I do not feed my car poison (or my snowblower, or my lawnmowers, or my generator). Non-ethanol only. Especially when you want to leave the tank full to prevent condensation, yet sit for a couple of seasons.

[Jesse]

My state requires 8-10% ethanol to be blended in all gasoline except for off-road use, so ethanol-free gas is unfortunately hard to find around here

[bravekozak]

Go to your local airfield for a fill up.

[Jesse]

Haha its not that bad. There is a station 15 minutes from me that sells the "off-road" fuel

[bravekozak]

I have the distributor in the full clockwise position (is that advanced or retarded?)
After these changes I began experiencing the very rough idle and the impossibility of timing the ignition. The timing marks just don't line up.

When you say full clockwise posution, does that mean when the distributor housing slot hits the distributor mounting bolt and cannot turn any farther? Is it still like that? If so, timing must be off.