Can't turn over after sitting a few months (1986 323 B6 SOHC)

[Aaronbrook37]

Definitely set to 10 degrees BTDC now. I threw plates on the car for the weekend and took her out for a spin. The power just isn't there - car is very gutless to say the least. I can floor it heading up a hill and fail to even reach 30MPH. For most elevation, I have to move from Drive to the low gears to keep the revs up. There's definitely some popcorn/popping noises coming out in the process. The more throttle I open, the less popping there is - seems like it's worst in the 5-50% throttle range. Drove down to the gas station to fill up with premium for good measure and check the tire pressure. Still runs moderately well aside from the lack of power. Idle still rocky/bumpy per the above.

[bravekozak]

the dual vacuum and three-prong igniter is on the left, and the new with the single vacuum and two-prong igniter is on the right.

One of the three prongs is for automatic spark advance based on the signal from the barometric pressure sensor under the dash. You will have to manually advance the timing when you drive into the Rockies (if you use the one with only two prongs).

No power under load?
Sounds like your catalytic convertor is plugged up.
Install a test pipe to find out.
Report back with the results.

[WmWatt]

^^ another way to see blocked exhaust is with a vacuum guage if you have one. see the thread on vacuum diagnosing at the top of this forum.

[Rick the Quick]

^^ another way to see blocked exhaust is with a vacuum guage if you have one. see the thread on vacuum diagnosing at the top of this forum.

Post #15 mentions low vacuum. I knew a guy that used to cut the clogged converters open and gut them, weld 'em up and put them back on the car. They always passed the visual inspection and also the actual measured results. Of course this was back in the OBD 1 days if that matters. He cut open the tops so when they were put back on the car it was not noticeable. I imagine it carried serious time in the pen if he was caught. Oh darn now the Federal-es will be watching me......LOL.

[bravekozak]

The one thing that really clogs a cat up is an EGR valve that is stuck open.
I usually put a small piece of sheet metal between the valve and the manifold so that it never happens again.

[FestYboy]

Tooth off on the cam timing? That would explain the lower than normal vacuum reading... Done a compression test lately? Willie complained of the same lack of power in his auto... I found it a tooth off. Power came back immediately. Just something easy to check.

[Aaronbrook37]

That's definitely next. Wanted to see if any of the "it sat for a while" would alleviate the problem, but clearly it hasn't. Conveniently, the new belt/tensioner I ordered as precautions will be here today/tomorrow at the latest. Either way, will definitely get in there and see what I can do - praying I won't have to drop the engine mount because I'm not sure if I have confidence in my ability to do that properly haha.

[WmWatt]

Some people have been able to drop the pulley out by putting a prybar in the engine mount and levering the engine over a bit. The pulley drops out. To get the pulley back in, place it in position and pry on the engine mount again and it drops back in. Don't know if that works on all cars but it did on mine when I replaced the timing belt. Good luck.

[Aaronbrook37]

Timing belt went well... dropping the engine a bit wasn't too much work. Hardest part was getting my big hands to thread the water pump pulley bolts, honestly hahaha. Unfortunately, a fresh belt and resetting the marks up top and down low hasn't solved anything at all. From here, I guess it'll be fuel pressure testing, compression testing, and checking to see if the cat's plugged... getting discouraged for sure.

[bravekozak]

My van ran like a dog until I replaced the cat with a cheap replacement the week before the eclipse.
It was like having a new car. Great power all the way down to Tennessee and back. I was told that I could have burned out the automatic transmission if I would have pushed it too much, with a plugged cat. I could only do gradual acceleration. If I tried to floor the accelerator, it would only bog and go slower.
Check the EGR valve first to see if it's stuck open.
If so, then the cat is plugged for sure.

[Aaronbrook37]

Might as well bump that up the list - easy fix! I'll have a look in the morning when there's some daylight out there!

[Aaronbrook37]

So turns out there is no EGR on my car. I do have a brass block-off plate where it otherwise might go. I did some injector cleaning, new seals, and re-did the throttle body and intake manifold gaskets today. It seems to have improved the car's running performance considerably though only at idle. Most of the white-ish smoke I had before from the tailpipe is also gone, and I had to reset the ignition timing as it was way off. That tells me the intake manifold gasket definitely needed doing. Under load, the popping is still prevalent and anything more than 15% throttle proves futile. Thinking coil or weak spark at this point, but will be compression testing shortly!

[WmWatt]

^^ I think ony carburetted engines have the EGR system.

[Aaronbrook37]

Here are the compression results: https://imgur.com/a/tp9l2.

Cold: 130-90-125-140
Warm Dry: 140-140-140-150

Chilton's (often not a reliable source) says the B6 has a 9.3:1 compression ratio, so the cylinder pressure is definitely lower than what I had hoped.

Questions I have:

1. Is it possibly my cam timing is still off a tooth with numbers like that? It's so evenly distributed but on the low side that it has me curious what could do that.

2. Spark plugs two and three (fewer than 50Km/30Mi on them) had white tips, indicating overheating. Does that indicate anything useful that it was the middle cylinders exclusively?

3. I can't seem to find an effective walk-through on testing the efficiency/power of the coil, but haven't confirmed it's rock solid - any documentation I can reference on the forums here?

4. Same for reading OBD codes. I assume it's similar to a Festiva, but haven't been able to track down the port/jumper to read them out.

[Rick the Quick]

Your engine definitely shows some signs of wear but compression when warm is perfectly acceptable and should allow for a strong running engine. Have you replaced your plugs after replacing the intake gaskets? I have had coils cause all kinds of drivability problems. Mainly under loads and for that matter why not throw in a new set of plugs and find another coil to do a back to back comparison. I had a '53 Ford a few years back that had an annoying stumble running it through the gears (all three...hahaha). While it looked like the previous owner had replaced all the electrical ignition parts including spark plugs, I went to Autozone and bought six 97 cent AutoLite spark plugs and the problem was fixed. And BTW a six volt 1953 Ford had a positive ground electrical system. It will actually run fine with the battery reversed, it just wont charge the battery prompting some owners to sell the car cheaply because they can not find a competent (old time) mechanic to fix it. Sorry if I am hi-jacking this thread Mr. Moderator.