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

[Aaronbrook37]

No worries, Rick. Appreciate your contributions. The spark plugs themselves haven't even been there a month total. I'm definitely thinking a spare/fresh coil would be wise - I'll make some calls and see if anybody's got one laying around!

[WmWatt]

White deposit on spark plug electrodes is normal, just fuel additives. Mine always have that. If you think it's missing I'd pull back the rubber boots on the wires, clean, and crimp a bit for better contact. WD-40 will lubricate the wires and make it easer to pull the boots back. Otherwise clean all ignition components, including wipe down the wires, and push wires on well. BTW missing will show up on vacuum guage as jerky needle. I pulled the high voltage wire from my coil recently and there was a light coating of corrosion in there. Cleaned it with a bit of rolled up steel wool. Engine perked up.

[Aaronbrook37]

White deposit on spark plug electrodes is normal, just fuel additives. Mine always have that. If you think it's missing I'd pull back the rubber boots on the wires, clean, and crimp a bit for better contact. WD-40 will lubricate the wires and make it easer to pull the boots back. Otherwise clean all ignition components, including wipe down the wires, and push wires on well. BTW missing will show up on vacuum guage as jerky needle. I pulled the high voltage wire from my coil recently and there was a light coating of corrosion in there. Cleaned it with a bit of rolled up steel wool. Engine perked up.

That's a great trick for slipping the wire boots. Just ordered a <$10 coil on RockAuto and I'll pop it in alongside the crimping/seating of the wires. These ones definitely have far tighter/snugger boots than my badly-aged NGK ones did. All of my grounds have been sanded/polished, so hopefully it won't take much more to get some oomph into the ignition system.

[Aaronbrook37]

New coil, new cap, and new rotor. Full spark to cylinder one has got me back to 15inHg at 8*BTDC. I'm insanely frustrated that the idle is still low and the car is completely undriveable... one can't even put it into gear without it dying and refusing to start eight times out of ten.

[Aaronbrook37]

Going to get the exhaust uncoupled and attempt to soak/clean the cat up. Don't have the financial resources to replace the cat just yet, though I'd love to chop'n'clamp in a newer unit eventually. 31 years of deposits and combusted-petroleum filth probably hasn't done it many favors.

[WmWatt]

^^ My carburetted '89 still has the original catalytic converter and passes Ontario emissions testing every year. Have you tried a search of the Internet for causes of low vacuum?

[Aaronbrook37]

Indeed, but it always comes back to ignition timing as a reason for fluttery 14-16inHg. Unless there's some vacuum leak I haven't managed to track down somehow, I'm losing hope here. My consistent albeit low compression figures tell me the head gasket is probably okay. I've replaced every single component of the ignition (aside from the small black box mounted on the distributor) and couldn't be more sure of the actual spark plug gap and timing being set correctly.

[Aaronbrook37]

Well, giving the cat a bath/wash/rinse/dry seems to certainly have improved things quite a bit. After replacing it and torquing everything to spec, I'm now getting 17inHg with basically zero flutter on the needle. The cat spring-bolts were a bit loose admittedly - I think a friend who was helping me forgot to torque them down. Either way, the car seems to idle a lot better... but it continues the earlier-described behavior the second one puts it into any gear other than P/N. Starting to wonder whether my transmission could use a flush and some fresh fluid, or what else might disproportionately cause issues in gear under load compared to at idle.

[Aaronbrook37]

Haven't made any progress here... really starting to wonder if I should just scrap the project altogether. It's been such a fuss for the past six months and it's certainly doing me no favors sitting around in my parents' driveway. *sigh*

[FestYboy]

Just for gits and shiggles, advance the cam 1 tooth (approx 8*) reset the ignition timing and try a vacuum reading... it's a 20 minute experiment that may shed some light on this.

Just to clarify, advance is clockwise as you look at the cam gear.

[Aaronbrook37]

Just for gits and shiggles, advance the cam 1 tooth (approx 8*) reset the ignition timing and try a vacuum reading... it's a 20 minute experiment that may shed some light on this.

Just to clarify, advance is clockwise as you look at the cam gear.

Well, I suppose it couldn't hurt to try it. Sorry for my ignorance, but is there a faster way of advancing the cam than pulling the belt off along with the water pump pulley and timing covers? There's no way I'd ever be able to do that in less than an hour.

[FestYboy]

Yes: don't cover the cam gear (upper cover). This allows easy access to the tentioner pulley bolt and belt. I leave that upper cover off on all my engines. A long handled 12mm wrench gets in there and no need to touch the water pump pulley. There's an alternative way to do it that's even faster, but I can't disclose it for fear of getting flamed, that, and it's not the greatest way to get the job done either, but it works.

[Aaronbrook37]

Ah perfect - I already have the upper cover left off. That should make things far easier if I can avoid touching the water pump. Hoping to get to it on Sunday maybe - busy week or two coming up. Thanks much - stay tuned!