Long shot...

Have you checked to determine if the vacuum advance on the distributor is actually working?

Also, weak coil voltage could possibly explain this as well.


Rod.

 

How do I check if the vac advance is working? Timing light again? The hoses themselves look to be in pretty good shape.

I thought about the coil too, I was going to buy one when I bought the rest of the tuneup stuff but I didn't have the cash and they weren't in stock anywhere as well. I'm going to order one from Summit I think.

By the way, thanks to everyone who is trying to help, this problem is really bugging me.

 

Unplug the vacuum line from the distributor and cap the line. Go drive drive it and see if it makes a difference. It SHOULD run worse with the advance unplugged. If it runs the same as before... you have found a problem. These distributors are known for failure and can be replaced for about 130 to 160 bucks.


Rod.

 

Buy a Haynes Manual, hun. You're going to need it later anyway if you keep this car. Also, please read my post above about your symptoms and the usual problems that cause them.

 

Also, I don't recall seeing anywhere in your post what year the car is... If it is an 81-83, it will have an o2 sensor and that failing will make your life miserable as mentioned by ZCarBarbie. If it's a 79-80 it shouldn't have an o2 sensor and you can rule that out. (However, I think some 80's had an o2 sensor... but 79 definatly did not).


Rod.

 

Done. It ran marginally worse (although it doesn't get alot worse than what it was doing), but I noticed that the vac line is awfully mushy and old looking. I'm gonna put a new one on there and see if maybe that helps.

I've got an FSM, but thanks for the advice

Whoops, forgot to mention that it's an '81, and yes it has an o2 sensor. I've also thought about that being the culprit. So many things that can go wrong, so much money :/

 

Just see what happens when you put N/A injectors in, they wont cost that much at a junkyard. Maybe he rigged it so it would run fine with the turbo injectors but that obviously doesnt seem to be the case now. I dont know why you think turbo injectors would be okay just because the engine is built up. Look at shadys car, it is reaching the 170whp mark and is only leaning out in the top end and he is still running the same stock fuel injection system. PLEASE, PLEASE, just get some N/A injectors!!

 

yeah but shady lives in canada.......

 

I meant online, but if a plane ticket would solve this problem.

 

...And just to calrify...

I know you have an FSM, but the Hayne's manual is still INVALUABLE. The FSM is great, but it's not all encompassing and the Hayne's will be of great help to you... WE PROMISE!


Rod.

 

Ok so I hooked up the A/F gauge temporarily and let it warm up, it said I was running super lean. So I richened up the mixture and it started acting right. Going to mount it in the car and take it for a spin here in a second.

 

only 170? c'mon i got over 200 rwhp, so yeah good to see you got the guages, its a big help with tuning, if poss. mount it perminently, that way you can watch it all the time, and its way easier to tune

 

I thought you wanted to get 200 on MSnS?? Guess not.

And D spec I hate being wrong but if your car is running right good for you!

 

Still not running completely right - I took it out for a drive before mounting the A/F gauge and it was doing the same thing but nowhere nearly as bad, so I'm thinking we just tuned it enough to get it to run fine with no load, but under load it's still not up to par.

It started getting dark while I was hooking the gauge up so I called it a night before I finished, tomorrow I'm going to finish that up and then see if I can get it to run 100%.

Just for my own reference what color were/are turbo injectors?

 

did you try any of Zcarbarbies stuff...she is realy smart you know...espcially with her helpful links for dianosing the prob...jsut a thought.

 

I've done everything but check the o2 sensor and the timing. I'm pretty sure the o2 is good because it's sending an accurate signal to my A/F gauge, and I'm going to check the timing tomorrow, meant to do it today but friends came from out of state and I didn't feel like putting them off to do something I can do any time.

 

Just because the sensor is sending a signal does not mean its a good one Whats it reading anyways?

The gauge may have been reading lean due to a failing O2 sensor. Remember, an O2 sensor is little more then a battery. It generates voltage (very little). As its life span begins to end its not going to send as strong of a signal as it necessarily should.

 

It was reading super lean, then as I started to adjust the AFM it started to stoich/mildly rich.

 

Take the interior plastic piece out from the car. It's down on the left on the driver's side and you'll see the ECU. If you haven't already done so. Now take the car for a drive and let it all warm up good and everything. Then either get a mirror or get out of the car while you've got it parked and idling. Look at the bottom of the ECU there is a little LCD on it. If the light is flashing that means your O2 sensor is working, if it's not then it's not working. That's how I figured out my ECU problem and it made a gigantic difference.

So far your problem is sounding incredibly similar to the symptoms of my Turbo car. Because my Ignition Module or my Coil not sure which was going out, correct timing was not correct and even when I changed them my timing was super advanced. When I finally reset the timing with the new parts my car was finally running good.

For timing what you do is hook the timing light contacts up to the battery and then if the other wire is a clip, you just clip it onto the #1 Plug wire right by the plug. Now when you pull the trigger the light will flash everytime that plug fires. Then you need to get some white out and mark 8* on the Timing Plate and mark the little notch on the crankshaft pulley. The Timing plate is on the passeneger side of the engine bay and it's kind of on the side of the pulley. Once all that's done all you have to do is loosen the Dizzy, start the car and shine the light down there. You will see the two marks and then you've just gotta adjust the dizzy until the two marks line up. The hardest part of this is getting the crankshaft notch marked. Once you've done that the rest is easy.

 

that is the best way to check timing instead of trying to read the belt.....its much easier...and you can follow the dot with the timing light watch how it moves when you turn cam angle sensor....its pretty damn cool....

 

Ok, hooked up the A/F gauge permanently today. Took it out for a drive and it's saying the car is running full lean any time I get on the throttle - It's not even reading the last LED on the gauge.

I'm going to replace the filter even though I'm pretty sure it's good, and check the wiring to the pump. Any other ideas?

 

I thought you richened the mixture? Did you change it back?

 

I'm sticking with my theory that it's loading up... Too much Fuel, not enough Fire or Air.


Rod.

 

I did - It's at nearly full rich, but when I hit the gas it drops from rich to no fuel at all, which is why it's sputtering like it is. Something is going wrong in the fuel system or maybe I just don't have enough gas. Tomorrow's agenda is to add more fuel, change the filter, and check the pump wiring.

 

if you can check the fuel pressure as well, it may be only getting marginal pressure, your pump may be worn out