Cascade Crew

[BluFbdy]

Driving to work today the car cut out on me at the light, has a hard start when this happens everytime, like the starter is dying but when its not acting up it cranks perfectly fine. Hit the gas and it runs like crap until you get above about 3000 rpms, WOT it runs fine, in the 1000-3000 range it backfires and tries killing itself, took the air cleaner off when i got to work, reved it up using the throttle body and it has steady fuel even thru the problems, built up enough fuel to shoot fire out the intake and singe my hair >_< co worker noticed when i revved it up it was smoking like building up too much fuel.....

where the hell do i look?

new MAP, CTS, Coil, cap and rotor replaced a few months ago, timing is spot on at 6*, new fuel pump (luke and i dropped the tank to fix a ruptured line) it ran great to and from the car show, beating the throttle all night no issues. It also popped code 32, the egr was unplugged from the throttle body and the vac line was blocked off, i hooked it up when i was under the hood and it operated like normal under load, no sticking very smooth movement

Ive been told it can be a blocked EGR passage but this problem was occuring when it was unplugged too...

Could my ICM be going out? im just shooting blind here i have never gotten a useful code while this issue is happening

[91RSVert]

You have an ICM, which can be tested at some parts store. But make sure they run it several times to get it hot. And/or put it under a spot light to get it nice nhot for testing.

You also have a pick-up coil in the dizzy. If its never been replaced, its likely broke down by now.

But to me, backfire thru the intake is either the motor is WAYYY to hot, or your timing is off. I know you say timing is at 6deg. But trying adjusting up n down. Some of these balancers have been known for spinning so that the mark is not accurate. You can test this by making sure #1 is TDC with the little tool, and verifing that your timing mark is on 0. If not, then your balancer has spun.

Thats my .02

[chevymad]

The trigger wheel in the distributor on these has a habit of cracking. Inspect it closely. Sometimes you even need to pull hte shaft out of the distributor and check underneath. Any cracks will cause a false ignition and injector trigger. So you get out of time sparks and extra fuel dumped in.

[BluFbdy]

Well i BELIEVE ive got it fixed actually, only time will tell.... im still confused as to why it would have a really hard start like my battery was dead..... i could get in, fire it up, no problems good strong crank and as soon as it started acting up and it would kill itself id try to crank it over (usually in traffic) and it would crank like the battery was dead just really slow like 1,2,3, then nothing turn the key back, forward again and try once more >_<

I have gotten code 32 off and on ever since i put my headers on, so while had it in the shop today i popped the egr off and cleaned out the port, it was pretty blocked up, i used a coat hanger (frowned upon but it worked) to break it up, then i filled it with carb cleaner and let it soak, then fired it up and shot the crap out, i know its not the best way to do it but i had a couple big chunks fly out

ALSO when i pulled it in I used the TB to rev it up, and i noticed my air cleaner was sucking itself down onto the TB really tight, like a good 1/2" the warm up tube was blocked off when i did my headers (slinky lookin tube) and the warm up plate thats vac controlled stopped functioning.....so i had a HUGE air restriction and my filter definitely shows it lol after getting the egr cleaned and disconnecting the line to the plate it runs amazingly, excellent throttle response (1 symptom taken care of) no bogs, nothing, very smooth idle, alot more torque (took a spin behind the shop and tested that one out)

so for now im just gonna drive it, the real test will be the drive home, it has a slight hesitation when at WOT for entering the freeway so if its gone ill call it good.

my thought is the air restriction was screwing me, ive got spark and definitely enough fuel, it was running rich and my only guess is it was dumping in fuel as usual, not enough air, fuel built up and ignited when i was snapping the throttle

if my timing was off wouldnt that affect my idle? Plus this has been an intermittent issue, it will pop up and run like a turd, ill shut it off and leave it alone for a half hour then it will run properly, which if my fuel thoery is correct it was just evaporating..... all the problems ive been having are non existant now, good throttle response, smooth idle, no hunting up and down, and when i let off the gas the rpms arent dropping so low, i also had an issue with a really high idle until i punched it, then it would drop but never below 1200.

lets hope this gremlen is DONE

[rjmcgee]

The slow cranking when hot sounds like the timing is too far advanced. Or your starter is crapping out. I had to put a gear reduction mini starter on my car just so I could run the base timing I wanted. It affects it that much.

[BluFbdy]

While that sounds possible it seems a little bit crazy that it only slow cranks every single time is acted up never any other time

[BluFbdy]

Well its got a slight pulling action @ WOT still, I can rip thru the gears a hell of a lot faster now tho, I was having trouble keeping up with civics before lol

I'm wondering if you guys are right on the base timing, I've got close to (if not over) 200k on the motor, did a few speedo swaps without resetting the odometer lol if the wot issue is something that's related to off base timing then id be down, and that would also explain the fireball that claimed some of my hair lol

Just to be clear is base timing 6* or 8* for tbi? I remember setting it at 8 when I first got it, we dialed it in at 6 at lukes

[91camaro_rs]

if i may make a correction his timing is not at 6*, its at 0* i was the last one to look at it with a timing light

6* is base for TPI

[BluFbdy]

Ok or not maybe I'm crazy lol

[fiveoformula]

To much timing makes heat, heat makes it hard to start (When warm, not cold).
If your set up at 6* with a TBI car, your advanced to much and it will ping, and hard start when its hot.
Set it up at 0*. then let us know if you still have a problem.

[BluFbdy]

Ill mess with it tomorrow at work, now to set base timing I put the #1 cylinder at tdc since its zero, then point the rotor to the #1 plug correct? And if its off just compensate for the change? I.e if I set it to tdc and the mark is at like 2* instead of 0, I would just set the timing to -2* to get it to true 0*?

[fiveoformula]

Yeah the rotor needs to point at the post on the distributor cap that that goes to cyl #1. Don't forget it could be 180* off.

[Twilightoptics]

[BluFbdy]

Alright so is there a way to avoid the 180? Or just 50/50 shot hope like hell I get lucky? And im assuming if its off it won't fire correct?

[aaron_sK]

Why are you restabbing the dizzy to set the timing? Do you not own a timing light or something?

If you've already forked up your dizzy and do need to restab it, watch the valves. That will tell you TDC comp. vs. TDC exh.

Otherwise, just unplug your EST or SPOUT or whatever and set it correctly with a timing light.

[Alphius]

[aaron_sK]

If his balancer slipped he needs a dead-stop.

Otherwise he's flying blind, and if he does get it right, it'll just slip again, or just fall off John-style.

Just my two cents.

[91RSVert]

yea, dead-stop is the tool I was talking about. Still no need to restab the dizzy. Just needs to check if the balancer slipped. Then compenstate or replace.

[BluFbdy]

Haha I'm not gonna remove my balancer, just compensate for the difference, its got 22 years of oil/dirt holding it together id rather not break the bond on it lol

And you are correct aaron I don't have a light lol

Its out of curiosity and I've also got a slight hesitation in 3rd thru 5th when I hammer on it, it goes but it has a pulsing feel to it, fuel is all redone, spark is in order ( except for icm and pickup) I've replaced it all so I'm just lookin around at this point to see if timing is correct

[BluFbdy]

Well the problem is still there. Not as severe though! Hit the gas and it choked up on me, had it at about 3/4 throttle and it just didn't wanna go, once I let go of the gas it went back to idle and I just eased into it to go, didn't die though so that's a huuuuuuge plus, suppose that air restriction added to the problem....

Anyway the intermittent gremlin is back, when it acts up it has no power, pushing the gas down hard or trying to accelerate too fast causes it to choke and sometimes cause the exhaust to backfire, if I'm on a flat road I get the backfire out the tailpipe, when I was going up a slight hill is when it choked up on me, normally it happens in the 1500 to 3000 rpm range, once I get above 3k it revs normally.....

Ideas?