wassup again all! got my car running again but now another issue...
the car idles rough, i cld the guy i bought it from it and he says he cant remember is he adjusted the timing?? i think he did... he also said the chip may have been upgraded (everyone has the 'chip' in there car nowadays ).
anyway, while i have the car for a tune up , if i replace the dist cap, module, etc would that set the timing bk to factory spec? also, can i put the ecm from my other 85' in there since there the same year? i want it to run stock. thnx

 

i also bought some throttle body cleaner and fuel injector cleaner ill try this weekend..

 

If the two cars are identical (both same motor, same induction, same tranny), then you could swap chips. But if it's running, I don't see the point. I'd think you had another issue than chips if it's running.

Timing is set by rotating the distributor - simply replacing cap does nothing as far as timing goes. You can get a cheap ($15) timing light and a distributor wrench and do timing, it's not hard. Harbor Freight (if you have one around) has $15 timing lights, and you'll want a 9/16 distributor wrench, these wrenches are curved so that you can get to the bolt under the distributor easily, and they are well worth the $8 for one.

Connect timing light to pos and neg battery term, and the pickup goes on #1 plug (driver side farthest forward). Loosen dist bolt just enough to be able to turn dist but tight enough where it will stay where you put it. Start car, point light at timing tab, press button - the light flashes when the #1 plug fires, and when the light flashes you should see the mark on the harmonic balancer line up with a numbered mark on the timing tab. Everything to the driver side of ZERO is AFTER TDC, everything to the pass side of the ZERO is BEFORE TDC. The timing tab is usually shaped like a zig zag - marks are usually peaks and valleys - a "peak" is one degree, the "valley" is another. Get the specs for your engine, and set accordingly by rotating the dist - turning clockwise changes timing towards BTDC, and turning c-clockwise changes timing towards ATDC. It takes a very slight turn to change one actual degree on the timing tab. Folks talk about "advancing the timing" - they are setting to a higher number BTDC. I've never seen a car that was supposed to run any number ATDC (there might be a case, I just never seen it).

Sometimes the cars run better with a slightly advanced timing set, even though the factory specs call for a lower setting - but it depends on your situation.

OH - BEFORE changing the timing, unplug the EST wire - it's a tan wire that comes out of harness on pass side of car near the strut tower, has a connector, and then goes right back into the same harness - this disables the computer from changing the timing while you are setting the base timing. Unplug this connector BEFORE you start the car.

Might try new fuel filter, new dist cap and rotor, new plugs and plug wires as well. On the plug wires, grab a volt/ohm meter and set it to ohms, and check the resistance on each wire BEFORE installing it - I'm always getting a bad plug wire from a brand new box and this eliminates the guess work BEFORE install. They should have almost zero resistance.

Hope that helps!

 

ok, thnx, ill try all that before checking/changing timing.... anything else i can do while i have the car jacked up??

 

what if the car wont stay running long enough to do do timing adjustment??

 

Then you set the balancer at 6 to 12 degrees before top dead center and re-sink your distributor with the rotor pointing at #1 cylinder. Make sure your on the compression stroke though!

 

Or simply turn the distributor clockwise a tad a try again.

 

do i have to take off the whole top end to reach dist? when i take back cover i still cant see it.... also, what else can i check while im in there incase timing is good and car still cuts off??

 

i forgot to mention that the car cuts off when i apply the gas pedal..