A little background first: I swapped an early 80s engine into my 89 camaro. I used the tbi intake from my 89 and a throttle body from a friends 350 he had laying around because my injectors were clogged. I set the #1 piston to TDC, put all plug wires in their corresponding spots, started it, and it runs so so. I have trouble starting it and i have to hit the gas while cranking and rev it up when it turns over. Also it stalls out many times when i let off the throttle and it dies when i put it in gear. It also seems harder to start when its hot outside.

I know i need to set the initial timing to zero with that harness unplugged. I just want to make sure that i have all necessary vacuum lines and electrical connections made so that the computer can advance the timing correctly. If someone could let me know all of the crucial things i need hooked up for the computer to control advancing id greatly appreciate it.I dont have a timing light handy so i tried to get the initial timing close by listening and turning the dizzy, but I just made it worse. Please note that i removed all emissions stuff and o2 sensors and put on hedman headers as well.

Thanks in advance guys, ps i will be putting a timing light on it. Do you think with my engine setup that i will have to set my base timing more advanced than 0?

 

Please note that i removed all emissions stuff and o2 sensors and put on hedman headers as well.

This might be part of your problem..........

 

Guys do it all the time, thats not gonna cause it to run that bad... Is their anyone that has done this, I always read how guys r taking their emissions stuff off to clean up their engine bay... I also have an extra hei dizzy with vacuum advance if that might work better than my stock dizzy

 

After reading some, I see I'm gonna have to do some tuning as well, but I'm hoping I can just get it running decent first.

 

I have mine set to 6 degrees before tdc with the sensor unplugged. Are your injectors firing at a good pace or intermitten? Also been told the coolant temp sensor can have an affect on the cold starts of the car.

 

I have mine set for zero and it runs fine. When they say give it some more timing does that mean more initial timing or computer timing. Which plug do you unplug?

Did you try swapping you distributor 180 deg? I have done this before and it makes it run but like crap. Just saying. I know it's a very basic fix and that's prob. the first thing you did. So do you timing marks line up while its running?

I hope you get it figured out then please post it.

Greg

 

It not off 180. I'm gonna put a timing light on it tomorrow. Im gonna go over all my vac connections and try and find/install/replace any sensors I removed except the o2 sensors.

 

did you reuse the dizzy from the tbi engine you removed??? you will need the map sensor, air temp sensor, tps, and the idle air control valve all hooked up. you will also need the 02 sensor as well so the engine knows what the engine is doing. egr is not needed for it to run but it will turn the check engine light on. also the coolant temp sensor on the front of the intake is very important. the removing emissions means smog pump and piping, cat, and stuff. this would be a good start.

 

Ok, I went over everything today real quick; turns out I had my map sensor plugged into my egr valve. Changed that, unplugged that sensor so I could set the initial timing, disconnected and reconnected the battery. Now I don't know if it was just a lucky day or what, but it fired right up and idled smooth and it was responsive to the throttle. I didn't time it yet or try to drive it... I'm pretty sure I disconnected the p/n sensor from the tranny, so I'll have to get that connected as well.

I have the coolant temp sensor hooked up and the temp sender hooked up as well, but I'm not getting a reading on my gauge. Also I'm missing the MAT sensor in the air cleaner, is that crucial? Also missing the knock sensor, is that crucial?

 

My fan was turned on, also.

 

02 sensor yes/ air temp sensor can be. get those hooked up as well.

 

I have a gear drive and the knock sensor was messing with my timing until I disabled it in the programming.... I would hook up all your sensors first, verify that their getting the proper voltage then start your troubleshooting.