I have an 89' TBI Camaro that was in storage for some years and now I am trying to pass emissions. I ran through it once and I was over on NoX and Hydro Carbons. So I changed a few things(plugs, wires, rotor, cap, air filter, fresh fuel), and tried setting the timing back to factory settings. When I started to get close to 0 it would idle terribly and die. However if I advance it to the point where it idles well, it knocks and throws code 43 after a test drive. The closest I can get it to and still run is about 14(rough est. since off scale) without the EST plugged in. Any ideas on why I can not obtain its Factory timing?

 

1. Are you using the factory procedure to get to the factory timing?

2. Has the torsional damper outer ring slipped? Common failure.

3. Wrong/mismatched damper vs. timing pointer.