ok i went out to the garage this morning thinking i was going to advance my timing and everything would be hunky dory. so i pop the hood, and wtf, my #3 plug wire isnt hooked up to the plug. so i plug it in (thats right i didnt notice my car was firing 7, dont know how long it was like that ) unplug my est wire and fire it up. it starts, then promptly dies. same thing twice more. so i plug it back in, start it, and give it a bit of gas, then let it idle, and it sounds like its running alright.
then i unplug the wire again, start it and it doesnt die, and idles smooth but something just doesnt sound quite right. i check the timing and it says zero. car throws me service codes 33, maf, and 42 est (probably from undoing the wire to time it)
car also makes an odd noise from underneath the front of the intake, just behind the throttle body, sounds sort of like one of the giant clicker wheels like on wheel of fortune. then i plugged the wire back in, checked the timing and it said 4. i believe when i set it before i set it to 6. so i advance it to about 7 or 8, shut the car off, plug it back in and start it and it runs fine. whats the crack?
on a side note, how in the hell do you get a socket on your distributor bolt? i tried it with a swivel and couldnt get it on it, am i just not trying hard enough? i put it on there using a flexhead gearwrench and some vice grips, so its tight but obviously not as tight as it could be. and also, after i plugged the est wire back in there were no service engine soon lights and it no longer made the clicking noise, although after i shut the motor off there are a series of loud ticks, sort of like the normal cooling ticks but louder that go on for 10 seconds or so. i dont want this all to culminate with my engine exploding or something so help me out lol

 

Go to sears and get a distributor wrench.

It's goofy looking but does the job. I would use an auto stethescope to try and pinpoint the noise maker. IAC maybe??