Yesterday out of the blue my car started to run really bad. It has detonation when idling and, when you accelerate it stumbles over it self for the first 2,000RPM or so. Once you get past that it runs half-way decent but, it is still not like it used to be.

Does anyone know what it could be?

 

Timing is definitly off sounds like. Could be anything from the dist. to your timing chain. Retime the engine and see what happens. If the timing reads 6*-10* at idle and you are still getting detonation, I would check the timing chain. Is it firing out the exhaust or intake?

 

okay before geting out the timing light and fiddling check the plug wires... and the plugs when was the last time you touched anything in the engine bay? i would say you are confusing a miss with detonation as it is pretty hard to get detonation at idle unless you have played with something....

 

YEah, you are right it is just missing. What would cause this. The timing chain is fine and the plugs, wires and such are brand new.

 

okay if they are brand spanking new out of the box 10 minutes ago new and only ran the car once.... then i would say that either you have wires mixed up...(like the 4-7 swap only with out the cam...) or you dont have the connectors properly seated... they can be very tough some times....

or i have seen this a few times... the tip of the plug starts to unscrew inside the boot can reak havoc and be a pain in the ***