I'm continuing to have trouble with this car. The girl that had it before me replaced the injectors, fuel pump, and cat. In the past week, I've replaced the fuel pump, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, fuel injection regulator, water pump, and steering shaft. The car still has trouble starting, and the temperature keeps rising. What could be wrong with the car now? I dont want to keep chasing ghosts with throwing parts at it

 

First - we need to know year, motor size, whether it's TBI or TPI.

Second - we need more details - simply stating "trouble starting" is not enough.
Does it crank but not start?
Does it backfire?
Does it run at all?
Have you checked fuel pressure?
Have you checked for spark?
Have you rechecked the firing order?

What temp does it get to?
Is it overheating (boiling out) or just getting hot?
Does the electric fan come on at all?
Have you checked the relays for the fan(s) and fuel pump?
Does it get hot in town or on the highway?
Is the air dam in place under the car?
Did you get the right water pump?
- (serp belt takes reverse rotation, vbelt takes standard rotation)

Remember the movie Short Circuit? We "need input".

 

The car is a 91 3.1 v6. It'll crank but will not start. Eventually, after a few tries, it will start. WHen it runs, it idles rough. When driving it'll bog out. Putting minimal throttle will be smooth, but anything past that and it will sputter, bog, backfire/misfire/surge. There's spark, there's fuel, there's air. It gets up to operating temp within only a few mins. I'll check tonight about the fans and how hot it'll get up to. im thinking the thermostat is needing to be replaced. Not sure about the fans coming on. I'll check that tonight. Got the right water pump, I'll look at the belt but we set it up like the picture has it. The relay for the fuel pump is also good. havent checked for the fans, but it was working fine right before we changed the water pump.

 

OK - cool.

Then I'd look into ignition for the misfire culprit then - check wires for beaks, make sure none have slipped slightly off a plug or the cap (they should all kinda 'snap' on the cap and the plugs), ohm test each plug wire should be almost zero resistance, maybe try a new cap/rotor. Then, if needed, try the replacing ICM and pickup coil in the distributor.

 

the wires area all new and put on right, and i also have a new cap and rotor on there. my buddy said it could be a timing issue?

 

New wires are not always good wires - I've bought plenty of bad ones before - worth ohm testing them to be sure. Could well be a timing issue - you'll have to unplug the EST wire to check base timing.