Okay here's the question. Currently i am doing a swap into a TPI set up. I can't get the car to run descent enough to try and do anything with it. The car runs like it's running on 5 cylinders or so. It seems to idle fine but when you hit the accelerator it's runs real rough and sounds like a frt train. The motor sounds fine (engine only has 8,000 miles on it),sounds to me like a ignition problem. The question is, my friend says he put the distributor in correctly,but i think it's not, then my nieghbor told me you have to have the distibutor in on the EXCACT tooth,you can't be off by even a single tooth. The friend who put the distributor thinks even if you were just a tooth off, you would correct the problem when you're turning the distributor when setting the timing. And yes we unhooked the brown wire when we set the timing. So which is it?.. Is it alright to be a tooth off or do you have to have the distributor on the exact tooth????

 

if its ignition then:
if you set the timing to 6° BTDC with the bypass disconnected
then thats 6° BTDC. whether the distributor is a 'tooth' off doesnt
have any bearing other than looks. if the cam/crank chain is a tooth
off is more severe. recheck the firing order of the distributor.
from the number one (in a clockwise rotation) should be:
1 8 4 3 6 5 7 2
5 and 7 are ease to cross.
access a data scanner and watch the knock sensor for detonation
or if the advance is retarding for reasons unknown.
was this a swap from TBI to TPI? if so, make sure you are using
a TPI knock sensor.
airdeano

 

Yes it was a TBI to TPI swap.... I put a different knock sensor in it when i changed from the 305 to the 350 but you are saying the TBI and the TPI have different knock sensors also?...

 

yup diff knock sensors from tbi-tpi

 

a tbi knock sensor will not make it run bad. did you swap to a MAF or SD TPI? if MAF make sure it's in the correct direction. it's a one way design. also, like was said above check your plug wires for correct firing order. maybe some injectors aren't working. or maybe a driver in the ECM is bad and only one side is firing. distributor doesn't matter where you dropped it in. could be the coil. did you make sure you put the ground wires on the back of the heads?

 

Switched to MAF and it is going in the right direction. I have power to both sides of the memcal. I looked at the wire diagram and saw there were a total of 5 grounds off the computer. And i positively grounded 3 wires on the pass side and 2 wires on the drivers side. And i checked the injectors with a trouble light, power on all 8 injectors on both sides.

 

Check for spark at all the plugs of course. Check your ignition module. Make sure your coil isn't wired backwards, It will fire if the +/- are reversed you just won't get full power and it could cause symptoms like you describe. Check the resistance of your plug wires with an ohm meter. If the knock sensor is reporting knock when you're not getting any and retarding ignition it could cause that problem. Beg borrow or steal a scan tool and check for knock counts.

The distributor being a tooth off is only a problem if you can't turn the distributor far enough to correct the base timing. I've even run one 180 degree's out by rearranging the plug wires. But I do like to have them right on anyway.

Check your fuel pressure, you may not be getting enough pressure and or volume at anything over idle. Check 02 sensor reading to see if you're leaning out. Check TPS voltage, if the tps is bad you may get no tps reading at throttle which could lean out the car. Check for a clogged catyitic converter.

If none of those things are it get back to us and I'll list off some more.

 

Did you have to adjust the valves as part of your swap? If one is too tight you're not going to get any power out of that cylinder. Been there, done that! Had similar symptons to what you describe.

 

I do have a scanner but can't get it to communicate with the car for some reason. When i turn the ignition over the check engine light flashes once and that's it. Voltage on TPS is fine, .55 closed and 4.8 WOT. Unfortunatly i don't have a fuel pressure gauge to check it. Don't think it would be the cat since there was nothing wrong woth the car when i started the swap. And i don't think i switched the coil wires cause they seem to interlock and could only go on one way. Gonna try new plugs in it and check the distributor and put a vacuum gauge on it to see what i come up with i guess.

 

Yeah, I missed that you were using the coil that plugs into the stock harness, most times that problem comes up with universal aftermarket coils.

 

Once you have ensured the spark plugs and wires are good, then go into the distributor and inspect the magnetic pick-up coil. There should be a test procedure in your shop manual. Basically if it's bad, you're going to get misfire problems.