ok here goes .My brothers car(a 1989 rs 2.8 liter camaro 5-speed all stock 85000 miles on it) is having problems backfiring and not reving up its missing and just running like crap..... so far I have replaced the spark plus wires and the whole distributor. Then i replaced the knock sensor computer and chip.I set the timing @ 0
then when I revit up the white timing mark move past the 0 mark retarded and back as i rev it up and down please help

 

Hi
If I remember right you should have set the timing to 10 not 0
All so did you disconnect the timing wire? Before doing the timing it’s the one just above the fan for your heating and a/c next to the firewall at the back one wire connector light brown wire I think but could be wrong
Hope this helps

Alex

 

Yeah, your timing is way off man. Check the firing order and all... #1 cylinder is the front PASSANGER (not driver) side.

Look on the passanger side. You'll see a brownish tan wire with a connector. Disconnect it (it'll be next to the heater blower).

Start teh car

Set to 10º timing.

Shut off car

Plug wire back up

Rinse, lather, repeat.

 

yeah I unpluged that wire just like my own cars Iknow the #1 is on the passenger side I just didnt know it was suposed to be at 10 so i tryed that but its still is back fireing I checked the timing chain by turning the crank and looking at the rotor on the distributo but their is know slack so that checks out ok so whats next for my brothers car

 

i ment their is no slack me and my typing

 

Ok, so you replaced the distributor and plug wires...did you inspect or change the cap or did that go with the distributor as well? How are the spark plugs? While you're on ignition, check your coil output. Should be a white spark..blue is acceptable as well. Anything other than white or blue, such as orange, red, yellow,etc....is too cold and weak and could be the cause of your problems.

Outside of ignition... Does it ever stall? Any check engine lights?

 

There's no knock sensor on an 85-89 2.8 MPFI; where was this sensor located?

And with the EST bypass connector unhooked, there is still a small amount of mechanical advance built into the distributor. You'd see the timing mark move as you rev'd the motor up; that's normal.

Have you checked other things, like the fuel pump pressure? MAF? Injectors? Has the timing mark on the balancer slipped? Do you still have the old spark plugs? Was there anything funny about them (overly large gap, missing pieces, bad color, etc)? What did you gap the new plugs to?

When the last time the car had a major tuneup? https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=162251 That's another reason to keep up on your major tuneups; tealman92's brother's car might have something wrong like a fuel filter that's 5 years old. If you keep up with your major tuneups, you can "eliminate" easy things like this.

That's yet another reason why I love the fuel pressure gauge as a diagnostic tool. In a few minutes I can mark the whole fuel system as "good", and eliminate it from my list of questions.