ok here goes, i replaced the motor(2.8 v6 5 speed) in my wifes 86 camaro and i changed the timing chain. i thought, and my dad thought also that we got it in right, but now im having problems. we set the timing and the car would start nice and easy but the idle was a little high. then went for a drive. the car had no power so we fouled around a bit and got the power back. problem is the idle is way too high as in 2200-2700 and now the car is hard to start have to hold the accelerator down for it too start. i screwed around a little more by turning the distributor. it was almost perfectly centered when it had the power it should. i turned the no. 1 post towards the passenger side till the idle smoothed and and came down to around 1200 still high but nice and smooth. drove car 2 miles had no power took me a half mile to get to 40. stopped car and looked under hood and exhaust manifolds were glowing so iturned the distributor back to where it ran good but idled high. now i am guessing and i have been told it is probly timing but i want a few more opinions. i have cleaned and replaced the iac. so i think that is out. and i have checked for vacuum leaks and can not find any. i tried the old method of spraying carb cleaner and listening for idle change. i sprayed it around the gasket areas and any vacuum lines and around the injectors and that stuff. now if i have to tear it down to the chain again i will but if i dont have to i dont want to. so what are you guys opinions. thanks in advance.

 

Glowing mainfolds is a lean mixture. Did you set the timing with the EST wire disconnected and with a timing light? When you installed the timing chain where were the marks and was the number one piston at TDC ( Passanger side, first piston )? Have you set any SES codes? Is the o2 sensor working? Need some more info please.

-Buck

 

Definately check the timing with a light... and make sure the mark on the balancer is correct. Bring #1 (which is the frontmost PASSENGER side cylinder on a 2.8/3.1 V6) to TDC of compression stroke and make sure the mark on the balancer points to zero degrees on the timing scale by the crank pulley. If the balancer is shot and the outer ring has slipped, the mark will also move.

Oh also you've got an '86 so you'll have 3 marks on your balancer. Use the widest mark.

When you replaced the motor, did you replace Just the motor? Or did you put an entire junkyard motor in, along with the intake/distributor/injectors/throttle body/etc?

If you did what I hope, and put your wife's original intake/distrib/etc onto the 2nd motor, did you replace the o-rings on the injectors? They can tear easily and cause a heck of a vacuum leak. A box of 16 is made by Standard, part # SK-9.

 

ok well i originally set the timing with a light but was unaware of the est wire and am still not sure where that is so if you could explain which wire that is or show me a pic of it it would help and te car has not thrown any codes as of yet but i have not even driven it 100 miles yet ok im wrong it has thrown an egr code but it was doing that before the old engine died i forgot to clean out the passages to it. and tom i actually have the 88 balancer on there because i bought a parts car with this motor in it and it all ran perfect till i swapped it all. but i had to change a lot of stuff for emissions here. new motor didnt have a smog pump so i had to change all the front accesories and the water pump and timing cover which is why i went ahead and changed the chain . and yes i used all the stuff that was on my motor originally intake and that stuff .

 

The EST wire is behind the passanger strut tower it is a tan wire and a connector holds it together. Unplug that, set timing to 10, turn engine off, reconnect wire, start engine, clear codes after that. I have a concern tell me excatly what year engine is in your car now. And if you used the flywheel from the 86. Cause if you have a 88 engine with a 86 flywheel and balancer, you may be redoing this again real soon. Here is why: In 88 and 89 2.8L engines they are internaly balanced, and 87 and back are balanced by the flywheel. Someone please chime in if i am wrong.

-Buck

 

thanks for the wire identity. i am way ahead on the flywheel it the motor is from an 88 the balancer is from an 88 and so is the flywheel i made sure of that because i did my research on the balance issues.

 

Good. Okay so now do exactly what TomP has said to do and keep us posted. Just make sure that when you line that mark up with the balancer on the 0 mark that the rotor is pointing at the #1 wire on the distributor.

-Buck