Car seems to want the timing retarded in order to run smooth? (Page 1/2)
Liam45 JAN 09, 06:05 PM
Anyone know any reasons my car wants to be like -50 on the dizzy, at -10 it sounds like its running on 3 cyl but smoother at higher rpm at -30 its running smooth except has a miss at idle but will easily cruise down the free way. I know having it retarded is just compensating for something and i checked my fuel pressure at its at 37, and when i unplug the fpr vacuum line it spikes to 45. Ive never checked or changed the injectors out so im not exactly ruling them out on being clogged maybe cause a lean condition anyone had this issue?

[This message has been edited by Liam45 (edited 01-09-2019).]

Liam45 JAN 09, 06:13 PM
And no the balancer has not slipped, 2.8 auto trans thanks
Liam45 JAN 09, 07:24 PM
I typed that wrong, my bad but what i meant to say car will only run well advanced -30.
Patrick JAN 09, 07:46 PM

quote
Originally posted by Liam45:

And no the balancer has not slipped...



And you had the ALDL jumper installed when setting the timing?
Liam45 JAN 09, 07:53 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

And you had the ALDL jumper installed when setting the timing?


Yes AlDl jumped flashing 12 to verify, this problem is driving me up the wall lol...

[This message has been edited by Liam45 (edited 01-09-2019).]

pmbrunelle JAN 09, 08:23 PM
30° of timing advance at idle sounds about right; I tuned my 2.8 Fiero to idle around there. That's what gave me the highest RPM / the most vacuum.

When you set the ALDL jumper to adjust the timing, you're not setting the timing that makes the engine run smoothest; you're setting the timing to a known pre-determined value, so that when the computer applies its timing corrections, the overall resulting timing is as expected.
Liam45 JAN 09, 08:46 PM

quote
Originally posted by pmbrunelle:

30° of timing advance at idle sounds about right; I tuned my 2.8 Fiero to idle around there. That's what gave me the highest RPM / the most vacuum.

When you set the ALDL jumper to adjust the timing, you're not setting the timing that makes the engine run smoothest; you're setting the timing to a known pre-determined value, so that when the computer applies its timing corrections, the overall resulting timing is as expected.


I like where we are going with this, only issue is when the jumper is removed after setting -10 and i go a for a drive the car feels as its missing do i need to drive a bit for computer to decide the advancment? when i rev it it sounds like a 3 cyl but eventually smooths on acceleration as the rpm increases?


Liam45 JAN 09, 08:49 PM
Setting to -30 with jumper installed is where its at now but seems to miss at idle / stall if engine doesnt catch its self in time. But with -30 it doesnt miss / sounds like a 3 cyl when going from a stop...

[This message has been edited by Liam45 (edited 01-09-2019).]

Patrick JAN 09, 11:51 PM

quote
Originally posted by Liam45:

...sounds like a 3 cyl when going from a stop



Have you checked the two injector fuses? Maybe you are running on three cylinders!
Liam45 JAN 10, 10:26 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

Have you checked the two injector fuses? Maybe you are running on three cylinders!



Yeah went through all the fuses, i tried switching out the distributor to a cardone and it idled well but lost spark between 2-3k put the old one back in and it fixed the losing of spark. the cardone also worked at -10 just idk why it was losing spark. I narrowed it too the distributor , being spark coming out of the coil was nice and hot while the spark coming from the cap was not. The weird part is at -10 the throttle was snappy on the cardone at first but it would loose spark eventually, the original distributor at -10 has weak spark unless advanced to -30....