ccathey

Keeping this short--- just bought a '90 hatch 2.3 auto. REALLY down on power. Drove it last night and noticed the manifold was glowing when i shut it off (just the manifold not the pipe) . The motor starts and idles well without overheating. OBD says egr trouble. when i took the valve loose it was clogged with crap and would not activate with vacuum (cleaned it out and works now). don't think this would cause the loss of power and hot manifold. Seller says he changed top cam seal before selling the car to me. Is this a possible timing / belt issue? Advanced too far or retarded? ANY help would be appreciated! THANKS!

mg man 75

Welcome glad you are here. For future note post in tech section. May get quicker answer. No big deal. Well onward. I have heard of this problem on several differant kind of cars. Cat plugged. If studs on exhaust manifold are longer enough drop exhaust down enough to breath and take for ride. A plugged exhaust will also cause performance problems. If this solves the problem. Replace cat or if driven off road only. Bypass it. If you get my idea.

jwog666

plugged cat, cam timing off, ignition timing retarded?

hellion_79

It does sound timing related. You know how to check your timing? i would put the engine at TDC and see if everything lines up and see if your dist is at #1. Would be a good time to advance the dist for a bit more power But first fix the issue.

Is the motor making any kinda popping backfire noises? if its not I would say yeah you have a plugged cat.

ccathey

just a quick update- checked the mid pipe and the cat was clean - gone now though. Now i am working on the timing issue. I will post more when i get it. Thanks for all of the response so far....

ccathey

Ok so far: Cat opened and "cleaned", timing at idle warm reading 30 (!) when i rev the motor the timing doesn't move. I moved the timing back to around 10 at idle. The Shi* chilton manual says the initial timing varies by the year of the motor. The timing change may have improved the driving slightly but the timing still does not move when i rev the motor.
The previous owner swapped motors and the current 2.3 has a distributor. Did the 90 model 2.3 have the distributorless ignition system? Would that create the lack of advance with rpm's?
The motor runs good but is still WEAK!
What should my initial timing be set at?
How do i get advance with rpms back?

sleeper_inc

If the car has a dual plug head than it's a DIS. DIS didn't come into play till 91.

Idle should be around 30 with the spout plug still in. I'm running 14* with the spout out, and 34* with the spout in.

The timing changes with load, and knock, not free reving