jwog666

coming from somebody who has done it, i would check the timing marks on the chain to be sure you didnt install it off time

DaveGlasscoc

The issue was present before I replaced the timing set plus I was pretty careful installing the timing set. The crank gear only goes on one way, of course, and I aligned the marks before putting on the cam gear. The cam has a dowel that aligns with one of the three holes in the gear and only one method of installation aligned the marks correctly.

Also, wouldn't that be a consistent issue, not one that happens only after it warms up?

jwog666

you are prob ok then. it depends on what the pcm is doing with timing, one would think it would be consistent, just covering all the bases. does the distributor have any play in the shaft? i have seen dizzys in the past wear out the bushing that the center shaft rides on or the gear wears out where it contacts the cam, and then the rotor will have alot of play and can move out of time. this will cause erratic spark timing

DaveGlasscoc

The distributor has crossed my mind but it is fairly new. The old one had the issue you describe and blew out two rotors on me before I realized it was bad and replaced it. I put in a new distributor I just can't remember if the problem started before or after I installed the new distributor.....I have not had any symptoms of shaft wobble like rotor squeal...could the stator or electronic internals be the issue even though it is new?

jwog666

yes for sure, anything to do with the ignition could be at fault. or it could be something that has nothing to do with timing, like an inoperative egr system, lean conditions under accel

DaveGlasscoc

Ok, so i finally had a chance to pull codes but, unfortunately, i don't think they are very revealing. Maybe you will think otherwise:
KOEO:
654 - Not in Park during test (had it in Neutral)
564 - Electric fan circuit failure

KOER:
536 - Brake on/off circuit not actuated / failure
632 - Torque converter solenoid circuit did not change states during KOER

Cylinder balance test - 90 - passed

The only thing I can think of is that some part I changed early on, like EGR, O2 or distributor is not operating correctly / was bad when installed.

DaveGlasscoc

So I swapped the dizzy and the problem went away! Man I wish there was an easy way to test the pickup in there other than swapping out the whole unit, but at least it's running well now even once it is well warmed up.

88 orangepeel notch

Glad to hear, congrats on your persistence.

jwog666

nice, glad u got it figured out