Hey</P>


My bro bought a 2.3L 89 LX notch for super cheap, it ran fine. We did the usual new car tune up stuff, oil change, new plugs and rotor, set timing, etc. He wanted to get a cone filter instead of just replacing the paper filter, so I picked it up for him and we slapped that puppy in.</P>


After all this, the car ran worse then b4. It'srunning like a peice of POO! I'm a VW guy and this is pretty much the first domestic I've done anything with. We made sure all the connections, and vacuum lines we pulled are back together and in the right places. Swapped the old intake back and it still ran like poo. I thought maybe the O2 sensor decided to f* up, so we swapped it for a known good one, but no change. In neutral it won't rev past 4K now, and it takes him about two full blocks to reach 30kph with the gas floored. I have no idea what could be wrong with it. The problem came up all of a sudden.</P>


</P>


thanx for any help</P>


-The George</P>

 

Make sure the plug wires are back on in the right order.. 1-4-3-2 for all 4 cylinders, get some carb cleaner and spray all around the vacuum lines, intake, basically everywhere. If you notice a change in idle, then you found your leak. Good luck with it. Also make sure you have the right distributer cap and rotor, ensure that they are the same as the old ones. Same thing goes for pretty much all the partsyou replaced.

 

Does this car have mass air? I believe it does, it sounds like the mass air meter. To check thatremove the filter so the mass air meter is in the open, you don't want to do this for long. Then have someone start the car, while its running try blocking about half the intake hole of the mass air meterand then try reving up. It should smooth out, not completly but a noticable difference.If it does, thats your problem. Good luck</P><edited><editID>DIGZ50</editID><editDate>37870.7189699074</editDate></edited>

 

Hey thats a great way to test one, I didnt know that!

 

check your fuel to air mixture too

 

well I think you did something to the sensor on the air box
as far as the mass sensor all you have to do is tap with your finger if it starts to break up there ya go

 

Hey</P>


Thanx for the response,</P>


No, it doesn't have mass, I just realized I put 89 before, it's an 88, sorry. It still starts fine, and idles fines, it just has NO power and it won't rev worth a crap. Plug wires are in the right order, everything is back together the way it came apart. We're gonna try the carb cleaner thing tomorrow. </P>


How do I check the air/fuel ratio with this car? As for the O2 sensor, should there be a change in how the car runs if I unplug it? When unpluged the car ran just as bad, but no worse. The car I pulled the other one out of ran fine.</P>


</P>


Thanx again for any help you can provide.</P>


-George</P>

 

Hey all</P>


Like Scourge said it's an '88 LX notch, 2.3L, no A/C, 213Kand not runnng wortha damn.A friend said to check the timing belt, when I pulled the timing coverthere were little bits of rubber boots (standoffs)chewed up at the bottom, like they went for a ride or two between the belt and gears. From there the closest I could get the crank and cam to their marks one was left about 90 degrees off. Could the timing be this far off and the car still run? Could a pully be installed wrong? Or am I completely misunderstanding how the timing belt is setup. Any help would be appreciated.</P>


Thanx in advance</P>


Drew</P>

 

Critical - I am assuming that you are the one Scourge is writing about? There is something seriously wrong if your crank or cam is 90 degrees off!! The best course of action is to remove the engine, discard, and install a 5.0 - cause if your motor is running 90 off then your screwed.<IMG src=smileys/smiley19.gif border="0"></P>


BTW are there any pushrods sticking out your valve covers?<IMG src=smileys/smiley11.gif border="0"></P>

 

kidro, unless you're offering to send me a 5.0 we won't be going down that road.</P>


Now since my first post seems to have caused confusion, I'll ask a more direct question. How do I check to see if my timing belt has jumped a tooth or two? There were some chewed up rubber pieces in the bottom of my timing cover. My engine has almost no power, it won't rev past 4000 RPM, if I hit the throttle fast it bogs. This only started in the last week or so, before this I was quite happy with my lilttle 4.</P>


Drew</P>