Hi guys, It took me a bit longer to get back to this car than I thought. (life just always seems to get in the way!) Finally got the engine all back together. Engine now has 175-180 psi in all cylinders.
Engine started, but thats all it will do. If I try to give it gas, it stumbles and tries to stall. Fresh gas in the tank. Timing is ok. (or so it seems.) I put a timing light to it and it seems to be on mark and it also advances when i rev it up a bit. it will idle but bogs down when I try to rev it. It did pop a couple of times before It first started but now starts right up when I turn the key. Do you think It is my fuel injectors that are clogged, a vacuum leak or did I possibly miss the timing by a tooth when I put the belt on? I have brought engine to TDC, timing marks line up and rotor is pointing to #1 cylinder on the cap.
Any ideas?
Thanks
Paul

 

Try switching the map and tps connectors......see what happens. Still there let us know.

EDIT: Need to give more info. Idle/start up is fine, as soon as you give gas....it dies or stumbles and or backfires. The MAP and TPS have the same connector and after a job like this......opps, they can get switched without knowing.

 

Start up is now fine. idle is poor. got a code for Idle air control. It was doing that when I bought it also but I thought it had to do with the bad gas. I cleaned the idle air valve when I had the engine apart. I tagged all the connectors when I disassembled the engine but I will check them again.
I just did some experimenting and found that when I spray carb cleaner around the injectors, the idle smooths out. I did change all the seals and o rings on the injectors when I put engine back together. I'm thinking I may have an intake manifold leak. I will get a vacuum tester tomorrow and check it out. Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Paul

 

You may want to test that you have 12V going to one wire on each injector with the key in the II position. The wire color you want to test will be the same on all four injectors. Use a valve cover bolt as your ground.

The PCM grounds the injector to open them, so the other wire color for the injectors will be the ground side of the circuit.

 

Thanks, I'll try that.
Paul

 

I performed a vacuum test. steady low reading of 15 in hg vac. This would indicate an intake manifold leak or late ignition timing. I tightened all the intake bolts again. They were already tight. I don't think it's a manifold leak. I think I must have missed timing belt by a tooth. When I brought the # 1 cyl to TDC, The rotor lined up with #1 on the cap and the TDC mark on the balancer seemed to line up with the pointer. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

 

Still true? It's easy to get an injector seal on crooked. Use the plastic tube on the carb cleaner nozzle to pinpoint where the vacuum leak is.

 

IACV code is an electrical fault indicating faulty IACV, wiring, or connector. Try bridging 12V directly to the IACV to see if valve moves w/ voltage. It may be an open solenoid motor.

good luck

 

Ok guys, In my haste to reassemble engine, I didn't notice the intake manifold gasket was the wrong one. The engine gasket kit was for a 2.3 but the manifold gasket was a 2.2.(serves me right for buying it on ebay!) That explained the vacuum leak. I also replaced the IAC with a good salvage unit. Vacuum leak is gone and idle doesn't "hunt" anymore. Engine still will idle but not accelerate. If I feather the throttle it will go but otherwise it just bogs down and stalls. I did another vacuum test and it is still low indicating late valve timing. I pulled the plugs (brand new) and they are all carbon fouled. Pulled the top timing cover back off, put the engine at TDC and it looks like the cam sprocket is correct. "up" is at top of engine and the two hash marks on the cam sprocket line up with the top of the head. The TDC mark on the harmonic balancer seems to line up. I say seems because it depends on what angle I look at it. How can I be sure I have this belt on right? At this point I would have rather paid someone $1000.00 to do the job and not have this immense headache. I have replaced DOHC timing belts before with no problems. This engine is only a SOHC and should be a piece of cake compared to a DOHC.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

 

You must be sure the alignment is correct. Align the crankshaft (white mark) precisely w/ pointer on the lower timing belt cover by turning crankshaft pulley CCW slowly (remove spark plugs if necessary).

Now check the camshaft sprocket mark (horizontal) for alignment w/ the horizontal back side timing belt cover. Only a very slight misalignment (perhaps a mark width) is acceptable.

If alignment is good, move on to other possibilities.

Enclosed between quotes is autozone link to alignment picture, cut and paste to browser. "www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0900c1528003a0ac"

good luck