Car won't idle, loss of power, just did head gasket, why am i too dumb to time?

[TheKryptKeeper]

Hey guys, thanks in advance for your help with this.

93 240sx ka24de

The story is, I bought the car, beat it up a bit, lost a bunch of water on the freeway, and blew a head gasket. I removed the head, resurfaced it, replaced the head gasket, and it didn't run. Everyone said that i bent the valves. So I bought a new head, and gasket, and did it again, this time very carefully. I got it correct, and spent several weeks trying to time it correctly. The best that i have gotten is that it starts and runs, but no idle, or full power, only like 60% power.

That tells me the timing is off, but it seems to be either too far one way or the other when i change it. The idle screw does nothing, and the dizzy advance/retard only make it worse from where it is. I never did check the bottom chain to see if it was on right cause i figure that as long as it is at tdc, then it works, then i learned i could be half a tooth off, so i rotated it around, and that is how i got to where i am.

The leakdown is good, so the valves are good. I drove it to the tire store and back with little problem. Am I just going about it wrong, or can it be something else? people have said its the IACV, but I already removed and replaced that before the head gasket.

Thanks again, Krypt

[TheKryptKeeper]

Bumpy

[TheKryptKeeper]

Bumpy

[qat727]

Ok, it sounds like you might have multiple problems, but bad timing can cause issues that are also caused by other problems.

Let's start with timing. Depending on how you rotate the crank pulley, you can introduce slack into the bottom chain that could potentially create problems with the timing.

I don't have an engine in front of me to check, but I believe it needs to be rotated clockwise. You'll be able to tell by the tensioner. When you're rotating it in the correct direction, the tensioner will take up the slack in the chain. The wrong direction will compress the tensioner.

Use a wood dowel or something soft to verify TDC on the #1 cylinder. Rotate it around in the correct direction until you reach TDC on the #1 cylinder and it's on the compression stroke. It's nearly impossible to do this by yourself.







Does your engine look like that? Count the links between the cams and make sure it's right. If it looks like what's in the pictures, then your cam timing is set to factory specs.

If that is right, then move on to distributor timing. Check your rotor position. At TDC #1 compression stroke, your rotor should be pointing to the 9 o'clock position. If it's off, pull the dizzy and reinstall it so that it is correct. If your dizzy timing is right, move on to fine adjustments.

Unplug your TPS, fire it up and check it with a timing light. It should be at 20* BTDC if memory serves. I think that's the last timing mark to the right on the crank pulley. Adjust your dizzy accordingly and bolt back in place.

Please try this and post back with your results.

[vancouverbc]

Timing Light guide

Timing-Distributor Dist. timing trouble-shootTop Dead Center

[TheKryptKeeper]

Alright, that is what i have been struggling with. I have set it maybe 7 times. It looks right, and the dizzy looks on, but it refuses to idle or have power above 4k. I can't accurately check the timing cause it is tough to make it idle. So I think that it is set correctly, it starts and runs as long as you give it some gas to keep it alive. On that note, I also took out and cleaned the IACV pretty good while it ran just fine. It did improve it's idle at the time, but again this was all before i was having problems.

I have also been told that at one tooth off, this car won't run. So that is where i am, and thanks for the help.

[qat727]

One tooth off at the distributor can cause it to act like you're describing. Is it possible for you to set it at what you believe to be #1 TDC compression and take pictures similar to the ones I posted, also with a picture of the dizzy rotor?

[TheKryptKeeper]

I can. It will take a bit before i can get back into the garage and wrench on it a bit. But when i do, i'll take a pick.

Thanks for all your help.