Distributor or cap and rotor

[95_240]

I just finished reinstalling my distributor and got it timed correctly to 20 btdc. When I start the car I have to give it gas or it will die. After a minute or so the timing advances and retards back to stock timing continously. When I use the timing light the light will pause for about a second after it strobes normally and it also does this about every 5 seconds. It does this on every wire. It is acting like it just stops sparking but the engine sounds fine except from the advancing and retarding. White smoke comes out of the exhaust which i am guessing is unburnt fuel. Im thinking that the cap and rotor may be bad or it may just be the whole distributor but i am not sure. Any help is appreciated and thanks for any help.

[95_240]

I let the car sit over night and now it is sparking a little better but now i am getting a code 21, Ignition Signal Primary.

[s13sr20chris]

ign sig primary could be coil, dist, etc.

i assume this is a de(95 240?). if so

if your timing is correct then its not the problem. some timing lights just cut out from time to time. did you unplug the tps when you checked the timing?

[95_240]

it is a 95 240 de. i did unplug the tps before timing it. i tried the timing gun on another car and it worked fine and i can definately tell that my car is missing every couple of seconds. when i start it up now it tries to die unless i give it gas and then the rpms increase to about 750 and it starts to miss. i tested the resistor using the fsm and it was1.9k ohms.
Modified by 95_240 at 4:28 PM 1/8/2005

[s13sr20chris]

i reccomend you check some of the basics before chasing the ign timing too much further. try running the motor with maf disconnected. spray the intake heavily with carb cleaner with motor running to check for vac leaks. if neither of those things help then i thing you need to see about this misfire. try pulling the plug wires off one at a time to find the weak cylinder(if there is just one). the engine will have to be running for this as well. run the engine hard and then check the plugs to see if one looks abnormal.

[95_240]

i tried to drive my car today to see how it ran and it did fine except that my brakes were not working very good. they dont have very much resistance and i can push the pedal to the floor without the brakes locking up. it has done this before but not as bad and it has a new master cylinder and the brakes have been bled by me and a shop. it started doing this after i ran seafoam through the engine using the brake booster line. could my brake booster line have a small leak and also cause my engine to be acting up?
Modified by 95_240 at 5:53 PM 1/10/2005

[s13sr20chris]

could my brake booster line have a small leak and also cause my engine to be acting up?

Modified by 95_240 at 5:53 PM 1/10/2005

yes, a vac leak will make her run rough.

[navysnail]

if you spray a vaccum line with carb cleaner, and the engine revs or sputters a little, you know you found a leak, vs if it doestn change, it isnt reaching the engine meaning no leak

just a little trick...

[s14junky]

If your quest to find a vacuum leak fails go back to your distributor again. I had a VERy similar problem. Seemed to idle OK with an occsional miss, seemed to run better slightly advanced, hard to start , completely bogged out when accelerated. It WAS the distributor!! I borrwed one from a friend and this fixed my problem. I still am not exactly sure why tho..maybe partially shorted coil pak (less output) or maybe the condensor was breaking down. Trust me...i never thought it would be the distributor as the problem. Good luck