Need to get car running right / pass emissions

[saturnvii7]

Hey Guys,

It's been a while since I've been around. I was using my Z as a daily driver a few months ago but got pulled over when my registration was expired; and bought a little beater '95 Saturn to drive around for the meantime; gas was $4 a gallon at the time as well...

The previous year Arizona had let me register the car without passing emissions; but not this time around... When I bought the car it had a bad head gasket; so I got that repaired. On the test drive it drove strong. After the repair it ran worse if anything; but no plumes of white smoke coming out the rear. I think the timing has been off since that repair. When I originally test drove the car it idled rough; probably because the recirculation system wasn't hooked up correctly. During the head gasket repair they didn't tension the timing chain correctly; and I had to have them replace that as well.

Had a mech check out the car and he said he thought the crank angle sensor was bad, because he couldn't get the timing to stabilize.

I'm not sure where to go from here. Saw a judge for the ticket and he gave me another month to get the car to pass emissions or pay a big fine. I've got the wiring harness out right now, but the repair manuals I have don't have good wiring diagrams for me to test the leads going to the essential sensors.

I guess these are the things I can think of, but I'm not sure what order to proceed in. I want to get the car running well enough to pass emissions as cheaply as possible, because I'm currently unemployed.

I have an 81 which means the external CAS :-(

New wiring harness? 82/83 wiring harness instead?New CAS? Distributor CAS?New ECU? 82 ECU? Megasquirt an option for autos? Otherwise I'd need to do a transmission swap for thatDo you think I need to adjust the timing chain?!?

I've got a month left on my MBA so I'm searching for jobs right now; but it could be a while before I find something in the career salary range I'm looking for. With a good job I have big plans for the car; right now I just want to get it legal on the street and running... Please help if you have any advice...

[evildky]

find a new mechanic!

they can't set the timing and didn't get the chain tensioner on right, they are clearly not competent and should not be trusted with yours or anyone elses car

the cas is int he distributor but I'd be willing to bet it's no the issue

if the timing is bouncing either the idle is irregual, too high of the plug wires have too much interferance