Trying to keep my KA-e running

[ca-jon23]

I have an '89 coupe, and it only has 112,xxx miles on it. It has been running great for the past 9 months or so, taking all the abuse of sliding and everything. It's funny, now that I've calmed down and been easy on her she blew a head gasket. Anyway I replaced the head gasket, and had the head checked, hot tanked, and milled, and the valves redone. Bought new oil seals (for front cover), water pump, thermostat and housing (cause it didn't have one at all), timing chain, guides and tensioner. So now I have it all back together and it doesn't really run right. I know part of the problem is I can't seem to stab the distibutor just right and one out of three of the exhaust studs is broken so I have an ehaust leak. But even when it's close to being in time, the idle seems to want to dip and almost stall, but only every once in a while. I guess I'm just asking on advice on how to getting running well enough to drive it back to Atlanta from Houston in like 2 weeks.........

[Rucca]

Well first get your timing right, then check for vacuum leaks. Check EGR function.

Did you replace your intake manifold gaskets when you replaced the head?

[ca-jon23]

Right. Well I got the distributor stabed today and it's now set to 15 BTDC and is idling at around 700 or 800 rpm. But it sounds like some V8 with a cam. The exhaust still has a leak at the header to downpipe. I replaced the intake manifold gasket and the donut gasket on the exhaust. But would the exhaust leak cause the wierd idle if it doesn't have enough back pressure? And how do I check the egr operation? Just try and open it while runnig with my hand or what?

[Rucca]

I assume you set timing with the TPS unplugged.

To check EGR you can just actuate it by hand at idle and the car should die. Exhaust leak shouldn't really cause a weird idle.

Do a power balance test - unplug your injectors or spark plugs one at a time to see if any of them aren't working. Also, I'd do a tune up if you haven't recently: distributor cap, rotor, plugs, wires, and oxygen sensor.

[ca-jon23]

Hmmm, never heard I had to set timing with the TPS unplugged, but I 'll try that. Also I replaced the O2 and plugs when I did all this, and the wires with capand rotor about 6 mo. ago (with plugs). I'll try the power balance to; guess I forgot about that, czuse I need to replace the injector conectors, the are a bit loose when I touch them.

[justy90240sx]

i have a ka-e as well and i have done just about as much and i have the same problem but it is very intermitent. i just figure ill never get it to stop. on my car it has a cold air intake and staight exhaust (no cat and only a coffie can muffler) i sometimes wonder if my problem is caused by lack of back pressure. let me know what you find