Cascade Crew

[Spikeophant]

Guys,

I was tuning my car up yesterday, and found out my dist was loose. I found this out the hard way by moving it while putting a new cap and rotor on it. Unfortunately, I also broke my timing light right after that when my alarm went off after I hooked my battery back up and scared the living sh!t out of me. Now my car doesn't want to idle, and isn't runnign 100%, any crewbies in Bend got a timing light I can use for a couple minutes? I apparently can't get it quite right by ear.

Next, I shut my car off today, and my heater stayed on, I started it and shut if off a few times, and finally the heater shut off. Any ideas? I'm not looking forward to hunting electrical gremlins in this thing. Also, on the heater, I must have bumped a wire while fighting #8 plug off and back into the car, as now my heater is stuck on defrost. It worked fine before I did plugs. Is that vacuum controlled, or electronic? Trying to get an idea what I may have knocked loose. I was pretty careful up there, and didn't think I bumped anything, but it's a tight squeeze, and my wrench may have hit something.

[aaron_sK]

You need to disconnect the EST wire (single brown wire coming out of the harness above the heater box on a TPI car, not sure on CCC) before setting the timing. Otherwise you can't set it by ear because the ECM will try to compensate. To get the car running for now you can pull #1 plug and set the timing straight up. Chebbie only ran 6* initial, and added the rest with the ECM (20* at warm idle), so it will run straight up, but get crap for mileage.

You knocked off the vacuum line from the back of the intake to the heater controls. On the back of the intake there will be a smaller vacuum lines that goes through a check valve, into the wiring harness, and through the firewall. Follow it from the intake back and plug it back in. That vacuum leak is also probably some of your idle problem.

*Edited due to lack of memory on my part.

[Spikeophant]

Sweet man, thanks. That will save me some hours of looking for what I disconnected, I had no idea plugs were such a pain on this car. It was definately a day of swearing and bloody hands. The car runs alright, just wont idle. I'll look in my book on timing, but I still need to borrow a light from someone, or, I suppose I could just replace mine at the used tool shop for now.

[GREG DAVIDSON]

If you have the stock exaust the plugs are a total pain. I change mine from the bottom with the car on jack stands, it's alot easier.

[Twilightoptics]

[Spikeophant]

How'd you get around the A/C canister on the rear right? That thing makes it impossible to go from up top, I could have done the rest from up there, but it was pretty easy other than #8 from down below.

On another note, I got her to idle right. Turned out a wire to the coil was loose. Where everything plugs into the coil on the cap, the little prongs needed to be pushed further into the connectors. My coil cover must be worn out and was letting them come up when I was plugging everything back in. Heater was just a vacuum line, it was barely unhooked, so when I was checking everything after I put the car back together I simply missed it.

Getting my cat replaced in 2 days, then I'm going to do the o2 sensor, and she should be runnign like a champ.

[aaron_sK]

Replace the fork connectors with eye connectors and you'll never have a problem with them again. I hate those damn fork connectors.

[Spikeophant]

Thanks for the tip, next time it's apart, I'll swap the connectors. I've got another question. When I put in new plugs, I gapped them at 35, the book calls for 45 in the 305 that used to be in my car, however, it has 350 witht he ignition and fuel delivery system off the 305 in it. 35 is the gap for a 350 in a Camaro, but those were fuel injected. Should I pull my plugs and regap? It runs fine, I just started thinking about it last night, and wondered what you guys might think.

[aaron_sK]

Do you know what's in the 350? Is it an L98, an old truck motor, a built up motor? The difference in plug gap from Chevy was (as I recall) related to the compression of the L98.

[Spikeophant]

I was told it was a crate. The guy I bought it from had no real idea though, for all I know he's confused and it's really a 305. Not actually sure how to tell the difference. The work was done at a shop in socal, but they're gone now, so I can't contact them for information. Swap was done 5 years ago, and it purportedly has 25k miles on it, when the guy moved up here from california he said he never drove it due to weather, and his growing family.

[Spikeophant]

So, she's still not quite 100%, falls on her face right before WOT, but I'm still getting codes for the o2 sensor, so I picked up a Bosch replacement this morning. After work I'll toss it in and see if that helps. My idle is mostly fixed, she's died on me a couple times since I fixed the coil wiring. It doesn't fall on it's face nearly as bad as it did before the cat replacement though, so I'm moving in the right direction.

[aaron_sK]

Still got your receipt for that Bosch? If you do, take it back and buy and NGK/NTK from Baxters.

Bosch O2's = teh suck.

[Spikeophant]

Really? I swear by Bosch relays and switches, although, those all went in a British sports car, where my only other option was Lucas. I think a stick would outperform Lucas electrics. The old joke goes, you gotta refill your Lucas smoke to keep your MG on the road. I had a Triumph, but same difference. I guess I should take your advice, since you've probably ran into trouble with the Bosch's.

[aaron_sK]

I have never had trouble with Bosch relays.

Their drill bits go dull fast, their O2's fail within 500 miles, and their spark plugs suck in american V8's.

Just my two cents.