OK for some reason my car doesn't seem to want to heat up. In my old teg the coolant temp needle would be straight up and down. My new one its up about 3\8 of the way. I just changed the thermostat and put new coolant in, the heat seems to be as hot as it should be. My fans don't come on or anything and i feel that im getting bad mileage due to it not heating up. I got 140 miles to a half tank... all high way! Its a stock, stick, LS. Also, i checked the timing after the car heated up as far as it would, i shut everything off in the car and jumped the service connector, and the damn timing marks werent even close to where they should be. The mark was half way inbetween the 14 degree and the 0 degree TDC... WTF? Is this because the car isnt heating up all the way? How does it even run if its at like 7 degrees? How the hell can I fix this?

 

Use a timing light and move the distributor to 16 degrees BTDC.

 

I tried that, but i couldn't move it that far. My timing light doesnt have a dial so it is what it is, but i used it on my old teg and it worked fine. Because the car isnt heating up, would that affect my timing that much? It heats up almost all the way, according to the gauge, and the heater blows as hot as i feel it should. I moved the dizzy all the way and it wouldnt move even near 14 degrees, let alone 16 or 18. How can I fix that? Or the temp issue?

 

It sounds like your thermostat is working fine. 3/8's is good. It's possible that your cam timing is off and that it's affecting your ability to read the ignition timing. If you know how, pull the valve cover and the upper heat shield off and have a look at the cam timing by seeing that the cam gears line up.

 

The red line is 16° BTDC for a timing light set at 0°.

 

i pretty much know how to check the cam timing, but i said check, not adjust. I have adjusted ignition timing before so I do know what I am doing there. Any tips for me?

 

If you have a nonadjustable light, move the distributor to align the red line with the mark on the timing belt cover. That is 16° BTDC.

You need to have the engine fully warm, all accessories and lights turned off, and the passenger footwell connector jumpered to check and adjust the timing.

 

If you can check cam timing you can adjust it. With the crank at TDC you just loosen the tensioner bolt below where the engine mount goes (it's covered with a rubber plug). Then you work the timing belt off of the cam gears, put the gears in the correct position with the crank at TDC, reinstall the timing belt, turn the crank ccw 3 times and two teeth past TDC and re-torque the tensioner. Be careful because the tensioner bolt is soft. Make sure to use a 6 pt. 14 mm socket on it and not a 12 pt.

 

i have adjusted my ignition timing before, on the same motor... I know how to adjust ignition timing. I know how to use my timing light, however, after the car is warm, the service connector is jumped, all accessories are off, and the dizzy moved all the way to the firewall... it still will not make it to 16 degrees btdc. I cant move it any farther, something else is wrong, i know what im doing when it comes to ignition timing. im going to mess with my cam timing tonight, but what if it is set right also?

 

I see. You have a cam timing issue then.

 

I'd bet $$ cam timing is off. Otherwise, I can't think of what could cause that to happen. When was the last time the timing belt was off?

 

wow, what a pain in the a$$... cam timing was off. The exhaust cam was off two teeth and the intake was off one tooth. My car now feels like a new car, thanks for all the help.

 

At least it is fixed.

 

Glad it worked. You might want to keep an eye on it. If it slips again it could mean you need a new tensioner.

 

how much play should be in the belt between the cam gears? I think someone who didnt know what they were doing changed the belt and F'd it all up.

 

A small amount of takeup is OK. You don't want it super tight. The shop manual doesn't even give specs on the tension -- you're just supposed to follow the tensioning procedure.

 

if i pull the belt up as far as i can then push it down as far as i can there is about 1/2" maybe a touch more of play. this is good? i followed the precedures.

 

so new problem... when my motor is cold it sounds like a rickety piece of sh*t... it runs great and when it warms up it sounds perfect, is this normal? i thought it was the valves, so i adjusted them and it still sounds the same. ive adjusted valves before and i did it right, trust me. i just dont remember my old car sounding like this. i listened to the motor with a screwdriver but it doesnt sound like its comming from the motor maybe? im not sure what it is, but it does sound like valves for some reason. any ideas? im just trying to get this thing running good, and so far its running 95% like i feel that it should, i just have this tick now