This is a long thread, so bare with me:

This last summer I did a lot of replacing of parts, including:

+ ICM inside distributor, causing me to take apart the distributor
+ Water pump, causing me to take the timing belt off.
+ Spark Plugs
+ Spark Plug wires
+ Air Filter
+ Plus a few more

---------------------------------------------------
SYMPTOMS/PROBLEMS
My old MPG: 34. New MPG : 24

Here's some problem : As long as the car is not in warm operation temperature, everything is good! Accelerates like brand new, etc. As soon as it gets to a warm operating state, acceleration gets sloppy and power is just robbed. Not carbuerator robbed, but pretty damn near close.

There aren't any carbon deposits on my bumper, so I now it's not running extremely rich.


DISTRIBUTOR I never re-timed the distributor whenever I took it apart because whenever I took it apart and pieced it back onto the cam, it looks like the previous owner dug a tiny scratch on the Distributor housing to serve as a reference point. They are lined up now, but I haven't taken a timing gun.

WATER PUMP/TIMING BELT When I changed the timing belt I aligned all the elements accordingly - exhaust cam, intake cam, and the crankshaft. The only "nay-nay" I seen was the previous owner lost the crank pully key. I got the crank pully aligned as close as possible to where it "SHOULD" be whenever I tightened the pulley. It doesn't wobble or anything, but I have a key now but it's way too damn cold to be doing it.

SPARK PLUGS
I have gone through three sets now. It seems that after two/three days a set fouls out. This one isn't that bad, as they've lasted me quite a bit longer, but you could definately tell they fouled out quickly.

SPARK PLUG WIRES
I bought these and sure enough the metal rod that sits on the actual spark plug ( the metal/aluminum insert in the spark plug tube that goes in the cylinder? ) went loose from the tube housing. Two of them did that so I had to jerry rig them back in. expletive oreilly's. Those things are POS's.

Any ideas? Since my crank pulley *may* not be perfectly aligned, won't it be hard to get an accurate ignition timing??

 

It sounds like your timing is off, and you know how to fix it.

 

Good to see we still have people that can actually type sentances/paragraphs. I thought we lost them all.

It sounds like your timing, you should get that key in there, line everything up and use a timing gun.

 

3rd that.

Get the woodruff key, and a timing gun.

Also, pick up some NGK spark plug wires for about $45. Those are the best, OEM quality, and you don't need anything more or less than that.

I also changed my O2 sensor earlier this year, old one was original w/ 230K miles on it, and I saw a significant increase in fuel economy.

 

Yeah, I kinda figured the problem was the ignition timing but I think I'll have to make due with poor performance until winter gets over because it is WAY too cold to start breaking anything major down. I just moved closer into town so I'll be using less gas either way. Thanks a lot guys, appreciate the help. I'll update the thread eventually whenever I do take a timing gun to her.

 

You don't have access to a garage or anything where you could set up a portable heater? I'll be doing that this winter when I pull my engine out.

 

Alright, guys. I've replaced the spark plug wires and already noticed a little better performance, but still nowhere near I should be. In the coming month or so I'm going to be purchasing a timing gun light to do the project.