Here's the deal folks. Timing belt broke and stranded the vehicle. The owner (not realising this) began to check for spark, fuel etc and eventually gave up at which point the car came to me. I replaced the belt and VERY carefully set the timing marks. The belt was correctly tensioned and the engine rotated to ensure that nothing slipped. At this point, I first checked all the valve clearances to check for a bent valve, all were within specs and spinning the engine gave no indication of anything out of synch. Re-built it all and started her up on the first turn of the key and found the following, very low idle that gradually smoothed out then raised to 1200 before dropping to a steady 800. Engine bogs down and does not like a firm push on the gas but when gently increased it spins up into the higher rev range no problem. I rechecked the cam timing thus; Inserted probe into No 1 cylinder and brought it to TDC manually checked the cam timing and both "up" marks are pointing directly down the centre line of the camshaft so it appears that all is well mechanically. Does the ECM need to relearn the sensors or would any kind soul be able to give me some other idea of what be going on ? Sorry for the long winded post but I wanted to be as clear as possible and not omit any of what has been done.
Edit, I forgot one thing, the owner mentioned "removing a top hat shield and tightening down the screw under it) I have no idea what this is, the only thing I could see that resembled this is a plastic top hat on the fuel rail but I can't see how it could be adjusted due to the angle of the throttle body.
Thank you all very much,

Chris.

 

I would start with a leak down test to make sure everything is good. Next I would check for vacuum leaks and hoses that might be lose or disconnected.

 

I just went out and did another physical check this time using the crankshaft pulley marks as a reference as opposed to the non scientific probe down the hole. The white mark to the right of of the three red marks is TDC according all I have read. Looks a bit like this;
III gap I, if that makes sense. The right hand (white ) mark is aligned perfectly with timing case cover mark and the cam marks appear to pefectly aligned. Just throwing it out here to be 100% I haven't screwed something up. I don't have access to my compression tester just now but in all my experience I have never seen a valve that did not show excessive clearance when it came into contact with a piston due to the valve not being able to return to its correct closed position. Please correct me on that if you have any input since this little DOHC motor is my first.
Sorry to blather on, I just want to be fully aware of what is happening and not confuse you with misinformation.
Thanks again,

Chris.

 

Thanks for the reply Jay, I will try to get a leakdown / compression tester and check it out. I have to say though, other than the idle issue the engine runs smoothly and no "huffing or puffing" from the intake or exhaust is audible in either a run or cranking test.

Chris.

 

Compression check showed the following results;
No1 155psi
No2 152psi
No3 145psi
No4 145psi

Leakdown was negligable.
I'm going to go through the "Idle learn" procedure this morning but the symptoms are still the same, ie, low idle (300rpm) sluggish to pull away and doesn't respond until 2200 rpms. Requires heavy throttle input to maintain highway speeds. It almost feels like a plugged catalytic converter. Please chime in with your thoughts.
All the best,

Chris.

 

what is the ign timing set at?

 

yep, was thinking that the whole time i read the op. check your ignition timing, advance it with the distributor as needed. you'll be happy you did.

it should fix the problem.

 

i would:

readjust the valves (usually when a head gets rebuilt with a new valve job, they trim down the top of the valves where the rockers hit, and that will throw off ur valve clearences, so u have to readjust)
set the ignition timming with timming gun
check the TPS sensor for readings, should b .5 close throttle and 4.5 wot.
kill all check engine lights if any.

 

Jay, Augie, thanks for the thoughts. I just went out in my bathrobe and checked the timing (not much fun in the rain @ 11pm) but spot on gents I had looked at that darned distributor a hundred times but figured it was sensor actuated, I adjusted the mother fu**ing thing and she runs like a champ. Thank you both for saving me from another bald patch.

Chris.