I have a 88 Sedan with a A6 swap. Ive had the car for 8 or 9 months now with no issues like im having. I maintain my car very well and im not sure what is wrong with it.

First let me give you the scenario:
The other night, i was on my way back from my Moms place.
I take a simple 7mile ride down the highway and take a exit that leads right towards my place. While riding down the highway, i can honestly say that there was no sign of a problem what so ever. I get off the highway, wait for the light to change and then started to go. i get abt 5 or 6 feet, shift to second and then i hear a loud pop (sounded like backfire) and my engine dies. No dash lights came on, no check engine, no nothing. I rolled it into a parking lot and tried to start it.

The issue:
It tries to turn over and then backfires or detonates or something. Im not sure how to explain it. It will roll over but when it sounds like it wants to start, it backfires. Ive only tried to start it twice and dont wanna cause damage to it, so i cant really make a video of whats happening.

If anyone has any idea of whats happening, please fill me in. My next step is to break out the compression tester and then (hopefully not) the leak down. Am i troubleshooting this right guys?

 

My initial guess is that it might have jumped mechanical timing. Easy enough to check, rotate crank till the cam is pointing to it's respective timing mark and then verify that the crank pulley is pointing where it should be.

 

just tried it man. Still does the same thing.

 

So has the timing moved?

 

My guess would be jumped time, or distributor issue.

 

screw probably fell out of the rotor inside the distributor cap, happens all the time and at random with the exact issue you have described


I have had that happen at least 5 times in different efs

 

^Very true, start eliminating the obvious and easiest things to check. So mechanical timing was still on?

 

Alright i took the cap off when i got home from work tonight. The screw that holds the rotor in place was broken. Im getting a rotor first thing in the morning. I tried to find a screw that would fit it but alas,
you would think out of the 4 computers sitting in pieces in my office i would have one...

Ill post my results at some point tomorrow, thanks for the help fellas.

 

just glad to help

 

works fine. thanks for all the help!