Hi guys. Tried searching for a thread related to this but haven’t had luck. Recently did a headgasket on my d15b7. Throw timing on and started it and it idles but lags to throttle response and has no power. Checked timing belt and my foreman said it’s in time. Checked distributor timing with timing gun and the red line is way far left. Adjusted the distributor full advanced and it still out of spec (about 10° at 700-750) spec is 14-18 at 650+- 50 and distributor won’t advance anymore. Wanted to get some more advice as I’m not familiar with distributor type ignition and kinda stumped.

 

IF your distributor is fully advanced AND the electronic timing is still retarded, you have one of two problems: You either have your signal pick-up connected to the wrong (not the #1) plug wire; OR your mechanical timing is wrong. Double check both. If both are correct, consider another possible consumer alternative... like you just installed a VMS cam gear to spruce up the look under hood, and since it is garbage, could appear to be in proper mechanical time but the keyway slot is incorrectly machined and the cam is actually deeply retarded.

 

The can see itself the word “up” is deeply faded and I retimed it multiple times. It’s got all oem cam gear and crank pulley. I found the second time I timed it it was off about 2 teeth. Which helped it run better. I previously timed it prior to doing the headgasket and I timed it perfectly fine. So would it be the belt being a tooth or 2 off causing my issue?

 

Yes, the mechanical timing (crank to cam, via the timing belt) must be 100% correct, or you will never be able to get the timing set, by moving the distributor. Think of the timing belt as a large adjustment, and the distributor as a fine adjustment.