I've finally got my engine running again after replacing the valve seals and having the head/valves cleaned. However, it's idling very low and a little shaky now. On average it's around 500rpm. Sometimes it will speed up to around 1000rpm but it will only last for 10 to 20 seconds.

At first I was thinking that maybe a hissing noise coming off a hose barb on the intake manifold was causing the problem. I JB Welded it and it's still idling low, but the hissing is gone.

I bought a timing light and there is not enough adjustment on the dizzy to advance it enough to get the notch to line up with the red marks on the crank pulley. At best it's maybe 1/3 between the white and first red mark, closer to the white mark (this is with the dizzy as far as it will go). I don't know how else I can adjust the timing, or what other problems might cause the timing to go off. Any help here would be appreciated.

Once I give it a little throttle it runs just fine and smooth. It's only idle that's messed up. I've tried resetting the ECU and that hasn't seemed to help.

I've backed the idle screw out really far and that hasn't made much difference in idle speed. Could something else, like the IACV be compensating for any adjustements I've made?

I'm so close to getting it 100% drivable again. I'd really like some help with this if anyone knows what might be wrong. It's been down for about a month and a half and I really miss it (it's my daily driver, too). Thanks!

EDIT: I also forgot to add that all my spark plugs are charred black but none have caked on deposits yet. The engine's only been running a total of 15 to 20 minutes since I got it up again.


Modified by Flatland2D at 2:01 PM 4/28/2007

 

did you jump the service connector when checking your ignition timing? did you make sure all the marks were lined up when you installed the timing belt?

oh also.. did you do the valve adjustment? you said you had the head apart and cleaned.. check the valve lash.

 

No, crap, forgot about jumping the service connector when checking the timing. Will it really make that much difference? I did make sure everything electrical was turned off.

Yes, I lined up the white marks when I put the timing belt on.

Haven't done a valve adjustement yet. Need to do that still.

 

yes it makes a difference.. you need to jump the connector..

 

Where should a D15 idle anyways?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by geebs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">did you jump the service connector when checking your ignition timing? did you make sure all the marks were lined up when you installed the timing belt?

oh also.. did you do the valve adjustment? you said you had the head apart and cleaned.. check the valve lash.</TD></TR></TABLE>

After you mentioned the timing belt, I got to thinking that it might be off by a tooth. I reset the cams one tooth over counter clockwise. They are still pointing a little diagonal, even relative to the surface of the head, but when I fired it up it ran perfect. I now have the dizzy set fully retarded and the notch lines up with the last red mark. That's as best as I can get it to go (fully advanced one tooth over and it wasn't even close).

I don't know if I forgot how my engine sounded, but it sounds a little louder and throatier than before. My wife noticed the same thing.

Can't really comment on the oil burning yet. Initially I saw some smoke while driving around but it went away after a while. I'll have to measure the oil level through a whole tank of gas to know for sure, although any more smoking will be a good indicator.

The thermostat was acting a little funny at times. Occasionally it would drop out like it lost signal, then it'd go back up again. It never dropped all the way back to zero except for once, it just sagged down sometimes. I don't know if it was a loose connection or maybe the thermostat got damaged when the head was cleaned (I didn't take it off).

I'm going to clean off all my spark plugs and see if they foul up again. The soft black carbon deposits they had indicate a bad fuel mixture or not igniting properly. I'm thinking that's because they were igniting way too late.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iceman7329 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Where should a D15 idle anyways?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I should have mentioned this before, but the engine is a B18C1 as in my sig.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by geebs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yes it makes a difference.. you need to jump the connector.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

huh, i never do this and havnt had any problems...what the point of jumping the connector...?

 

it may be off a tooth? .. can you take a picture of the timing at tdc.. like the horozontal marks and the mark on the crank...
if its off a tooth your not gonna be able to get proper iginition timing.. id redo the timing belt.. make sure its all perfectly in time then jump the connector and recheck the ignition timing..

 

this sounds alittle like what mine is doing..but mine has no power at all, im thinking my timiing is off.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by geebs &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">it may be off a tooth? .. can you take a picture of the timing at tdc.. like the horozontal marks and the mark on the crank...
if its off a tooth your not gonna be able to get proper iginition timing.. id redo the timing belt.. make sure its all perfectly in time then jump the connector and recheck the ignition timing..</TD></TR></TABLE>

I might take a picutre of it if I have the valve cover off again today. I originally had it lined up so that both cam gears were facing up when the white mark on the crank pulley lined up with the notch. With it like this, it was sparking way too late, and no amount of advance on the dizzy would get it in timing. The best it would do is spark about 1/4" past the white mark. Not even close to the three red marks. It also ran like crap.

So then I thought I'll try shifting over one tooth on the belt so that it would shift the ingition a little. What I mean by this is, imagine lifting the belt up, rotating both cam gears one tooth counter clockwise, and setting the belt back down. Now with the white mark at the notch, the cam gears are pointing a little to the left of straight up. It seems to run perfectly fine like this. The only thing is that I have the dizzy set to max retard and the timing light is showing the notch at the third red mark. It could be a little closer to the middle one, but I don't know how else to fix this because changing anything else on the timing belt will make it way off.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

both up arrows shouldnt point exactly up.. the marks on the acutal gear by the teeth should be lined up.. making the up marks slightly off.. and the mark on the crank all by its lonesome is tdc... also.. how tight (tension wise) is the belt? a loose belt can cause a jumpy idle... and i dunno if you did yet but jump that service connector when setting ignition timing with the timing light

oh another thought.. what type of timing gun are you using? one that has an advance/retart adjustable setting on it? is it set to 0 so you know what your at and not what youre trying to achieve?