WHere are you guys setting your timing? My hood says 20 degrees BTDC, so thats what I set mine at. I had my timing belt changed the other day so I checked my timing and re set it to 20 once I got the car back. The car is running nice and smooth now (smoother than it ever has), but it is lacking power.....it hesitates when you hit the gas then when it does go it feels as if it is bogged down (like timing is retarded). Do you guys have any experience with this? Should I just advance it a few degrees and see what happens? Thanks for any advice.

-Carson

 

I honestly never use a timing light on mine. I just advance a bit at a time, taking it for a spin each time to see if it pings. When it pings I back it off a hair till it doesn't ping anymore and that's where it stays. IMO, the factory settings for timing are irrelevant on a high mile motor, the compression ratio isn't the same as it startd out as, lower if the motor is getting tired but can also be higher if the engine has a lot of carbon build up.

 

I'll try that....but I am having another problem now...coming to a post near you

 

Well a timing light is pretty much useless on my car because the markings on the UDP are in the wrong spots.

S

 

yeah I have no clue how accurate my timing marks are....but I will tell you some symptoms of whats going on.....my cranks and idles smoother than it ever has....but once it has been running for a few minutes the idle will go down to about 400 and just run rough while idling. Also when I am accelerating and holding the accelerator steady it feels like the car surges. I am hoping if I advance the timing a little it will go away...this is very frustrating.

 

Hey you might have to adjust the idle too. If your car wasn't running that smooth before the timing belt and you change it that means that the idle speed is set just a little bit off(because of the new belt). I say advance the timing to 22 and then raise the idle till you get to about 800 rpm.

 

Why 22btdc? Just a randon arbitrary number? Most people that have advanced the timing on these cars went to 24btdc. But they also had to run premium all the time.

S

 

your having all sorts of trouble arent you lately?

 

ok....I re-set ,my timing last night, and when I first put the light on it, it was way retarted probably ~15 degrees (which was a big relief, because the car was running so crappy). I must have set the timing with my lights on (therefore raising idle rpms) last time so I could see the temp gauge to see when the car was warm enough to set. Anyway I reset it last night and advanced it a few degrees for the heck of it, and the difference is night and day....my power is back and I am not having surging while holding the accelerator steady. Now if I could just figure out my hot start rpm drop.

 

My car ran good at about 22. And also because im always right about everything when it comes to 88 nissan maximas!!

 

RIght.....and it took you how long to figure your car was running rich? :P

 

I believe it was after my bumper turned black!

 

And probably after you got pulled over!

 

and i thought my car ran bad, how ever it just runs bad at random unlike today its running really good....see you guys later

 

What do you mean by this? I would like to understand whats going on.

 

I think what he means is when he starts the car, the idle drops right after startup, and it idles pretty rough. I had some of the same problems, but never have been able to figure it out because it comes and goes.

S

 

replaceing the TPS helped that with mine, it still drops but not as far down and its not rough any more.

although i am sure you other guys have done that already so its mostlikely something else.

 

call it sheer laziness from not wanting to read the rest of the thread.... but did you clean the TB? enough carbon can build up in there and restrict airflow to the point where it barely idles. I get this at work quite often and end up selling them a can of air intake cleaner, then running outside and spraying it in there and watching the black gooey slime start running out. then they fire the car up and it idles like new.

 

The only reason I asked was because mine drops as well but never that far nor as soon. Mine when cranked up starts at 1000 rpm and then maybe drops to about 900 rpm or 950 because its still alittle near 1k rpm.

 

On mine when I had this problem, the car will start fine and idle fine for a few seconds...then rpms drop to like 400-500...sometimes lower. And the idle is really rough.

S

 

The problem Sarin is describing is similar problem to what I have and yes I have cleaned the TB (hahahhaha), and I Sea Foamed it last night. Right now it is running fine, but this problem comes and goes. Right now my car is running better than it ever has (knock on wood) but I would still like to pin point this problem....I have been trying to figure out where the TPS (resistance) should be set rather than just twisting it to see where it runs right.....I found out that the tps is extreamly sensitive (per fourth gen)

 

Huh, mine does that too on occasion, start it up warm and it thinks it's a John Deere tractor. I just goose the throttle a couple times and it goes away though.

 

I was thinking about replacing my plenum gasket....could that be it? I am convinced that most of the seals and gaskets are bad in my car

 

I thought that the TPS was a switch rather than a variable resistor? I think someone here told me that.

 

yeah, thats what they were telling me on the yahoo board