Hey guys,

Does anyone know what size the bolt on the engine pulley (the one on the alternator) is?
I need to check my distributor alignment, as when cold, it keeps bogging, but runs fine once hot. When I adjust the timing so it runs good when cold, it starts pinging under medium throttle around 1500-2000rpm when hot.
Or does anyone have an idea what else that could be?

Cheers

if a V6 it may be plugs /leads /dirty fuel filter/
cracked dissy cap / injecters/ isc
can have the same symptoms

firing order is 123456

a guess
the bolt to the crank is in the twentys size 22 24

Both 4 and 6 cylinder second gen engines are touchy on the ignition timing. Adjusting it by feel doesn't work, you need a timing light. And use the ignition cut connector.

I tried all of the above (basically replaced everything except for ISC), including setting the timing to 5deg BTDC with connector earthed, but then it was bogging and surging when cold.
What did you guys set your timing to? Just stock 5deg?

The reason I am trying to figure this out is that the car started doing this a while ago, when the mechanic I took it to fiddled around with it to get rid of misfires (that guy was obviously not smart enough to change plugs, leads, fuel filter and all that...I did all that myself later on once I learned my way with cars...). I saw him taking one plug out and feeling for the piston inside no.1 cylinder. I think this is the first step to determine the engine being at TDC in compression stroke to do distributor adjustments, and my suspicion is that this guy didn't care too much about precision when putting it back together...

btw, it's a 4cyl EFI

Piston at TDC can be either intake or compression stroke thus why is called a 4 stroke motor

I would be looking at injectors to start with, all you need to check timing is to set base timing and then use a timing light.

5 degrees before top dead centre, with ignition cut, is the right setting. You should check it jumps to 13 degrees BTDC once you remove the ignition cut.

Other things can make the car fluff about, but "trimming" the ignition timing just covers up the problem.

Check for air leaks, try a different ignition coil and power transistor, check the plug and socket on the distributor isn't corroded, etc.

I know, but he was probably feeling for it and then seeing whether the timing mark was at tdc as well, if he had adjusted the distributor to the exhaust stroke, even that guy would have noticed.

Shouldn't air leaks create problems at all times? Or even especially after the ECU goes into closed loop and works with the sensor data?

And how would you be able to tell if a used coil and transistor are still good? I don't have the cash for a brand new one...