as many of you know i bougnt the 91 4x4 22r efi truck already took apart.(the motor) well i got it in and it's like it has no power at all. when you give it gas it sounds like its backfiring at the mass air sensor altho it's not a backfire. i don't have a timing light but i think the timing is real close. i had it bored, new crank and the head completly reworked, all machine work was done by a very good shop. i know its hard to turn wrenchs over the net but anyone have any ideas? possibe vacum hose crossed? the truck has been apart for about a year. oh yea and the check engine light is on. thanks in advance.

 

get a timing light. "Close" could be 45 degrees off if you don't know what you are doing

 

rotate the crank to 0 tdc, pull the distributor cap and look at the rotor. rotor should be pointing nearly straight at either #1 or #4 plug wire tower. and like dc said get a timing light.

 

thanks after lookin some more i think ya'll are right i think it 1 tooth off on distributer.

 

well i still don't have a timing light but i moved the distributer one tooth both ways and still no luck. i'm a tool maker(machinist) so i usually do everything with perfection,said that to ask this. what would it do if i missed the timing chain a tooth? when i moved the distrubter one way it acted like it had to much compression and would not turn over. i'm gonna get a light tomorrow but i'm just thinkin for now. i really really don't think i missed the chain by a tooth.

 

do you have the washer between the distributor drive gear and the cam gear? if not, that could throw the distributor off almost enough to make it unable to be timed.

are you afraid to pull the valve cover? if not, try putting the crank at 0, and verify the alignment mark on the cam sprocket is near vertical (referring to the crank-cam centerline, not bubble-level vertical) if not, rotate the crank 1 revolution and check again. pull the distributor out and rotate the rotor so it is at 12 o'clock / vertical / plumb / bubble level, then insert the distributor. it should end up pointing at the #1 plug terminal / tower on the cap.

 

i'm done workin on it tonight but tomorrow night i'm going back over all the timing. on that washer it goes between the cam gear and distributer gear right? if so yes it's in there. thanks for all your help.

 

ok i'm a idiot, had #2 & #3 plug wires crossed. now when its cold it starts and runs fine just a little high rpm then when the idle goes down it's rough idlin and the timing light jumps to far to get it perfect. any ideas on this problem? thanks

 

you have to jumper the TE1 and E1 terminals in the diagnostic connector in order to set the timing. also, the engine has to be warmed up to normal temp.
then you adjust the timing and idle so that you have the spec's under the hood- typically 750 rpm, 5 btdc timing (with a 22re).
when you adjust either the timing or idle speed, one will affect the other, so it may take many adjustments to get it straightened out.

 

it is also normal for the engine to rev higher when cold. as long as it settles down to the prescribed idle once warm, everything is fine.

 

thanks the idle is up and down. i'm guessing 750-1000 up and down up and down, like its got a big cam in it. so when i put the timing light on it, it's showin the mark is in different spots. when i jump the te1 and e1 terminals what is that gonna do?

 

when you jump the terminals, it should put the ECU into an absolute 'fail safe' mode with consistant baseline fuel mixture and timing and such. the ECU will NOT enter that fail safe mode though if the TPS is not signalling the throttle is at IDLE (IDL) position (a.k.a. "fully closed").
If everything is fine, the engine should idle low and stable since the ECU is no longer applying dynamic settings to the engine operation: engine temp is (or should be) constant, throttle position is constant, timing is constant, air-flow is constant... O2 sensor is ignored, etc.

 

man thanks for this help. so what bout the idle going up and down, what ya think that might be?

 

varying idle could be coolant temp related or maybe TPS related where the ECU does not realize the throttle is closed and is looking at the O2 sensor for feedback to control the fuel mix, and since the O2 sensor is not a 'high-speed' sensor, the ECU is varying the mix after the fact, and causing the idle to fluctuate.

just a thought....

 

When you changed the dizzy one tooth, did you change it back?

 

yea after i jumped them terminals the timing is right on. i got a light now. only thing is i'm not 100% sure of my rpm. how can i check rpm? i thought i'd seen a guy do it with a ohm meter.

 

ok hooked a tach up to it and jumped those terminals, when i jumped them the motor's rpm's really went down. also checked the tps, put ohm meter on bottom 2 terminals and set it that way. my idle is STILL up and down and it jumps 50 rpm's with the terminals jumped and 150rpm's when there not jumped. any thoughts?


also my check engine light is on is there a way i can tell whats makin it stay on without a code reader?