New engine problems

[dc914guy]

Hello All~
Well I drove the car this weekend, and there is still a whole lot of issues that I need to take care of! I am trying to isolate the problem(s) that I am having with the engine, so that I can figure out what my next step is.

The car starts up fine, however the IDLE is high (between 1500 and 2000) and the car seems underpowered (timing issue??). I replaced the plugs for good measure before I took the car out, and the vacuum hoses are all hooked up correctly. I tried rotating the distributor and it moved freely despite being tightened before, so I am going to have to set the timing again once all is said and done.

Here are the items that I suspect, and that have not been replaced:
Intake runner seals on the heads, and on the box
Points
Coil
Plug Cables

There is also a wire that comes from the oil temp sensor that comes up through the engine sheet metal and is disconnected on the top end of the engine. This has been disconnected since I got the car, and I have no idea where it goes??!! Could this be part of my problem, and does anyone know what it hooks up to?

Thanks for all the help!
~Eric

[tod914]

Could that be the wire that is suppose to connect to your head temperature sensor on the #3 cyl. - check that

[Bleyseng]

The CHT sensor wire is white from the wiring harness and comes out near the back of the engine with the MPS plug connector.
It sounds like over advanced timing to me. Why does the dizzy turn even if you tighten the clamp? Set the timing to 27 degrees before TDC at 3500 rpms, hoses off and plugged. Use a timing lite.
Vacuum leaks can be checked with starting fluid spray. Lightly spray an area with the motor is running and if the rpms go up there is a leak. With starting fluid it you spray tons of it it will also just go in the air intake and the rpms will go up giving a false reading.
Also, the all the vacuum hoses connected correctly? The vacuum retard hooked up properly?
Geoff

[John Rogers]

If your throttle body has just one vac connection, it goes to the retard side of the distributor, if it has two, the side with vac at idle goes to the retard side of the distributor (on ours it is the side of the throttle body towards the rear of the car. Also what is the dwell setting as changing dwell will affect timming. Make sure all hose ends do NOT have any cracks especially if they are the fabric covered hose as the fabric can mask the cracks and you'll never see them. Good luck.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The retard fitting on the distributor is the one that points toward the distributor body. The one that points away from the distributor body is the advance fitting.

--DD

[John Rogers]

As I said, if you have two vac fittings on the throttle body, see which one has vac at idle, ours is in the rear as are two others I have seen, but since Dave mentioned it I have seen them on the front? Why?

[Ron Meier]

The wire from the temp sensor connects to the same color wire on the engine body harness to activate a temp guage. No effect on running.