Okay, for those who may have been actively reading the General Discussion boards lately, you'll know I replaced the head gasket on my 2000 2.5L.

Not that I've gotten it all put back together, I'm suspecting my timing is off a degree or two....so here are the symptoms.

(I'm posting this in General because it's a timing-related quesiton, not so much a 4-cylinder question)

HORRIBLE idle - sputters and stumbles around the RPM's until it dies, unless I keep pressure on the throttle to keep the RPM's up.

Neutral Revving - in an effort to keep it running, I would shift to neutral only to hear the RPM's rise to a suspected (no tach) 3K RPM's.

Valve train noise - sounds like the valves are bottoming out on the pistons, or something is clanking around inside the combustion chamber.

GREAT performance at regular speeds - while traveling down the road it runs good and smooth, until I release the throttle.

Vacuum leak sound - can't pinpoint it just yet, as I haven't taken a good look at it yet; but it sounds like it would if I had left my brake booster vacuum line disconnected, and it runs like it too!

I got a check-engine light, so I got the codes read to find out it's a P0171 - Bank 1 is too lean.
Does this mean I have my ignition wires crossed, or my timing is off a bit???


Thanks for any help or advice! I thought I had my timing lined up when I put tension on the timing belt, but evidently it's off a tooth or two???

 

Sounds like a timing issue to me.

Here are a few things to look at.

Firing order: Your truck is 1-3-4-2. Cylinders numbering from front of engine to back is 1-2-3-4. I would verify that this is correct first off.

Then I would check your timing. There should be a mark on your dampener, and another on your block, line these dots up, then set your Cam. Then put your belt on counter clockwise < Key part. There should be marks on the Cam, crank, and Oil pump sprocket. Make sure you line them all up with the corrasponding marks on the motor.

I hope this helps... Let me know if you need pictures.. I got access to a how-to if needed.

Good Luck!

 

I don't really need any pictures, just the time to go take a look at it. I suspected the ignition firing order was off too, so I'll check my wires on both sides (intake/exhaust).

 

Wow...all this time of letting the truck sit in my garage, waiting for Christmas to pass by and things to calm down so I could get a chance to tear back into it and adjust the timing.


Come to find out...my PCV vacuum supply line was disconnected from the intake manifold, causing a vacuum leak and poor idle. I plugged it back in and the truck ran great!

Lesson learned - check EVERYTHING 10 times, not 5 like I originally did (and still missed this hidden connection!)

 

Haha I did something like that when I rebuilt the carb on mine. I unhooked the advance wire on the distributor so I could check the ignition timing, then forgot to hook it back up. Drove around for a week trying to figure out wtf was wrong with it. Got 80 miles on almost 28 gallons of gas. Finally gave in and had a mechaninc from work look at it for me, he pointed to the advance wire and goes "Whats that for?"

 

Thank God only my wife was around to make fun of me on this one! After she realized I was embarassed I was so stupid, she helped me bolt the A/C compressor back on!