Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

I swapped to a B16A1 a few weeks back, and I can't seem to get the car running right.
I sorted out my codes weeks back, and t ran decent after that.
But it was really sluggish on the bottom end, so I figured I'd advance the timing. I found that whatever the previous owner did, te put on the pulley wrong, because the timing marks are not even close to the mark. I'm talking multiple inches off.

Therefore I advanced by eyeballing it.
It seemed to help. Throttle response seemed a bit better, and it was generally faster from a full stop. Until 2 days later, when I started it up and drove off, after about a mile it started sputtering and backfiring. I went back home, and retarded the timing back to about where it used to be. The problem persists.
From a stop, my granny with her cane is faster. it sputters and backfires and reeks of rich mixture. Then...4K rpm, on the dot it drives off like nothing ever happened and runs like a champ.

WHAT THE ----? I don't get it at all! Tomorrow I'm switching my ignitor module to a D16 one to see if that fixes it. That's the only thing I can think off.
02 sensors are new. No codes, no CEL. Spark plugs+wires are new. Rotor is new. Dizzy cap is new. I checked and re-soldered a few of the dizzy wires 2 weeks ago.

Anyone have a clue?

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

I thought that there was a notch in the crank pully that lined up with the crank to keep that from happening...

I would really think that your timing is horribly off..

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

Yeah so did I...but I put it back to about where it used to be. I retarded it a bit more... doesn't help AT ALL.

I'm taking the dizzy apart tomorrow to see if anything came undone. Altho I doubt that..because then it wouldn't run at all.

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

before you take the dizzy off, just take the cap off, and see if the rotor spins without the engine turning over.

I saw this once, and the car ran like crap for a while, and then eventually died.. but it definitely didn't pick up after 4 grand.

take the valve cover off and inspect everything. look for shavings of any sort. while it's off, jack the car up, take the driver's side wheel off, and manually turn the engine over. take out #1 spark plug, place something thin inside so that it will rest on the piston and still stick out. watch the cam gears and turn the motor over until before the cam gears both point "up". watch the object you stick inside of #1 cylinder. if it keeps moving up after you pass "up", or if it starts moving down before you hit "up", your timing belt is off.

hopefully you don't have to worry about it, but that's how I do it, and it's worked so far.

also, while the valve cover is off, adjust them valves.

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

man set your base timing. then adjust your dizzy timing.

how far off was the timing? towards the intake side or exhaust side??

you are shorting the service connector too right?

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

as far as I can tell the cams are ligned up properly.
That's why I suspect the pulley being on crooked.
Yes, I shorted the plug.

I just shot some video.. need to compile it to mpeg first tho.

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

the pulley cant be "on crooked" it has a keyway that only lets you install it 1 way on the crank.

your timing sprocket and the crank pulley could be off. you have to set the cams @ proper AND the crank, THEN put the belt on and then spin the motor a few times (by hand using a wrench) and confirm everything is still in time.

with the cams at proper TDC COMPRESSION stroke the crank mark (the one all by itself) should lineup w/ the oil pump alignment thing. (yes, thats a technical term). if not then the belt was installed wrong. and it's could be REALLY retarding your cams shifting the power band WAY up (+4k maybe? :P )

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

This sounds really scary since I have no clue WTF you're talking about. Tonight I'm getting another dizzy...that dude is a mechanic. I'll let him have a peek. First let's see if the dizzy fixes it. Could be that that damned thing is retarding the powerband like insane. :-[

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

i almost guarantee your cam timing is off. just because the cams line up together doesnt mean they line up with the crank.

Re:Ignition weirdness?? (kinda long)
 

SOLVED! ;D
New dizzy...all symptoms have gone away.
Pulls a LOT harder now.
Timing marks line up nicely and everything.

This is one happy camper! Now to pick and pull the old dizzy apart. I'm gonna try my D16 module for the fun of it.

Thanx guys.