Ok so here is the whole story from the beggining. So about two months ago me and my dad were adjusting the timing for my car...there is no way to do it right with a timing light so we adjusted it without it until it was running really good. Right after that when it was idling it seemed to miss a little bit i could hear it and feel it...it was fine when driving it so i didint think much about it. A little over a week ago after about 45 mins on the highway it started missing real bad...it seemed like it wasnt running on all cylinders. The next day after sitting over night i started it and it was much better (it was still doing it at idle but not when driving it). Then we replaced the spark plugs and it was still doing it ( still doing it at idle but also just a little bit after a 25 min drive). Then i checked the wires and one of them was burnt so we replaced all the wires and somehow it actually got worse!! It was bad and would sometimes even die when i put it in gear ( even with new plugs and wires). So we just replaced the cap and rotor and its still doing it ( always in idle, and sometimes when driving it after a trip).

Sorrt i know its alot of info and i hope it makes sense.

Is there anybody that knows what it might be? Im only 17 and i dont know much about this stuff. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Do you have a good ground strap going from the engine block to the chassis? Sounds like you're getting an arc on the wires. I assume it is an HEI with control module in the cap right under the rotor?

Why can't you use a timing light?

 

Yes i have a electronic control module under the rotor.

And i cant use a timing light because the mark on the balancer is way way off.

 

Sounds to me like you crossed a wire or two. A miss shouldn't get worse by changing the plug wires, so check and recheck the firing order.

 

Check the wires first since that is the cheapest route to go. Changing the wires could have gotten them out of order even more. A miss can get worse with plug wires if you get cheap and crappy plug wires. I've seen that a couple of times.

If your mark on the balancer is way off then you have a problem there also. Either your balancer has spun or you're using the wrong balancer. Either way that's a problem that needs to be addressed and can cause problems.

 

I have checked the firing order its good. The wires are omnispark

 

Just did a search on Omnispark wires in google...

 

Actually i already put them on like i said. replaced plugs too, and cap and rotor and its still running like crap. like when i jost got home from school i reved it just a bit and intead of running smooth it ran kinda bumpy if that makes sense. But it always misses at idle.

 

Without being able to check your timing, you have no idea where it's at. You want the timing set as far advanced as you can go before the engine pings under a load (driving it hard). Here's how to get there without a timing light. One person sits in the car with the engine running, left foot hard on the brake, transmission in gear, and rev the engine to put it under a load (but not so much as to break the tires free). Then slowly rotate the distributor counter-clockwise to advance the timing (assuming it wants to go that direction) until the engine starts to ping. Then back the timing off until the pinging stops. Tighten the distributor down and go for a ride. Obviously, this way only works with an automatic trans.
But, I'm not too sure that's your problem, but it would be a good idea to at least get the timing out of the way. If the timing is a ways off right now, it can make the engine run too hot though, which can affect the performance of the carb. What is your temp gauge telling you?

 

Well we advanced the timing a couple months ago because it was bogging at wot. After we did that it seemed to be running alot better, but when we pulled it back in the garage in idle it was running rough. It was kinda thumping every second or two. It has gotten worse now it does it every now and then when driving it especially when downshifting or deccelerating, and it seems to get worse the longer the the trip is.

my temp gauge dont work