Hey guys,

So after a replacement engine install, my buddies car is acting up. It's a '94 with about 157k on the clock. We pulled out the original engine and replaced it with a used motor that he bought off of the forums from a seller in Michigan. From what we can tell, it was originally out of a 95-97 B-body that was transplanted into a '93 F-body and then eventually sold to him. Supposidly it had 80k on it. Here's where the problems begin. The car idles fine and all the sensors are working properly. No SES light and everything seems fine on the scanner. However, at idle it had 21 degrees of advance and peaked around 40 in the upper rpms. Is that a normal reading? Also, the car is SLOW. After you get to about 30 mph, it starts to pick up but not too much. The manifolds start to glow red hot after a short trip. Cylinders 1-4 seem okay but 5-8 glow. The car has new plugs, wires, and o2 sensors. We had to install the '94 timing set and also cut the opti dowel down to the correct length. I installed the new cam gear and chain and checked that the dots lined up, however with the way it's acting, everything seems to point there. Anyone have some suggestions? I'm feeling stumped. If you have any other questions, let me know. Thanks

 

Clogged catalytic converter(s) if those are still on the car.

 

thats what I was thinking...

 

18-21deg of advance at idle is normal. At WOT you might see figures approaching 40deg at upper rpm, and at cruise, low load, part throttle you will see as much as 46deg.

Do you really mean cylinders 1-2-3-4 are not glowing and 5-6-7-8 are glowing? It would be odd if 2 cylinders on each side of the engine were fine and the other two cylinder on that bank were producing glowing manifolds. Usually its one bank or the other, not mixed on both banks.

 

Wouldn't a glowing manifold mean those cylinders are running lean? High EGT's ect.... Never seen manifolds glow red. Seen headers do that.

Ken R.

 

glowing headers is generally a sign that the timing is bad enough that the fuel air mixture is escaping out the exhaust valve before the spark was able to completly burn the mixture inside the chamber. Possible cause could be a misaligned optispark. But unless you just recently replaced the opti and installed it incorrectly I doubt it would move on its own. I suppose weak valve springs could also cause this problem, but I doubt that would happen on multiple chambers. Could a bad crank sensor cause this problem?

 

There's no cats on the car. And yes, I did mean that 5-8 was glowing RED hot but 1-4 seemed okay. Any suggestions? Thanks guys.

 

Ive got my money on a a clogged cat. I had identical problems with my Z. No power outside of low speeds, Glowing manifolds. Listen for a rattly sound under the car coming from the cat.

 

If the exhaust is clogged at any point it will do that..