On 14 Mar 2005 10:53:17 -0800, jim rozen
wrote:

In article , Eric R Snow says...

I had this occur with a bad rotor. It too was a bitch to find. The
clue was that a timing light would not trigger when the timing was
normal, but would when timing was way advanced. Right now the car
triggers a timing light. But if the light is more sensitive thatn the
one used before maybe it triggers even when there is no spark.

Back to basics: the motor needs spark (at the right time), fuel (in
more or less the correct amount), and compression - if it has those
things it'll run.

Spark: you're aware that the breakdown voltage in air is a lot
less than in the combustion chamber at pressure - and are aware
of the 'will it trigger a timing light' test. And the timing
is to spec on the marks it seems.

So that's probably right out.

Fuel: you say the plugs are wet - but have you tried cranking it
while giving it a shot of carb cleaner into the throttle body? It's
tough to know if 'wet plugs' are correct or not, but most motors
will at least give a shudder and a brief run if fed carb cleaner,
when the fuel is somehow off kilter. It's a quick easy test.

Compression: I take it you've run a compression test on this
motor. Granted the valve timing is correct but are the valves
really closing all the way. Another issue is there some kind
of exhaust obstruction (cat converter, potato up the tailpipe, etc)
that would cause it to idle but not take throttle. Badly blown
head gasket maybe.

When you are done, the trouble is going to fall into one (well,
at *least* one) of those catagories. The problem is figuring
out which of the diagnostics you've been running through is giving
an incorrect 'pass' when there's really something wrong in that
area.

Jim
This is what confuses me. It has spark at the right time. It would not
even pop with WD40. It has proper compressioin. The timing belt has
not slipped. No exhaust obstruction. I'm wondering if maybe there is
enough energy to trigger the timing light but not enough to get good
spark. After I replace the rotor and cap I'll know more. But it's
weird. It ran fine on the way to work. It was parked in front of the
shop all day with the big door open. I live in a rural area and so it
is really unlikely someone snuck up and changed something while I
wasn't looking. At the end of the day it won't start. After the
episode where it barely ran it won't pop at all. Tomorrow I'll finish
the tool to adapt a gauge and check fuel pressure,
ERS