I finally have a starting place on my problem. It looks like it was
ignition all along.
THanks to all who pointed out the webpage of the ignition manufacturer, BTW.
The ignition my car has in it is a Lumenition ignition. It works by
installing a chopper (looks like a helicopter blade) under the rotor in the
distributor. A small light sensor shoots a light beam between two sensors,
and when the beam is broken by the chopper blade, it sends a spark.
I of course learned this from reading the website. But the picture of the 4
blade chopper didn't remind me of my chopper. Sure enough, the car has a 6
cylinder chopper (6 blades). That's why I suddenly started having problems
the moment I touched my timing. THe PO's mechanic must have timed it in
such a way that the double firing on the 2 and 4 cylinders _just_ made it
before backfiring.
Essentially, I've been running on the 1 and 3 cylinders since I bought the
car. Now I either need a new ignition, or I have to fix the one I have.
I'm just worried that the existing ignition is toast from running
incorrectly for so long.
And this explains why all the other things I've done haven't helped.
I'll keep you all posted.
Michael
_____________________________________
/ \
| Michael Graziano |
| Long Term Capital Management L.P. |
| Phone: 203-552-5706 |
| Fax: 203-553-5869 |
| Email: mgrazian@ltcm.com |
\_____________________________________/
|