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my 89 chevy pickup has a tbi system on it and when it starts with the electrical advance plugged in the timing goes to like 40 degrees roughly and stays there (like its in cold start loop) and it loads up and spits and sputters and the truck won't run correctly untill it is unplugged what is causing this

Submitted: 45 days and 22 hours ago.

Category: Chevy

Value: $13

Status: AWAITING EXPERT REPLY

Year: 1989
Make: Chevrolet

Posted by Auto Go 45 days and 22 hours ago.

Answer

Hello and welcome to Just Answer!

The most common cause of your symptoms is a faulty pickup coil in the distributor. Replace the distributor as an assembly. Also replace the distributor cap and rotor.

Be aware that faulty spark plug wires can cause this problem by allowing stray voltage to skew the signal from the pickup coil.

I hope this helps. Please ACCEPT my work if you are satisfied. Let me know if you need anything else.

45 days and 22 hours ago.

Reply

the distributor was changed out from another truck that i had and it worked perfectly in it, (entire assembly) so i don't think that would be it. i also changed the coolant sensor thinking that it was screwed up making the system think that it was really cold. it also goes into a high idle when the electric advance is plugged in

Posted by Auto Go 45 days and 22 hours ago.

Answer

are you sure the distributor is timed correctly?

45 days and 22 hours ago.

Reply

with the advance unplugged it is at 6 degrees, when i start it with the advance plugged in the timing mark goes to the top of the balancer almost dead center under the water pump. if i unplug the advance it goes back to 6 degrees (im guessing that it is at 6 there are four peaks on the timing tab i'm thinking 2 4 6 8 )

Posted by Auto Go 45 days and 21 hours ago.

Info Request

that should be correct. Make sure the grounds at the thermostat housing stud are clean and tight. This is where the PCM grounds. if that looks ok, I will have to let this one go as I have given you all the information I have.

45 days and 21 hours ago.

Reply

yeah they look good

Posted by Auto Go 45 days and 21 hours ago.

Info Request

ok, someone will be with you shortly

45 days and 21 hours ago.

Reply

thank you for your effort

Posted by ase_master327 45 days and 20 hours ago.

Answer

Hi.. The timing is too advanced..
Set the timing to 0 degrees with the timing connector disconnected on fuel injected engines.. If it doesn't run right, look for vacuum leaks or just a worn out timing chain.

45 days and 19 hours ago.

Reply

it goes to almost 40 degrees with the electrical advance hooked up. is the 6 degrees of change going to affect it that much. as long as that isn't plugged in it runs perfect

Answer

The ignition timing is supposed to be set to 0 with the brown wire disconnected.. and yes 6 degrees it a bit more than you would think with something like that. Sure there could be other things going on, but you need to correct the basic timing issue, first.

Accepts:
Expert:	ase_master327
Pos. Feedback:	98.1 %
Answered:	10/8/2009

Shop Owner

+15 years experience with Chevrolet. Bumper to bumper diagnosis & repair.

45 days and 19 hours ago.

Reply

ok i will check it out in the morning

45 days and 9 hours ago.

Reply

the timing is at 0 degrees all the grounds are in good shape no vaccum leaks.

Posted by ase_master327 45 days and 7 hours ago.

Info Request

OK.. so how did this problem come about.. Did it just show up one day, start out as a small problerm and got worse? or show up after a repair... maybe something you did to it made it better or worse?

Let me know!

45 days and 5 hours ago.

Reply

as far as i know it came out of the blue, it was like this when i got it two weeks ago. i don't understand why the timing goes crazy and it loads up so bad. when you wack the throttle it hesitates real bad loads up and the motor shutters. i changed the ends on the ground wires for the pcn and it seems to idle better but the engine was warm at that point.

45 days and 5 hours ago.

Reply

so basically when the timing advance is hooked up the whole deal is screwy but as soon as you un hook it things are fine

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Year: 1989Make: Chevrolet

Answer

Reply

Answer

are you sure the distributor is timed correctly?

Reply

Info Request

that should be correct. Make sure the grounds at the thermostat housing stud are clean and tight. This is where the PCM grounds. if that looks ok, I will have to let this one go as I have given you all the information I have.

Reply

yeah they look good

Info Request

ok, someone will be with you shortly

Reply

thank you for your effort

Answer

Hi.. The timing is too advanced..Set the timing to 0 degrees with the timing connector disconnected on fuel injected engines.. If it doesn't run right, look for vacuum leaks or just a worn out timing chain.

Reply

it goes to almost 40 degrees with the electrical advance hooked up. is the 6 degrees of change going to affect it that much. as long as that isn't plugged in it runs perfect

Answer

The ignition timing is supposed to be set to 0 with the brown wire disconnected.. and yes 6 degrees it a bit more than you would think with something like that. Sure there could be other things going on, but you need to correct the basic timing issue, first.

Reply

ok i will check it out in the morning

Reply

the timing is at 0 degrees all the grounds are in good shape no vaccum leaks.

Info Request

OK.. so how did this problem come about.. Did it just show up one day, start out as a small problerm and got worse? or show up after a repair... maybe something you did to it made it better or worse?Let me know!

Reply

Reply

so basically when the timing advance is hooked up the whole deal is screwy but as soon as you un hook it things are fine

Related Chevy Questions

Year: 1989
Make: Chevrolet

Hi.. The timing is too advanced..
Set the timing to 0 degrees with the timing connector disconnected on fuel injected engines.. If it doesn't run right, look for vacuum leaks or just a worn out timing chain.

OK.. so how did this problem come about.. Did it just show up one day, start out as a small problerm and got worse? or show up after a repair... maybe something you did to it made it better or worse?

Let me know!