Car falls on its face, stutter on accel

[9697Galant]

Hey all. Been reading this board for months for tips etc. I tried searching for this but nothing seems to help.

I just did a headgasket on my 96 Galant and now whenever I go past say 1/4 throttle it 'sputters' real bad and I have no power. It bogs really bad past 1/4 throttle until I let off throttle a bit then the power returns. Can't drive it like this on hwy and barely on sidestreets.

It ran fine before teardown. I have tried new NGK plugs, wires, rotor, cap. Checked timing and seems to be at about 10* btdc as well as double checked timing belt. I checked all vac lines and electrical connections. All seems fine. What am I missing/forgetting. Any ideas? Thanks a ton.

[bronxbombr]

your timing sounds off.

[4g63lover]

your timing sounds off.

ditto.

[9697Galant]

I agree but how? Isn't it all computer controlled? I never touched the dizzy. I guess I will try to adjust but according to the manual it seems like a real PITA. I hooked a light up and it's @ ~10* btdc at idle. Which is what it is supposed to be. Maybe it's not advancing for some reason? Thanks for the replies.

[WhiteGalant]

were all the marks lined up when u put the timing belt back on?

[9697Galant]

were all the marks lined up when u put the timing belt back on?

Yep. I even popped the timing cover off again to doublecheck as part of my troubleshooting. I am running out of ideas.
Thanks

[mko]

make a video.

it could be a spark or fuel issue

[briggs]

maybe a dumb question but did you ground the thingy before you checked the timing. There is a connector located at the firewall thats brown. take the cover off then ground it. Then adjust the timing.

[9697Galant]

make a video.

it could be a spark or fuel issue

Will do tomorrow.

[9697Galant]

maybe a dumb question but did you ground the thingy before you checked the timing. There is a connector located at the firewall thats brown. take the cover off then ground it. Then adjust the timing.

No, but it says in the manual that if you check it, it should still be close.

It was at 10* btdc while idling and when I revved it, I saw it advance a bit. Maybe to around 20ish* btdc or so estimating the distance.

[kamenfaiz]

check all the line again, sound like timing is off
jump a tooth?

[9697Galant]

check all the line again, sound like timing is off
jump a tooth?

Checked again when I swapped the dizzy from my other galant. Still does it. Do you guys think it could be bad gas? The car did sit for a while. Wouldn't it idle like crap too though or only when under load?

[QnzMostWanted]

sounds like ur tensioner isnt set up right, if its jumping timing

[9697Galant]

Timing belt is fine. I have checked it 3 times.

[mko]

diid u make a video?

[TheOnly1ever]

I had a really similar problem, so bad that I couldn't really drive it up hills etc. My issue was the distributor though or one of the leads to the spark-plugs, which I ended up all replacing, so not sure what it was but one of the two, but I had the same problems.

[9697Galant]

diid u make a video?

Here it is. May need to crank volume to hear the bog. Once I get going I lean into the throttle so it does it. Very hard to hear as I have stock exhaust. Maybe i will try have a friend video tape it from outside or something but we are having a snow storm so will be a bit hard to do.

[mko]

whats the code/s/ that the ECU is throwing?

[9697Galant]

whats the code/s/ that the ECU is throwing?

P1443 but I think that was after I started messing with the vac lines thinking it was them. I took them off while running to see if there was a difference. I also had 2 of them reversed so that was probably why it threw that code. I think its for the EVAP solenoid, which I can hear working.

I started draining the gas. It smells somewhat stale. Just trying everything to rule it out. It has been sitting for 5 months. I didnt think it has been istting that long.

What's funny is I went to try and drain from the FPR/Return and nothing was coming out of that at all. I would think fuel would be streaming at idle.

[koji464]

I would think that it would might have deal with the fuel pump, filter?..asuming the both sides of the fpr was chekced
Dose the car only sputter under acc? any while idling?
or my other guess would be mabey your valve stem gaskets didnt seat right when redoing your headgasket,wet new plugs??