Engine misses, pops and backfires, loss of power

Tatty90EE4Tatty90EE4 Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
The other day I was backing out of a parking space when my wagon just died on me. Started it back up and it was running really rough, missing horribly. Died again, then wouldn't start.. Long story short... Had to replace the distributor due to the bearing being seized. Put in the new distributor, finally got the car running and it still sounded horrible. Missing really bad, popping and backfiring. drove it home (less than a mile from where it died). It was smoking, couldn't tell where the smoke was coming from though. It's hard to explain exactly what it sounds like.. It doesn't knock, just some ticking from the valves. Nothing was done with the timing, everything was taken apart and put back together in the same locations and positions as removed.

Going to do a compression test in the morning to see if my assumptions are correct. Could it be possible that there is a hole in one of my pistons causing it to backfire and pop like it was? Possible broken valves?

Any help would be appreciated...

I'll try and get a short video of it, if possible.

Comments

  • bam-bambam-bam Council Member
    I haven't seen it myself, but I've read that the extra drag from a seized distributor can be enough to make the timing belt slip.

    Check timing. With #1 cylinder at TDC, are intake and exhaust valves both shut? Crank and cam marks lined up?
  • Tatty90EE4Tatty90EE4 Wagonist
    Thanks Bam. I will do that.
  • o_fatmike_oo_fatmike_o Wagonist
    yeah it definetly sound like timming jumped a couple teeth. i wouldn't run it till u check it out , bent valves suck. are u 100% sure u got the firing order right, double check easyh mistake? also i have heard of the cam breaking aswell maybe pop the vc and make sure everything looks legit.
  • Tatty90EE4Tatty90EE4 Wagonist
    Timing did in fact jump... Reset timing, was still missing, checked compression 160-170 across the board, had spark on each plug and wire, had fuel... Took a minute and sat down, looked over at it, noticed that a couple of the wires looked kinda funny on the cap. Did a quick google search for the firing order.... I'm not a retard when it comes to mechanics, but found out that I had 2 of the wires switched on the cap. Started right up and ran perfectly.. A search that I did the other day gave me a firing order of 1,4,3,2 which apparently was incorrect...

    Lucky for me with the timing jumping a few teeth, no major damage, just idiocracy on my part.

    Thanks for the help guys!
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