Hey guys. Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I just need some help for my 84. Heres the story:

I got some new spark plug wires made by AC Delco. I decided to put them in yesterday. Earlier that day, the car ran fine besides an occasional missfire in the upper rpms. Since the new plug wires, the car barely ran. It sounded as if it was running on 4-5 cylinders. It put out grey smoke and what looked to be black oil out the exhaust. After letting it run for a few minutes this way, the check engine light came on and the engine's rpms went up to 1400 rpm. The smoke went away, the black stuff coming out the exhaust stopped, and it seemed to be running pretty smooth. But the idle was way too high. I thought I may have put the spark plug wires on the wrong cylinders. I checked that atleast 5 times. They were all in the right spots according to my manual. Now for the codes:

I'm getting Code 33: MAP Sensor. I checked the map sensor and there was a hose that fell off. I plugged it back in.

I'm also getting Code 42: Electronic Spark Timing.

I have looked for any wires that may have been disconnected. I can't seem to find any. I cleared the codes by disconnecting the battery for 10 seconds. The car won't even start anymore. Does anyone know what this could be? Ignition coil? I am stumped and all the shops around here can't fit me in until next week. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks
AJ

 

Where abouts are you? I'm in Atlanta.

I helped a friend change plugs and wires on his car a while ago. Same thing, sputtering, hiccuping, barely running. We both checked the wires, twice each. I finally said, let's start over. I pulled each wire and he pulled the plugs. We put everything back together and it ran perfect. Go figure.

Anyway, I'd be glad to give you a hand if you need it. :

 

I live in Peachtree City. About 20 minutes away from the Atl. airport. Thats the thing, I have pulled the wires and started over. Unless the book I have is wrong. On the drivers side of the engine (left) it says 1,3,5,7 and on the right side it says 2,4,6,8. I'm pretty sure this is right though. Oh well. I don't want you to have to come all the way down here, Norcross is pretty far. I'll just have to keep trying i guess.

 

Did code 33 reappear after you connected the vacuum hose and cleared the codes? Did you disconnect the EST bypass to set the timing, and forget to reconnect it, or you haven't cleared the codes since you reconnected it? Based on your report of the sequence of events. Especially that it ran well before you started "fixing" it, there HAS to be a problem in something you've done. Maybe you broke the insulation on a couple of plugs while reinstalling them? Despite multiple re-checks, I still suspect crossed or incompletely installed plug wires.

RACE ON!!!

 

Code 33 appeared before I connected the the hose. The EST bypass is still hooked up. I never messed with the timing. Just the plug wires. I'll redo the wires again, and if that doesnt work, I'll go buy some new ones.

 

any other ideas guys? i want to drive it

 

Step back, take a deep breathe and start over. Remove the wires and install them one at a time. Make sure you press the ends of the wires firmly into place. You can actually here them "click" into palce. The firing order is 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2 clockwise on the distributor.

I crossed a wire on my 84 and it ran like garbage.

 

Have you cleared the codes? Do they still exist? Have they recurred? There is no need to BUY (or go to the trouble of installing) another set of wires. Yours CAN be tested. Not only does an Ohm check, test the integerty of the conductors, it verifies, without doubt, that the two wire ends in question, in fact, belong to the same wire.

RACE ON!!!

 

Are you absolutely sure you have #1 in the right place on the distributor?

 

My father and I checked all the wires one last time. We made sure they all clicked on to the plugs. It finnaly started up. Its running pretty rich though and the valve covers are leaking oil over the plugs. Thats my next project. Any suggestions on changing the valve cover seals? Thanks guys for all your input. I really appreciate it. Happy Holidays.
AJ