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You've done cap/rotor/wires/plugs?

poor ignition could cause this.

air metering won't, the car will fire, run, and die if the vac leak is big enough.

and we've covered the timing.

so... I'd look there next. If you don't have cash to throw at parts, there is a procedure to check the plug wires in the manual (16kohm/ft?)

try just running some sand paper on the electrode/cathode of the plug to remove any fouling. Just check the plugs over, look for cracks in the ceramic. That can cause a dead short.

When trying to start, does it seem to fire on the same cyl all the time, or stumble randomly? I guess I'm asking if there is any pattern to the noise.

If you crank it with the pedal on the floor it will de-choke it (not inject) and you can dry out flooded cyls like that. If I stall my car when its cold sometimes I have to do this to restart it.

2fazed wrote: ...did tdc and the rotor on the disty wasnt lined up with #1. it goes straight up.

This statement says that the engine is not properly timed. If the engine was timed properly the rotor would be very close to the #1 disty pin. On the K8 disty the #1 pin is on the bottom side about 20º toward the firewall...about 5 o'clock looking at it from the outside. It's at about 7 o'clock looking at the inside as shown below.



If that engine ever ran with that disty it's not the wrong disty. Make sure you are TDC on cyl 1...pass side closest to the firewall. Make sure you're looking at the right pin in the disty cap.

Describe how you know that the timing is correct by looking at the timing belt.

wytbishop wrote:

2fazed wrote: ...did tdc and the rotor on the disty wasnt lined up with #1. it goes straight up.

This statement says that the engine is not properly timed. If the engine was timed properly the rotor would be very close to the #1 disty pin. On the K8 disty the #1 pin is on the bottom side about 20º toward the firewall...about 5 o'clock looking at it from the outside. It's at about 7 o'clock looking at the inside as shown below.



If that engine ever ran with that disty it's not the wrong disty. Make sure you are TDC on cyl 1...pass side closest to the firewall. Make sure you're looking at the right pin in the disty cap.

Describe how you know that the timing is correct by looking at the timing belt.

Because all the marks line up. At this point, I don't really trust the previous owner. So I've got to grab another disty to verify. Once I do that, then I'll look into the crank pulley and cams. The rotor isn't suppose to be straight up, it's suppose to be slanted to the left, when the pulleys are lined up, which it is right now. When I say the timing is fine, Im referring to the timing belt side is all lined up correctly.

Don't forget Wyt, this is a 4 cyl.

Well that changes everything.

ok, I went to PnP, and got the exact disty from a 92 Cali 323. Threw it in and now it starts up, for about 3 seconds, and dies. I positioned the disty all around, with the same result. I'm going to take a second check on the vacuum lines. Anything else that could cause stalling?

start run die might be a fuel or air metering issue.

Check for the pump running again while cranking (new disty may have an issue that causes it to only operate at low RPM)

And... vac. Again.

And it could still be disty.

Ok, so after getting another disty, it runs for 3 seconds and stalls. I had to replace the coolant sensor. Then I took the intake elbow off. Wiped the insides, checked for cracks and threw it back on. I then threw on an additional hose clamp on the hose that hooks from the intake elbow to the valve cover. Started her up and it idled fine.

So... it was intake leak/disty/coolant temp sensor?

Ryan wrote:So... it was intake leak/disty/coolant temp sensor?

I think I snapped the coolant sensor wire, so that wasnt the problem. I would say the disty, tps, and adding extra clamp on intake elbow for it to run properly.