Need TBI troubleshooting help

[Rust Buster]

Hi guys,
First a little background on the truck
1988 V30 (1 Ton 4x4 Dump Truck, manual tranny, TBI 350)
This is the mountain neighborhood plow truck and never goes off our private roads. I did a complete rebuild of this truck this fall, all major systems and sensors are new, to include:

Rebuilt stock TBI
Long tube headers with heated O2 sensor
Coolant temp sensor
IAC
Oil pressure sensor
MAP
TPS
EGR Valve
EGR Solenoid
Speedway Motors TBI wiring harness
Distributor (stock replacement)
Ignition Coil
Plugs/wires
Fuel pump

Here's the problem. Truck starts and runs/idles pretty well. It does have a delay/say when you open the throttle. I have all the vacuum lines capped at the TBI except for the PCV port and MAP port. The only sensor I have not changed is the ESC module, but one is on the way.

When I check the timing (using the correct method by unplugging the timing wire), it runs very very rough and will cut out at 0 degrees. It only idles smooth at a ridiculous amount of advance, that is off the indicator plate. It will run decent at about 8 degrees advanced, but anything close to 0 gets a rough idle.

If I unplug the ESC module, there is no noticeable difference in anything. Is that normal? Also, the EGR valve doesn't seem to be doing anything. Normal? When I run a scan, I get about 6 codes, relating to EST, Coolant temp sensor, inlet air temp, etc...but I'm not sure how accurate this is. There is a TON of vacuum at idle on the PCV port.

It runs pretty good at that advanced timing, but with all the codes and the sag/hesitation when you open throttle, I am assuming there is an issue and better performance to be had.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

[gmclowsierra]

is it the original engine for the truck? maybe the outer ring of the balancer spun.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by gmclowsierra

is it the original engine for the truck? maybe the outer ring of the balancer spun.

That's certainly possible. I don't know much other than the previous owner said the engine was rebuilt about 10K miles before I bought it.

[Katrina/10]

How did it run before you replaced all that stuff? Do you have a laptop you can connect to it?

[Rust Buster]

Well when I got it it ran like crap and had all sorts of issues. So I basically did a complete rebuild of the entire truck. All major systems are brand new. It runs a million times better than it did and the initial road tests show no symptoms. It's just that the timing indicator on the harmonic balancer is about 2 inches before the timing tab even starts!

[Rust Buster]

I can connect it to a laptop. Are you referring to WINADL or something like that? Will it tell me exactly what the timing is set at?

[Just call me Sean]

Find TDC and see if the marks line up. Mine didn't have the timing tab and the one I put on was wrong, so I made my own mark to use the wrong tab.

[Katrina/10]

Originally Posted by Rust Buster

I can connect it to a laptop. Are you referring to WINADL or something like that? Will it tell me exactly what the timing is set at?

Yes, Winaldl is a a good program. It will tell you how much advance the ECM is adding to base timing, but not what the base timing is. To establish that, you verify your marks are correct, disconnect the set timing connector behind the master cylinder, and set timing using a light to 0 degrees. The aldl program will also be able to show you what the sensors on the engine are reading.

[Rust Buster]

Originally Posted by gmclowsierra

is it the original engine for the truck? maybe the outer ring of the balancer spun.

Originally Posted by Katrina/10

Yes, Winaldl is a a good program. It will tell you how much advance the ECM is adding to base timing, but not what the base timing is. To establish that, you verify your marks are correct, disconnect the set timing connector behind the master cylinder, and set timing using a light to 0 degrees. The aldl program will also be able to show you what the sensors on the engine are reading.

I got my new ESC module and installed it today. I then disconnected the battery, undid the timing wire, reconnected the battery, started her up and adjusted the timing to be dead on with the indicator. I then shut her off, connected the timing wire, started her up and saw that the timing now showed it at 4* advanced at idle...the idle was relatively smooth, but when I shut it off and restarted it, it didn't want to stay started. So does this tell us anything? Is it normal for the ESC to advance the timing 4* at idle??

[Katrina/10]

Yes, the idle should be advanced when the timing connector is reattached, but it should be more than 4 degrees. Does it advance further if the engine is revved? No idea why it would not want to re-start.

[homemade87]

Just a note , I did not see if you replaced the cam in the rebuild . I did a rebuild and installed a little different cam and I could not get it to run worth a crap . I tried every thing . I finally threw the timing light on the ground and started cranking on the distributor until I found the sweet spot. It run like a champ after that. I think I was running about 12*. The cam I put in did not like the stock setting at all. Is it possible that a different cam has been installed. Something to think about. Good luck.