Hello all,

My 1992 sunbird 2.0L timing jumps around. It jumps around a bit, and the car misses and sputters because of it. Does this sound like a stretched timing belt, or bad belt tensioner, or is there a sensor somewhere that might be messed up? And are there any walk-throughs on doing a timing belt replacement on the web?

Thanks!!
Tim

Bad knock sensor perhaps?

Well it could be several things.I would start with a tune up like wires,plugs, and fuel filter and check coil packs if equiped and if It has the distributor cap/rotor button repl it..If it is none of the above after the fact pull the cover off the timing belt and visually check the belt for cracks,slack.Ur best bet for doing a timing belt is buy a haynes or chiltons manual for reference.Advance auto and auto zone both sell the same haynes.Or u can do what I did and go to http://www.chiltonsonline.com and buy the downloaded version that is a pdf and good FOREVER no expiration date.The knock sensor may be a possible bc it does retard the timing.That is my recommend and the cost on the chiltons is like 20 bux I believe.Hope this gives you some insight and I am not super fluent with the 2nd gens bc gm changed alot of stuff like the coil to coil packs etc and so forth.Ok

I know its been a while regarding this but... the car is still running rough... I cannot find a knock sensor anywhere on the engine. I have a spare 2.0 engine I pulled from a a 1992 cavalier and even with this engine sitting on the bench I am unable to find it or where it goes........ any hints? Thanks

Just rereading this post and umm.It very well could be that your 2.0 does not have a knock sensor.Gm was weird on this and the best suggestion is to go to http://www.advanceautoparts.com and do a search with your cars specs entered into there data and see if it is offerred.I would start with map sensor or egr valve as the culprit.The egr at least on my 85 same 2.0 is located behind the thermostat housing I would think it should be about the same.It should have just vacumm lines going to it and simply disconnect the vac lines and see if the car runs better.If it does try removing it and cleaning with brake cleaner or carb cleaner just remove the carbon buildup inside the area best you can.It is about the size of a tennis ball on mine and if no change I would try replacing the map sensor that should be mounted on the firewall (center) this would affect idle and running in general.If the egr is (toast) you can leave the vac line off until you replace it just decreases the mpg thats it.The egr has a diaphram inside it that controls vaccumm and it normally detrerioates due to age/wear generally speaking.Oh forgot the map sensor has a electrical plug in and one vacumm line going to it at least on my model yr granted it prolly is different with yours to a degree.Hope this helps

The 2.0 doesn't have a knock sensor at all.
For the timing, just line up the timing marks, then let it do whatever it does, just drive it around, the ECM sets the timing itself.
I learned this after I changed my head gasket, I would drive it around and it drove really @!#$ty, check the timing and it was off 1 tooth.
Changed it back to the timing marks, drive it and it changed 1 tooth again. Then I talked to a mechanic who said it times itself.
Unless you have bad ignition parts, replace the plugs and wires. You don't have a dizzy, you have DIS.
That should fix it.

If your ecm has not corrected your timing after 6 months then something else is wrong. Have you put a timing gun on your engine to see if the timing is fluctuating? Chances are it is NOT and you either have a vacuum leak or a bad coil pack. Good luck!

These are the specs at idle:

RPM: 975
coolant temp: 160
spark advance program: 25 deg
idle air control: 15 -->11 (decreases down to 0 with higher RPM)
injector pulse width: 0.9-->1.0 msec
integrator: 132-->124
map voltage: 0.90 v
map pressure: 8in Hg
02 voltage: .12 --> .83


do all these look normal? is 8in Hg normal for idle??