Weird timing/running/power loss issue 4afe Corolla '99

[onnaj]

Hi,

I'm owning a '99 Corolla AE111 HB 1.6 4AFE M/T.

Ever since I've owned it I thought it was a bit sluggish for the 4afe. During our holiday in Normandie France the hills weren't really steep but the car has much difficulties keeping up the speed. Even the fuel usage was a lot higher then expected. It's not that the car protested when going uphill, it ran smooth but certainly missed torque/power.

Oil and coolant usage is pretty much zero. I've changed the plugs, rotor and distributor cap before the holiday and even put the injectors in an ultrasonic bath with special injector stuff in it. Afterwards I've put all new rings and dampers on it. 

I've also measured the plug wires before the holiday and they're all really within spec, all lower then 10 kOhm. Even wiggle them didn't change the resistance.

So when we got back I thought let's check the timing with a timing light and what did we notice... It was 20 btdc instead of 10 btdc! We thought now we've got our problem while that's way too much advanced. We've set it back to 10 btdc and expected it to drive a lot better, but no. It's driving even worse now, it hesitates a bit now and then and feels like it has 70 hp left or so. Occasionally I get a little pop (backfire) in the intake.

I thought I might have a vacuum leak so I hung a vacuum meter on the map sensor and it's reading about 65 kpa and with harder throttling it's going to 70 and more. So that seems fine to me.

Do any of you have any clue what could be wrong here?

We thought basic psychical timing was off but we removed the camshaft cover and crankshaft pulley, aligned the canshaft timing pulley with the oil pump and checked if the hole was lined up with up with the mark on the camshaft and that was also spot on. The camshaft timing marks are also spot on so this leaves us wondering.....

[oldcodger]

Hi,

Its a while since I changed a belt on my old Avensis 4aFe, but if  I remember correctly you first have to turn the engine so no. 1 cylinder is at TDC on the compression stoke  and get the crankshaft pulley timing marks to exactly 0.  Thats your baseline.  ( remove the plugs so you can turn the engine over with a spanner on the crankshaft pulley nut)

Then look at the alignment marks on the gears and check that they also match correctly.