Hopefully you guys can help. Following stripping down the engine to reveal the VOD, and putting every back together after what turned into a far bigger job than I thought it would be (loads of "while in there" tasks") the engine is running all over the place, not to mention potentially overheating!
I stripped of everything to get to the VOD, only to find a coolant leak, and a water pump which was well past its best. Therefore I decided to do a few extra jobs while in there. They included:
paint the VOD after cleaning.
New water pump.
New cap, rotor and HT leads
New silicone hoses and Silicone Vacuum hoses.
Two new sensors in the Y pipe, just not the thermotime switch (none available).
New gaskets and o rings throughout.
Generally cleaned everything and gave quite a few parts a coat of high temperature paint.
New stainless bolts for everything.
Adjusted the valve clearances as well.
You'd think after all that turning the key should have resulted in a purring engine, but no. Instead after quite a few cranks of the engine it started, but the idle shot up to 2000 rpm and stayed there! The engine seemed to get VERY HOT very quickly, especially the exhaust. The exhaust seemed louder as well, and there was a smell of unburnt fuel.
In a bit of a panic move I decided to mess with the idle screw setting, which did bring the rpm down a little, but not to where it should be or was before I started the job. After that I did the worst thing possible and moved the screw back and forth without really taking note. Yeah I know, bad idea, stupid, you name it. Now it's probably way off.
Attaching a dwell meter as I did last year to set it up just produced a very odd reading. The needle just plants itself right to the right hand side and doesn't move at all. I'm not sure the frequency valve is functioning as it should as well. I can't seem to hear it at all except for one time when it seemed to be running all the time. I've checked the ground point for this on the manifold and that checks out.
I can't see where there would be any vacuum leaks. The injectors went back in ok, and everything else checks out. I'm pretty sure I put all the vac pipes correctly.
Also, even after burping the radiator and bleeding the water pump at the top the radiator stays fairly cold, while the engine seems very hot.
The car was running perfectly before I started and had never had an overheating problem. The rpm was spot on, as was everything else other than the major coolant leak in the VOD.
I really need some ideas. I'm moving out of this house on the 28th, and need the car to run so it can move as well! At this rate it'll become a permanent fixture.
Any ideas?