J richard

If you didn't get a CEL then it is provably in limp mode. These cars are typically pretty bulletproof mechanically. I would start with the simple things first.

The things I would suspect:

1. Distributor belt ( in can stay intact but lose teeth and therefore mis time)
2. Vacuum leak torn boot or intake coupler; a backfire can cause this
3. Crank sensor/o2 sensor DME issues
4. Failed fuel injector
5. Collapsed chain tensioner/slipped cam timing
6. Bent valve

if you have the means to do a compression check it will tell you if the basic mechanicals are ok. if you turn the motor with the distributor out you will have to re time to Z1 before you put it back in.

Anyway that's where I would start...

hockenheimr

Good advice.

Like I was saying, I had #5 in another car and it was causing similar issues. Basically, dealer said I could continue to drive it and once the tensioner is broken the timing chain weakens pretty quick so within 24 hours timing chain was broken and whole engine was garbage.

It was past warranty but dealer gave me a new engine on mad advice.

DO NOT PASS GO...go directly to a mechanic.

jevvy964

Pretty certain this is coil/ignitor issue as I have the same on my 964. Dont do anything too drastic until you totally eliminate the coils/ignitors as they are an easy swap/fix

John Walker is the big dawg, you are a lucky guy having him as your local indie - go check Pelican to appreciate his creds.

DrewG

So I am almost too embarrassed to post this. After removing the distributor to check the belt and poking around under the car, it turns out one of the spark plugs on the passenger side behind the large exhaust resonator had not been fully tightened by the PO. It had rattled itself loose over time causing the exhaust leak sound I was hearing, and causing the misfire. I had basically convinced myself that multiple head studs on the same cylinder were broken and that I was looking at $10000000 to fix it. I can now breathe a sigh of relief. That's the good news.

The bad news is that I have now attempted to retime the distributor to Z1 and the car is no longer starting. I realize that I could be off by 180º, so I have attempted timing the distributor caps to Z1 twice on the same revolution. One way sounded way worse than the other, so I have timed it to the one that sounded much smoother, without any pinging and it is still not starting. It catches on a couple of cylinders, but does not fully start. Does anybody have any recommendations?

robt964

Are you still *sure* you've got it timed correctly? Doesn't sound like it. Remember its 180degs shift on the *cam* but its 360degs on the crank. Remove the top cam cover for bank one so that you can see where the cam is. That way you can be certain about the phase.

As you've had everything apart it also might be worth double/tripple checking all the plug leads are on the correct posts.

DrewG

Solved! I had timed it improperly. All better now, and I learned a lot about one of my new cars.

Thanks all.

creaturecat

Nice.
A happy (inexpensive) ending.