hey guys, my car flooded the other day, and then I didnt move it soooo it ended up getting towed because they happened to be doing street cleaning the next day, and i was on the street. Anyhow, I got it to start, and started and it was idling poorly, and there was a really nasty popping sound. Tried to give it gas, and there was more of this popping sound (is this what detonation sounds like?) It's in a grocery store parking lot in a bad part of town, and I need some suggestions on how to get this thing running right. I've got fuel, running at the correct fuel pressure, my timing is right, checked it with a timing light. Could this be a spark issue? The spark plugs are apparently working to some extent, but should I get new ones? They looked wet when I pulled them even after I got the car running, so I dont know what that's all about.
Anyways guys, I need some tips on what's going on, so I can recue my car tonight without (hopefully) too much trouble!

 

sounds like you fouled your plugs. clean them with a wire brush and put them back in, or just buy new ones.. sometimes fouled plugs can't be fixed.

 

Spray them with brake clean to get rid of the fuel on them, brushing will help too if they are carboned.

 

Alright, I ended up having to get the car towed home tonight. I replaced the spark plugs, plug wires, and even put in a little gas because it was low. No difference! here's a little more of a description of what's happening:
at idle, it kind of putters, like the engine is pulsing. I could see distinct pulses of exhaust gas coming out the back.
when I try to accelerate, it sputters badly. I mean, it's almost driveable, but it sounds really nasty. I wouldnt trust it to drive any more than around the block.

The weird thing is that this came on very suddenly, the car was running halfway decent and smoothly before. like I said, timing seems to be good, spark plugs and wires are new, this does seem very similar to the way the car acted when I tried 2gcdfis, and apparently did something wrong for it not to work. so i'm pretty much stuck on it being a spark issue. anyways, any input would be great

 

Are you 100% sure all 4 of your spark plugs are getting spark???

 

Sounds a bit like your trailing & leading plugs are switched.

 

I'm not match for Sterling or Trochoid but what happened when you you flooded the car?

 

That's what I'm thinking....

It's always a good idea to cut your wires to where they only fit their plug. Prevents accidental **** ups....

 

hmm...cutting the plugs like that never thought of it....

 

well, as I said before, i've checked my timing with a light, but I switched the trailing and leading, and it didnt fix the problem, but it sure felt different. I checked the timing, and the trailing then was firing before the leading. So anyways, I now know that it wasnt that my trailing and leading were switched. damn, i was hoping it would be as simple as that! When I go out to work on it today, I'm going to switch around the leading and trailing coils and ignitors. I'm thinking that maybe one of my coils is going bad, and it's not putting out enough for a good spark. who knows? When I pulled the plugs, they were wet, so that's telling me that the fuel isnt getting ignited properly. I'll keep update later if this works. this is frustrating, I just want to BOOST!

 

I would check and see if you have power to the both the igniters and the coils...if not then one or the other is shot...but do you get a timing light on leading and trailing? cuz if not i might know what the problem is....

 

well how do you know where they were firing....you cant use a timming light when its cranking.....well at lwast thats what ive been told.

 

No you have to take a test light and check if you have power going to the the coils.Then you can also take the test light and check if you have power going to your ignitors..then you can tell if one or the other is not workin