severe engine problem

[fielder]

I have a '91 Acclaim with a 2.5 litre non-turbo. I replaced the intake and exhaust manifolds the other day due to a stripped O2 sensor and breaking an ear off the intake taking it off .I got the parts at a local scrapyard off a pulled engine, year unknown. The car barely runs now. It misses real bad and if I try to rev up the engine it starts shooting flames out of the throttle body. It won't idle at all and shakes horribly. I didn't disturb the timing . I put all new vacuum lines in .I've rechecked everything and can't find anything.

[baumbr]

I would double check the timing and make sure your plug wires are going to the correct places. Make sure the distributor cap is on right way around, the knob between the posts goes to the front of the car.

You may want to pull the exhaust manifold again and make sure all the ports line up with the engine ports, and also make sure the gasket didn't slip during installation.

Finally take a look at your timing belt. It may have stripped some teeth or stretched. That will throw your timing off enough to create the symptoms you're describing.

[fielder]

I wanted to report that this car is now fixed. After working on it off and on for a couple of months and getting nowhere I gave up on it thru the winter.A couple weeks ago I decided to try and fix it one more time or junk it. I ran a compression check and found #3 at 0. I pulled the valve cover off, found the rocker arm laying on the head and a stuck valve on #3. I put the rocker arm back on, tapped the valve stem with a hammer, freeing it and the car has run great for 2 weeks now.