Hard time starting... Going crazy

I have a 95 Cavalier 2.4 dohc. I took it to the shop back in dec. 06 to replace the head gasket. Two months later it was hard to start the car. Took it back to the shop and they said that when i put the new battery in it resetted the timing. I laughed my ass off. Telling me i need to take it to another shop to hook it up to a computer to reset the timing. Anyways. New plugs, boots, Tested coil, cleaned TB, air filter ok,no codes. The car at idle is misfiring. Tail pipe pops once every 30 sec or so. Sometimes the car starts right up other times takes for ever. Have to hold the gas pedal done to help it start faster. I'm going to try some starter fluid next to see if its a fuel or spark problem. Any help would be great. Thanx

I have a 95 Cavalier 2.4 dohc. I took it to the shop back in dec. 06 to replace the head gasket. Two months later it was hard to start the car. Took it back to the shop and they said that when i put the new battery in it resetted the timing. I laughed my ass off. Telling me i need to take it to another shop to hook it up to a computer to reset the timing. Anyways. New plugs, boots, Tested coil, cleaned TB, air filter ok,no codes. The car at idle is misfiring. Tail pipe pops once every 30 sec or so. Sometimes the car starts right up other times takes for ever. Have to hold the gas pedal done to help it start faster. I'm going to try some starter fluid next to see if its a fuel or spark problem. Any help would be great. Thanx

do you mean the 2.3 litre? I thought 95 were 2.2 or 2.3....unless i've been misinformed. My car's doing the same thing, ever find out what it was?