Holly cow....The timing is way off the chart.

The timing marks say "AFTER 12 || 6 || T || 6 || 12 BEFORE" - mine is set on the "F" in the word Before. I started @ 6 BTDC - went to the T (it would barely start and when I drove it it was horrible) - then I started working my way back. On the "O" it was pretty good - I then tried the "B" and it was worse - so I went to the second "E" - it was worse than the "O" - so I ended up on the "F". That's where it is now.

The at the upper end of the RPM for each gear - I hear a slight rattle.

The bigger problem now is - the "check engine" light came back on...It tripped the first time @ 65 mph - going up a hill in 5th gear. Then I reset the check engine light - and it tripped again at idle on the last test drive (with the timing set to the "F"). The weird part is - it did it at idle at a red light off the exit after about 5 miles on the highway. It has never tripped at idle before. It has always done it under load while accelerating. The error code I got is 45. HO2 sensor - lambda sensor.

I must add that I have no exhaust (just the part at the end) as that may be relevant, but I doubt it.

So - back to the original issue of the thread - not getting the proper torque - worse when trying to floor it, no power up hills. Any ideas where to go from here? I'm pretty sure the timing is good to go - and now I have new plugs, wires, distributor, cap, and rotor.

Sounds like the issue is a vacuum leak somewhere....resulting in too much air in the mixture.

Now I'm not scared to try different things. Thanks for all your help with the distributor replacement and the timing.

 

Now is the point where I would have a shop fine tune the timing.
Then I would get it back and work on the other issue.
The O2 sensor code ignore for right now.
The rattle at higher RPM or under load is normal, that is spark knock.

 

Because I hate it when I'm reading a thread about an issue I am having - but the person did not come back to update us on the resolution - I am going to post the resolution - even though I will look (and feel) a bit foolish.

When I started this thread - I said it acted like it wasn't getting enough fuel.

Then on 11/1/11 (Yes - of 2011) - Savanah Buzz posted:
"IMHO Muskrat37 may want to follow his nose - and do a test of fuel pressure."

After changing plugs, wires, cap, rotor - and now the distributor (because of the cracked case).....and setting the timing - I went to my buddy @ Lamorna Garage - A local Seattle Land Rover Mechanic that is 50 miles from my place.

We test the fuel pressure - IT IS LOW!

Pull a fuel pump out of a dead Rover in his shop - throw it in - IT RUNS PERFECT NOW.

Oh well - at least I have a new cap, rotor, plugs, and wires and now I have replacement caps, rotors, plugs and wires (my originals that didn't need replaced and the caps and rotors that came with my new distributor).

Not saying every sputtering issue is related to a fuel pump - but if you are suffering from this, don't pull a Muskrat and just drive it for 6 months - changing a bunch of cheap parts arbitrarily during that time. If it has a Schrader valve, take it in and have the pressure checked. It takes like 30 seconds!

Lesson learned - but at least I know a lot more about my Rover and what makes it tick, than I did before. (Can you tell I'm a 1/2 glass full, find the silver lining kind of guy?)

One last note - the timing is set to 9 BTDC.

Thanks for all your help everyone.

Skrat out!

 

Thank you for closing out your thread.