Engine dying when warm

[MattPro]

I posted another thread a week or two ago with the problem I'm having, but now I have it more narrowed down so I want to see if anyone has any other ideas.

Basically I just finished a head swap and am having some problems with the car. What happens is after the car runs for about 10 minutes after it gets to running temp, it wants to die when stopped (it's an auto, M20B25). At any red light I have to put it in neutral to keep it running. The idle is normal in park/neutral and the car is fine when giving it gas, it's just when stopped.

I've been following the Bentley on troubleshooting and have checked the ICV, TPS, fuel system, and coolant temp sensor. I can make the problem a lot worse by turning on my sub, that causes the car to die faster. I don't think it's a problem with the power drawn from the sub because nothing happens when the car dies with the voltage, it is normal. Since I just finished a head swap I don't really have the cash to take it to get smoke checked right now, but I'm fairly confident it is not a vacuum leak. I messed around with a can of starter fluid and checked all the hoses for leaks.

Right before the car dies, the idle jumps up and the car lurches and then the idle falls to 300rpm for a couple seconds and struggles, and then it just shuts off. It isn't throwing any codes, and it always starts right up after it dies. Up until it is warm for a while though it idles fine when stopped, all of a sudden it just gets really bad.

It has to be something that happened during the head swap because there were 0 problems with the car beforehand.

Sorry for the long post, but any ideas would be appreciated. I am still messing with it on my own but am just looking for others' ideas.

[jlevie]

The first things I'd want to rule out would be intake leaks and cam timing. For intake leaks a smoke test is the only way to tell if they are present.

[MattPro]

The first things I'd want to rule out would be intake leaks and cam timing. For intake leaks a smoke test is the only way to tell if they are present.

Guess I'll have to bite the bullet and just spend the money then, that's what I was fearing. Oh well, at least I'll know for sure that it is/isn't a leak.

I know the timing was correct, I triple checked it before I put everything back together. Just to be sure though, is there any way to check the timing without ripping apart the whole front of the engine bay?

[jlevie]

To check cam timing it is necessary to remove the upper timing cover and harmonic balancer, which in turn means removing the fan and water pump pulley. Then turn the engine until the mark on the crank hub lines up with the notch in the lower timing cover and check the marks on the cam and head.