lacks power only when cold, poor mpg, verify timing Options

[VavAlephVav]

So I've only had the car a little while and this is the first time I've been driving it when its Butt cold outside. 5*F/-15*C
when the motor is cold it hesitates more than I've ever seen it and downright seems to have no power up through 3000 rpm or so.
of course this motor warms up fast so it only does it the first couple of times I shift and then it goes away, except that my gas mileage is down to like 22mpg or so.(although I was only getting 26 or so before)
OK, so I understand that all motors act funny when its cold, but this one seems worse than it should be.
I did just replace the water pump... and I know I turned the crank with a wrench after installing the belt and checked the marks, but I am paranoid that somehow when I
adjusted the tensioner it got off by one tooth or something. sadly you have to do the biggest part of the job to get the motor bracket off so that you could get the top timing cover off just to verify the mark and see if its timed right or not.
I'm tempted to drill a small hole in the timing cover so that I could see the cam mark and verify it before I spend the whole day taking the motor apart and maybe find out that the timing is ok.

I'm wondering If you check the ignition timing with a timing light will that verify the valve timing by the timing belt or no?
also I need a whole bunch of tune up stuff, so far I have new cheap copper plugs but I still need stuff like wires, cap/rotor, fuel filter, IAC, and probably an EGR even though I have not tested it. and my air intake hose is held together by ducktape
and is there a certain period of time the computer needs to relearn after its been unplugged a while? I've only gone through one tank of gass since I did the water pump.

any insight you guys have as to how to check and be sure before I tear the whole thing apart would be appreciated,

[DeviantCorndog]

First check your spark plugs for signs of fuel/carbon fouling that would be a good indicator if your timing is to advance. Which is is indicated by dry, black, fluffy deposits on the spark plug electrodes. Also Fuel fouling is most often caused by an air-and-fuel mixture that’s too rich. However, a blocked exhaust or faulty valve can also cause fuel fouling. If the problem is severe, you might be able to smell fuel on the spark plug.
A weak ignition can also cause fuel fouling. For instance, if the spark is weak because of a faulty cable, electronic module, coil, condenser, or because of weak points, a plug can become fuel-fouled. In addition, if the spark plug is too cold for that particular engine, it may become fuel-fouled.
If a cold plug is installed in a cool-running engine, heavy carbon deposits form on the electrodes, making it difficult for the spark plug to fire. When the plug is in the correct temperature range, the heat from combustion burns the byproducts of combustion off the electrodes and keep them clean without causing them to over-heat.

And Considering you just got your car I might be a good idea since your where is very cold to make sure you have the correct oil/trans fluid weigh. No really good way to test that except to change it to be sure, or just check and make sure you are at full capacity for both of them whichever is a cheaper route. Me personally would go with a good set of spark plugs because they are fairly inexpensive and last a good while. When you do change your plugs or at least check them make sure you know which cylinder they came from and you can see if a specific cylinder is having trouble. Try and take a few pictures..and I might be able to give some more input if you need.

[VavAlephVav]

Had it inside to do some work on the front-end and took the plugs out , they all looked about like this
these are brand new copper plugs, drove about one tank of gas with them.
as for hot/cold these are just the ones the guy at the store had listed for the celica with 2.2L /shrug
we did also check all the vacuum lines and clean the pcv valve, and repaired a really bad connection on the wire to the knock sensor, it had so much insulation missing
the conductor could have been laying right on the block







but it snowed and is cold as sheet today so I really had no chance to test it well and notice if it still hesitates and lacks power like it was.

but do the plugs look normal to you? if the timing belt was off even one tooth what do you think it would look like?

[richee3]

Autolite. Definitely better off with a set of Denso or NGK plugs. Autolite plugs are cheap, but you get what you pay for.

It isn't your timing. That would affect your engine both warm and cold. Do you have an auto or manual trans? The auto trans will be sluggish and not shift into overdrive until the motor has warmed up. The ECU doesn't take long to learn after it has been unplugged. A full tank of gas is more than enough time to learn the new parameters. Some new tuneup bits and pieces wouldn't hurt anything. What year is your car? Is the CEL on?

[VavAlephVav]

its a 5 speed, new fluid cause I just changed the cv, wheel bearing, ball joint ect. 80-90w Castrol.
its a 1994 st204 with the 5s-fe, but it has had the motor replaced with a 5s-fe from a camry - not sure what year but the motor is at about 140k miles.
ya, I still need fuel filter, cap, wires, ect I think I'll take off the egr and clean it if it ever gets back above -20000* around here
there are no warning lights on 'cept the airbag light
I have not tried to use the jumper and retrieve any stored engine codes though

I was listening to other peoples tell me that the only difference between copper and platinum was how long they last before you have to change them and
so I was putting that theory to the test, since these are really easy to change.
I'll go get some decent plugs soon

[richee3]

Don't take my opinion of Autolite plugs personally. Just because I wouldn't put them in my motor doesn't mean that nobody should.

Manual trans and new fluid rules out any auto trans quirks. CTS or IAC sensors may cause a weird issue like this and may not light up the CEL. I've never worked with an OBDI 5S so I'm not too familiar with them. Cap and plug wires may cause this, but I wouldn't think they could be the main cause. You might try to see if you have any codes and go from there.

[VavAlephVav]

The more I thought about what you said the more I decided that It really was running like **** all the time, it was really bad when it was cold and would straighten up a bit
once it was warmed up but still seemed to lack the go it had before. my gas mileage was **** and I could even tell the tone of the exhaust was different. It sounded like a pos Honda thpffpffpffpffpfffp

So it warmed up today and I took it back apart and sure enough

Thanks to my niece for the hot pink timing marks I made when I first took it apart.

I realize now that I had left slack on the water pump side. so even though the tensioner tightened up the other side when the motor was cranked over that slack became
one tooth off. lucky you can adjust the timing by getting the cam in place, then taking the belt off the cam gear and adjust the crank by hand while pulling on the belt.
without removing the Hbalancer or lower cover.

this time I double checked and got it right
Big difference now.

now I just have to wait three more weeks before I can finish my tune-up and maybe even get some struts

thanks