There is some serious power loss when I have the truck timed at about 7 degrees before TDC. It sounds great and idels fine but I can barely make it up the hill next to my house in first gear. When it is not timed properly (like approximately 25 degrees before TDC) it has lots of power, but you can hear it missing (popping from the exaust). The engine is a recent rebuild that was never timed correctly to begin with. ANY THOUGHTS OR IDEAS?

Are you setting the timing with the check jumper in place and does the timing/idle speed change when that jumper is installed? If not, you may not be getting an accurate setting:
- http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/TPS/index.shtml#Troubleshooting

I set the jumpers in place and it does not seem to change the idle. So from all of the information, I am guessing it is a bad TPS. My idle does very, sometimes it is at 800RPM and other times it is at 1100 RPM. It is consistanly at one of these and does not jump around under normal driving conditions. Is it easier if I go out and buy a new one (i.e. will it be ready to insert and i am good to go) or will I still have to do some adjusting?

Test the TPS before replacing it. Might just be out of adjustment (the IDLe-E2 adjustment).

A possibility may be that the timing mark (outside portion of the harmonic vibration dampner) has rotated off from its intended point. There is rubber in between the inner and outer parts of the harmonic dampner. It might be why it runs better with more advance and more poorly at 8 Degrees BTDC.

So I installed a new TPS this last weekend and received a little bit of benefit from it, but not what I was expecting I still have power issues and the thing still doesnt change the timing when you jump it. (how much timing change are we talking about when I jump it, is it just a few degrees or is it like 10 degrees?)

Somewhere around 7-12* change, depending on rpm.

Are you sure you have the TPS set up properly?

>>>*You are describing almost perfectly what happens when one or both of the camshafts are out of time. That is the place to start, without the foundation being correct, no amount of tuning or adjustments will help much....*EB

I first set it up according to the directions, which I was not sure I did it right because it would fall flat on it's face when you step on the petal. Since I changed the screws out I started adjusting it when the truck was running and found a point where the idle would definitely change with just the slightest movement. I decided to leave it there because I was recieving the best throttle response with the best idle.

>>>*You are describing almost perfectly what happens when one or both of the camshafts are out of time. That is the place to start, without the foundation being correct, no amount of tuning or adjustments will help much....*EB [/quote]

I checked the cams and adjusted them earlier. I turned it 2 full revolutions to make sure they were lined up. I guess I can check again. Also, how could this affect me jumping the E1 to TE1 and the timing not changing? wouldnt this indicate something with the tps, ecu, or distributor?

I am still new at this, so thanks for being patient with me.