I have an 84 with a 305...I was having some serious problems after accidentally moving my distributor...I took it to the shop and they set the timing, but I noticed a lack of power on initial take off, and when going up hills, it almost sputters...I had to feather the gas to make it...I called the shop and the guy told me that the carb on the car was bad, he suggested I change to Edelbrock from stock, but I just didn't have the money for a new intake and carb...So I went with a re-built Q-Jet...I installed the carb last week but the car still won't take off, it feels like it's starting in second gear everytime, but it's not...going up hills, I still get a sputter...the shop said my timing is dead on...so if it's not the timing, what else could it be?...how can I check it?...any help is appreciated...Thanks....

 

You may want to have the catalytic converter inspected. If it's not able to let the exhaust flow, it will cause the engine to bog in high load situations, such as an up hill climb. As it gets worse, you will notice additional problems.
One way to check the cat is when it's mis-behaving, look under the car, if it's glowing red, change it ASAP, the cat is clogged and over heating.
Some people will disconnect the cat or remove O2 sensors temporarily to allow another exit for the exhaust.
Depending how bad the timing was and how long it was driven, this may have damaged the cat.

As for the carb, my '84 Camaro (which has not ran in 10 years) has a Rochester QuadraJet carb. Sadly, those carbs have a nick name of "Quadra-Junk" because people have had problems. They can be rebuilt (mine was rebuilt by one of my father's friends and made a world of difference). But a working Q-jet works fine.

I hope this helps! Perhaps some other members have additional ideas.

 

If the problem is a result of moving the distributor then I'd suspect the timing is not correct. Initial timing may be fine (the timing set by shop) but if the vacuum advance hose is leaking, not connected or connected to the incorrect port on the carb the vehicle will act exactly as you describe. Make sure the vacuum hose isn't split, cracked and that it has a good seal at the vacuum advance unit on the distributor. To check that it is on the correct carb port refer to the diagram that should be on the radiator support.

 

Thanks...tonight I'll let it warm up then put it in drive, hold down the brake and give it gas to put a load on it...I'll have someone look under while I'm doing it...hopefully this is it...Thanks again....

 

before I accidentially moved the dist, I didn't have this problem...It had decent pick up...i mean it's a 305 so it's no rocket ship i know...but i was able to spin the back tire once...after I moved it I had this loss of power...the Mechanic said maybe the previous owner had the timing "retarded" to give it more top end and that he could do it if I wanted, but I said no, I'll just get a new carb...so if i check the vacuum lines and none are split or removed, do you think maybe his timing set was for the old crappy carb and now since I have a rebuilt it needs to be done to match that carb?....

 

Fist off some bad information here, your 84 came with a computer controlled carb and distributer, so vac advance dust is only if it has been removed and replace with a non cc one, same with the carb and if one is done the other needs to be done aswell or it will not run right,

 

GM offered both options in '84. I've personally serviced numerous '84 GM vehicles (including Chevy) with a 305 having a factory installed vacuum advance distributor.

Since the problem didn't exist until the distributor was moved that is where I would focus. Either the initial timing wasn't set correctly by the shop or the timing is not advancing/retarding as it should.

Edit: If you want to adjust (advance/retard) your timing to see if the engine runs better just take a scribe or marker and make a line across the base of the distributor onto the intake. That way you have an initial reference point. If no improvement is netted align the marks and you're back where you started.

 

I agree that the focal point should be items that could be affected by the distributor being moved. I went on the assumption that the timing is now correct, what may have been damaged. I don't know of anyone who reported a cat damaged due to timing being off, so my suggestion was just that, a suggestion in hopes of leading to an answer.

Curious to find out what the issue is.

 

my money would be on the distributor. But I do have to ask did anyone check the plug wires? with the commotion going on with the distributor and changing the carb there is a chance you could have pulled the wire out of the connector a little bit which could cause part of the problem if it is not running on all cylinders. Although I would expect it would also be an issue during normal idle, but still worth a quick look

 

Well, I checked the cat suggestion and it doesn't glow red at all...I did notice thought that I started it up and the idle was it's normal high...I kicked it down and the idle was normal...but after a few seconds, it went up on it's own...I kicked it down again and it stay down...could this be something?...as for the wires, I changed the wires just before the dist was moved...i was changing the plugs when I moved the dist by mistake...the previous owner didn't lock down the dist...anyway, I know the wires are new...the plugs aren't, after I moved the dist, I stopped all work and haven't gotten to the plugs yet...So I guess I'm screwed...
I've checked a few other suggestions I got from doing a search...one was putting a dollar bill in front of the exhaust to see if it sucks it in and it doesn't...I looked under the hood in the dark to see if i saw a spark or glow to see if there was an arch and I don't see one...so i'm not sure the deal...I guess tomorrow I'll do another inspection of all vacuum hoses....

I also noticed on the passenger side of the engine, towards the bottom, there is a pipe of some kind, there was a lever that was connected to what felt like some kind of door...it seemed like maybe with vacuum it was supposed to open and close this door to block off the pipe...it wasn't connected, so I connected it...does anyone have a clue what this could be?...my description probably isn't that good....