hi, can timing affect power loss when accelerating but run fine when idling?
my car seems to run fine butwhen you drive it, the car hesitates and i have noticed a drastic drop in acceleration and power.

thanks for your thoughts
steven

Low or retarded spark timing will cause an engine to run sluggish and run hotter than normal. Loose distributors are the culprit many times. They back off and retard the timing as the engine is running.

when you say run hotter, do you mean the water temp rises?

mine runs at on or about 160-180 degrees

thanks
steven

yes, well sort of
it may want to run hotter but your cooling system may still be albe to keep it cool, does it get to normal temp sooner than normal?

no, when i first start the car i have to keep my foot on the gas pedal to keep it from stalling. about after a minute it will idle on its own.

it reaches normal operating temp after about 5min of idling on its own

well it doesnt take but a min to check your timing

so if the timing checks out ok, what else could be the problem?

fuel supply? could be as simple as a clogged filter