I recently changed the timing belt, tensioner, water pump, etc. The first time I put everything back together the car did not idle well at all, would try to stall after warming up, and even driving it around it just didn't feel right. So, naturally, I took the belt off and reset the timing (it seems it was a little off).

So, I double, no, triple checked the timing before putting everything back together, and it all appeard fine to me as best as I could see and measure things. The first day I drove it, everything seemed fine, it felt better driving around and I got a little stumbling, but that always happened before (the cams and head work always do that a little)

So today I drive it around again, at first everything seems ok, drives fine, a little stumble here and there at idle but nothing alarming (as the car would always stumble a little when it is in the process of warming up or just after warming up, then after warming up it would be fine with just a little lumpy idle)

...but this time today after idling a while longer the car would seem to try and drop the idle RPMs a little more and it would start to stumble badly again and almost stall. The car also gave me a check engine light saying I was running too lean, even thouh the exhaust smells like it's running too rich, and the sudden excess of soot around the tailpipe (not tons, but more than before) seems like rich instead of lean.

My questions are:

Am I still off a LITTLE on timing? (I am NOT taking this damn thing apart again!) and being a little off along with the agressive cams (crower stage 2) and headwork is causing a screwy idle? Or was I off before in the "right" direction for a good idle/bottom end and now I'm not?

Why the heck am I getting a lean engine code when it seems/smells like I have too much gas at idle? I don't remember, even after getting this setup on the car, ever getting a "running lean" code.

If anyone else has crower stage 2's what is your experience with their idle? Is it like mine was: lumpy/some stumbling or like it is now: Oh crap I'm going to stall, oh wait never mind, oh here I go again?

Do you think it is possible the computer is screwed up from the poor timing before, and that a good reset (or more time) will straighten things out?

My next plan of action will be resetting the computer and seeing what that does. I know I'm at least closer now to having the timing correct, as the stumbilng still didn't seem as bad as before and it feels better driving around, but any insight is appreciated.

I REALLY don't think taking it apart again will help. I checked the timing and as far as I could tell it was right on, and I don't want to do it again. It's well past time for me to get ready for racing, and I don't want to keep screwing around with this anymore.

With the Crower 2's its hard ot say. I would like to know what the timing was before because that could have something to do with it like you said. Do you have adjustable gears? YOu can try decreasing overlap.

Are you sureyou hooked the o2 sensor back up?

Well the cams are the confounding factors here, but looking at the sequence of events, is it possible that - 1)The timing was wrong initially -> 2) you ran long enough with improper timing to foul the plugs -> 3) You corrected the timing but now foul plugs cause idle issues (but no stumbling in the higher rpms) -> 4) Fuel that is not being combusted because of plug issues has affected the O2 sensor's reading giving a code. It all seems related and in the sequence you are describing.

Sorry, no adjustable cam gears anymore, and I think the O2 sensor is fine as I didn't touch it.

I would guess the plugs are a little gummed up now.

And, after giving things some thought I remember when I first put these cams in the car, it did stall when I would come to a stop for a few days until the car learned what was going on.

so, the plan of action is to check the plugs to make sure they aren't fouled up, if so clean/replace them. Also, I'll reset the computer and give it a tabula raza to start from. Third, I'll just be more patient and give the computer time to learn what is going on.

Thanks for the advice.