Hello all my FTE friends been awhile. Have a problem. Have a 88' BII, 2.9ltr 5 speed 4WD. After driving it for 4-5 miles it gradually develops a "dead miss." Loses a lot of power and sounds just like an Exhaust Manifold leak but it's not. I cracked the Heads on it 7 years ago and replaced them with some re-conditioned ones that looked like new. Tightened all the head bolts in correct sequence and torqued them with a torque wrench to the exact specs. Also, installed a Temperature gauge so as to make sure that didn't happen again. All plugs are firing and i don't have any oil in my water or vice versa. There appears to be no "bubbles" coming up in the Radiator filler neck. Am losing no fluid and oil level is steady. Don't think it's a Head or Head Gasket. Thinking it's an intermittent Sticking Valve. Valve Cover Gaskets been on for 7 years now and aren't leaking. Thought tomorrow would take all the bolts outta the Valve Covers except 2, one on each end and drive it till it starts doing it again. Get home, leave Engine running and pull each cover off and see IF one o' my Valves is stickin'. Meanwhile, anyone have ANY ideas or comments? Would really appreciate em cause am an old dude and am not the sharpest tool in tha shed anymore...Thanx Also, after it warms up Starter drags really bad and then it finally cranks but isn't overheating?

 

Does the power improve after the engine cools off? Does the engine use a TFI ignition module screwed to the base of the distributor? Those things are known to fail because of all the heat they're exposed to where they're mounted. You can try replacing that to see if the problem goes away. If so, you may want to relocate it to another part of the engine compartment that has less heat and more airflow.