Transmission? Poor acceleration.

[telly]

Originally Posted by jjzepplin

OK. So here's my take on this.
What does your exhaust consist of? You could back fire on deceleration due to a small exhaust leak.
Now- if your engine is not stock- your timing will not be as well. You cannot use a stock spec. Your timing might have been just fine but you had an exhaust leak.
Timing too far retarded will make your engine a slug.
Too far advanced will give it a pinging noise cause by detonation. This is bad.
Backfiring is usually something very wrong with your cam being worn or lifters broken and possibly the very rare broken valve spring. All of which can give you good compression ratings but not diagnose the problem.
Now your compression ratings (which can be done many different ways) do not suggest a high compression racing type engine. But that is beside the point now.
9 times out of 10, the new problem with your vehicle is the old problem you just fixed.
So- I would slowly advance your timing a little at a time and test drive just till you hear the pinging and back it off a bit and you should be real close.
You should get yourself a timing "CURVE" kit and study the instructions big time and then give it a go. You will be surprised at the results.
Keep your ears on that exhaust for a leak!
Good luck and keep us posted!

Thanks for the input. I did find that my exhaust was missing a nut on the passenger side...put one on and tightened it down. Quieted the engine some, but did not notice a difference in performance.

I feel pretty confident with the timing. I'm going to chase the other potential issues first.

I'm wondering about what you said regarding the compression...is it possible that it could be a head gasket problem and the compression should be higher than the 150ish readings I got? I plan to borrow a block tester and check on a head gasket leak.