bad timing or misplaced wireset?

hello i am a new member on this site. hopefully i get some help. ok. i have a mazda b2000 -87 2.0L
the timing belt is getting frustrating because i keep moving it. the truck starts good but looses power when i accellerate. also the spark plug wires are misplaced i believe. i have them lined up in the distributor. 1-3-4-2 but they only make the truck remain on when i place them on the spark plugs. starting from the front of truck i have the wire on the 4 cyl. the 3rd on the 2 cyl. the 1 on the 1 cyl. and the 2 on the 3rd cyl.
any advice would be appreciated thanks.
-charlie

What do you mean when you say they only make the truck remain on when you place them on the spark plugs?

hello i mean the firing order is 1-3-4-2 correct?
well on the engine block with the wires plugged in to the spark plugs. but starting from the front of the truck i have them like this. front cyl. 4-2-3-1
im confused. also when i try to fix the timing the carburetor pops and sometimes throws flames. any idea?
thanks in advance
-charlie

On the engine from front to back it should be 1 - 2 - 3 - 4, on the distributor cap at the 9oclock position it should be 1 then going clock wise 3 - 4 - 2

Try that

yeah i did that but the engine sputters and the carburetor pops and spits out gasoline. hmmm....oh yeah and battery dies quickly. ok i'll place all the wires
in their firing order. but should i first move the timing?
ok the harmonic balancer on the truck has 2 lines. one the passenger sideyellow and the one on the right is white also there is no btdc or tdc.
on the lower timing cover. only a line. my question and possible solution is should i rotate crankshaft certain times and the cam sprocket as well to get the timing correct? thanks again

Sounds like a complete tune up wouldn't hurt. How old are the plugs, wires, fuel filter, and air filter?

I'm not sure what you mean by btdc or tdc?

edit:
btdc - before top dead center
tdc - top dead center

I would go ahead and put them in the right order and then adjust the timing. I'm looking at the manual right now. I haven't adjusted the timing on a b2200 personally. I'm sure some others will chime in. But to throw this out there the Top yellow mark on the vibration damper is the timing mark scale and the timing indicator is white on the engine. There is supposed to be a label under the hood that tells you the right setting for your truck.

Do you have a timing light? One is used in the procedure but I'm sure some of the other guys know of other tricks.

aahhhhh?!... i see now. so the yellow line in the harmonic balancer goes with the line on the lower timing cover.?...ok.. ..we may have solved my problem. i will continue working on my truck tomarrow. i wil keep progress posted,.also i did replace. sparkplug wiressparkplugs,oil change.
fuel filter a couple months ago. hmm., correct me if im wrong but if the truck runs rough when i press on the gas its an indication of timing correct?.. and yeah hopefully i get my truck up and running. it sucks having to ask for rides all the time. but i have faith.
thanks again in advance.
-charlie

Good luck let us know how it goes

Thats good you got it resolved, for new technical questions it's best to start a new thread.

ok i finished working on my truck.heres what happened. the previous owner had the spark plug wires crossed and of course the truck ran bad. i had no idea the truck was running bad because the wires. who woulda known all this was a simple problem. i replaced the carburetor,gaskets,distributor, head gasket. for what -crossed wires.
i guess its true.
the solution to a problem is where you least expect it.
i spent over 600 bucks. <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->