My car became bit sluggish and I hooked up vacuum gauge to check everything is ok but on idle it is reading about 23 to 24 -Hg which is bit higher than ideal vacuum 18 - 22 -Hg. Book says clogged air intake or overly advanced ignition timing but the air filter is brand new so it should be ignition timing. How can I adjust that timing?

 

Do you mean ignition timing? It is computer controlled and not adjustable. Your vacuum reading is withing range plus your gauge may not be accurate. What is the maintenance history of your car?

 

I got it only 6 months back and it has 120k miles on it and previous owner said they changed timing belt at 90k. I changed spark plugs, fuel filter, trans fluid, valve cover gaskets recently and it is still bit sluggish especially when merging on freeways. No engines codes till now. So I checked with vacuum gauge. Somebody on other forums said it may be because cams & crank may not be perfectly aligned when they did a timing belt job. Could that be a problem and is it easy to open timing belt cover and check?

 

If the belt is off even 1 tooth the engine will idle okay but have no power, much worse than the problem you have now. Did you use the factory specified spark plugs?

 

Yeah, I used same denso ones that specified in owner's manual.