I'm having serious hesitation/bucking/backfiring problems

[3rdGenFanatic]

I've had my car for over a year. It was fine until a month or two ago when I noticed it pop occasionally and barely buck a little. It did it maybe once a day. After that, it became more frequent. One day, it got so bad I could't go anywhere. I blasted my carb out with cleaner and let it all run through and clean out. It still ran like shit for a bit until I cranked it up to go to the autoparts store and about halfway there it stopped hesitating... It didn't do it for a while and then started again. It does it mainly on accel. Now it has gotten so bad that there is backfiring pretty often as well. Sometimes it will even blow one of my vac hole covers off that I put on the holes when I removed my vac lines. I have done the following.

New Distributor Cap
New Plug wires and Coil
Checked Valve timing
Removed emissions
Removed Vac lines
New Distributor ignitor

Someone please help me, this is getting very annoying and I'm hoping someone else has had this problem before. Thank you in advance.

[1988starter]

check to see if your timing belt slipped a tooth

[A20A1]

sounds like your getting reversion... I wonder if your head/valves are messed up or you have too much distributor advance.

Note I said distributor advance and not ignition advance.
However distributor body advance increases the ignition advance as well.

[3rdGenFanatic]

My advance has not been adjusted since I got the car.

[87accordlxph]

Change your fuel filter(s). Does it idle rough, need more info.
Inspected your plugs? What do they look like?
Manifold vacume leak, check your remanider vaccume hoses, gaskets, carb gasket.
It could be your ignition timing.
If your timing is good then your carb might need to be rebuilt.

-Mike from Sarnia!

[3rdGenFanatic]

I'm taking it tomorrow to get a diagnostic on it.. I rented a timing light but I don't want to mess with that by myself. I wonder what he's going to say when he pops my hood... lol

[zero.counter]

Sometimes when the emission control system is malfunctioning, it can cause backfires. Of course as stated ignition timing, messed up spark plugs and/or wires. Your electrical system causes more damage than you might suspect, I have already mentioned spark plugs but also distributor parts. Serious carb adjustments (break out the old screwdriver) and also the serious vacuum leaks.
If its internal, and I hope it is not, valve clearance issue may arise.

[maxoutracer]

do a compression test...

[Justin86]

Man these problems are fun. It could be your air/fuel mix. funning to rich can cause backfireing. Just start doing the basic test and eliminate. I had a cracked piston and it took me about 2 weeks and $100 to find it out. A new part here and there, then a head compression test. My money disapered. New pistons and rings cost $96. Not to bad.

[Mike Cote]

Sounds like spark with that backfiring popping the vac line plugs off. I assume you changed rotor button as well. I had a rotor button act up on a civic. It looked fine but caused simular problems. It was that simple. The jumped timing theory sounds good but you say it clears up every now and then. How about water in your gas. That's been know to cause problems. Also check your stove pipe snorkle valve. If it's stuck closed than your gas may be boiling in the float bowl. Goodluck, Mike