[ChevyTech]

Thanks for vote of confidence and kind words guys.

The timing control (Electronic spark timing) you ask about could definitely be causing problems.

That fact that it runs better with the timing that far over advanced is a sign of a spark control system retarding the timing.

Knocks, rattles, ticking, clanking, what ever you have making noise, on, in, or bolted to the engine, should be considered as having the potential to cause the timing to get retarded by the system.

The Knock sensor contains a piezoelectric crystal which causes a voltage to be produced. Loose components on or in the engine can cause the knock sensor to create a voltage and the system may interpret this as pinging. The system will back off the timing to try to stop what it thinks is pinging.

Loose torque converter bolts can cause a false knock signal to be detected.

If there are very excessive knock counts the system should set a code 43.