This morning it was really cold outside, i want to start the 88 burb and it turned over like the batt. was dead, but when i let off the key it kept tring to turn over. tried turning the key on and off, didnt help, finally it started smoking around the starter, i finally disconected the battery and it stopped. hooked up my good ol 94 sentra to jump it and it started right up????? Starter solinoid maybe? What do you guys think? Thanx  

Bad battery is my guess. (they do go bad sometimes without much warning) Starter can actually get hotter on lower voltage as it struggles to turn motor over. That smoke was windings on starter motor. Check charging system and if it is good, replace battery.  

Sounds like maybe something goin on with the switch too if it kept crankin on it's own.  

it turned out to be the battery, although it feels like it still wants to crank on its own but its hard to tell because it starts so fast now. lol thanks guys. Also... i noticed my oil press gauge is always at 80 psi and sometimes it jumps way past that but comes right back, my fuel gauge does the same thing, bad gauges maybe? engine runs perfectly from what i can tell, i just dont know what high oil press means?? lol  

Might check ground for instrument cluster in dash if several gauges are acting up. Also 87 octane is really pushing it in a hot TBI engine because CR is over 9 to one. Silly part is those engine run SO MUCH better with better fuel and a little move spark advance and are actually cheaper to run that way too.  

I started running 89 a week ago, going to go 8 BTDC here as soon as I can get my hands on a light. is 89 octane good enough? It gets over 100 Degrees here regularly in the summer, and twentys in the winter.  

I run 89 in cooler weather and winter and 93 as soon as A/C season starts. If you live at a high elevation (above 5000 ft) you can even add 4 to 6 degrees to that. The spark knock control on that engine can retard up to 20 degrees of electronic advance but cannot retard below base line or mechanical advance. The reason I mention this is to not use audible knocking solely as your guide here for proper fuel to feed it but how it runs overall as well too.  

i am at 4700 ft, i have only ever set the timing on one vehicle ever and that was about 10 yrs ago.lol 8 BTDC i asume would be 8 lines before TDC? I dont even know what to listen for. as for the way it drives it feels good now except for a slight hesitation.??? So I will go 8 lines BTDC and if it sounds good it should be ok? How will i know if i need 93? thanx for the help. I appreciate it alot.  

Okay, since you are at 4700, try 10 BTDC. The way it is calibrated on that engine is deep first notch (from right to left standing in front of engine looking at it) is TDC. The a longer ramp to 4 BTDC at peak, then a notch at 6 BTDC, another peak at 8 BTDC and notch at 10 BTDC. The hesitation could be fuel octane in that sensor is hearing a bit of knock off idle when you crack throttle and briefly retarding spark some. Run it for a bit. Also you could pull ECM fuse for several minutes and reset it and put it back into learn mode for a bit. (it flushes old spark curve data based on old knock info)