Problems adjusting timing

[90 GSX]

My friend who works at mitsu brought a Mutt-II home today so I could tinker with my car. Everything looks good, I found and fixed a vacuum leak. I had problems with my idle not staying constant where I set it (I think the vacuum leak was causing it) however, the first thing I did was check the base timing before I saw the vac. leak. I went to ground the timing adjustment connector by the battery and when I grounded it it didn't do anything! Usually the tone of the engine changes noticeably but it didn't. On top of that, I'm not sure whether or not the timing gun was faulty or if my car was missing, but the timing light would blink consistently then pause and then blink consistently and pause again like there was an intermittent ignition miss but that could be because the timing adjustment plug wasn't grounding properly right? Here are my questions regarding this:

1- why is my timing adjustment plug not working?
2- why is my idle off even though I set it to 800 (stock gvr4)
3- what could cause an ign miss? I am thinking power transistor or coil, how do I check them?
4- to set the timing do I need to also ground the two pins on the ECU connector or is that unnecessary or unneeded?

I have a feeling that somehow all these symptoms lead to one, maybe two issues. If you need more info, please post up. Thanks.

 

[oldman]

Do you have a logger? Are you sure you grounded the right terminal? Make sure you didn't ground the fuel pump check connector. Are you using a known working timing gun?

 

[90 GSX]

I'm sure it's the right terminal because I have done it before. It has a single wire going into it and it has a plastic pink tab right next to the terminal that must be grounded. Also, the timing gun worked the last time I used it, perfectly in fact. I'm convinced it's the car somehow, and possible the problem with the timing gun missing and the timing connector could be related (that is an assumption though).