small backfires at idle

[mnstanggt]

lately when i start the car warm or cold it pops several times out the exhaust the smooths out, if i tap the gas alittle it smooths right out but in conjunction with this my throttle response is severely degraded, car does not want to accelerate unless im at wot
no codes present
fuel pressure dead on
all ignition parts new and seem to be working correctly
cleaned maf and tested all within spec
all symptoms are present warm or cold so no closed or open loop problem
i check timing was kinda high for my car at 14 so backed it down to 12
car does not have cats
i do have an exhaust leak at driver side collector
cant find any vacuum leaks but can hear a hissing sometimes on passenger side

 

[fordtech28]

if you have an exhaust leak it will throw off the o2 sensors which can attribute to your issue get that fixed and reset the computer and see if that helped it

 

[tstang21]

i never experienced that when i had my leak from the headers. if its on the passenger side, while the engine is running, spray some carb cleaner around the area to see if you have any leaks. if you hear the idle lower down, leak is there. it fixed my problem easily.