My 1991 dodge spirit is; idling rough, lacks power,back fires

this sounds like it could use a tune up. rough idle could be a sensor or poor ingintion.

out of time

Check for spark at the plug ( may have coil problem).
If spark is good then do a compression check. Pressure shouldn't be less than 75% of known good cylinders.

Lack of power, rough idle, hard starting and back firing.

it could be a broken or unhooked vacum line but i really am gonna go with the timing being out a couple of teeth it thats the case the car would idle rough and and stumble plus lack a bit of power on take off. if the timing is off the comptuer will compasate for that and advance the firing on the coil the comp uses a few different sencer's to determine when to fire it uses the cam shaft postion scencer and the crankshaft scencer you should have the timing rechecked by a different shop and see what they say for sure but be suer to tell them that you work done on the vechile.

could have a severe misfire. start with a tune up (plugs and wires)

did you know there was only 774 made in red? less made in white,, in 91,,keeper car!!

that said check for vacuum leak, could be a leak on intake

Make sure your coolant levels are up. If not, it may be the problem. The coolant sensor is reading inappropriate figures & sending incorrect timing figures to the computer. Change the coolant sensor & make sure your air filter is clean. The coolant sensor is close to the thermostat housing. Good luck!

I believe that there is a fusible link running to the starter on that particular car, it looks like a fatter part in the wire that triggers the solenoid and it may have melted, check that before you tow it.

my ram 50 starts just like any other vehicle, (no light switch pulling whatso ever), it sounds like somebody haas rewired something wrong or you have a loose connection and when you hit a large enough bump it cuts your power. Start it up and find a speed bump somewhere and drive over it enough to give your truck a jolt and see if it dies.