It's getting cold in NY...my 94 daily driver has just started giving me issues in the cold mornings.....(below 20 degrees) the car will start with out a problem...but will not idle...it immediately stalls.....I will start it again...still it will not idle....if I start it and keep the engine revving to about 1500-1700 rpm for about 30 seconds it will finally idle correctly........ any ideas where I should look for the problem......BTW...HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL
First place to look is all the standard maintenance parts. DME Relay, plugs, plug wire, cap and rotor, gas filter, air filter, etc.
Don't know much about your service history or car (Mileage, etc.), that might help.
Regards,
Jay
[quote name='94SilverCab' post='64942' date='Jan 2 2009, 09:24 AM']First place to look is all the standard maintenance parts. DME Relay, plugs, plug wire, cap and rotor, gas filter, air filter, etc.
Don't know much about your service history or car (Mileage, etc.), that might help.
Regards,
Jay[/quote]
all the items you mentioned are new and up to date....the car just turned 100K miles....it's perfect except for this start issue....
no error codes either....
i'm thinking either vacuum leak, loose spark plugs, or a cold start control
[quote name='flash' post='64957' date='Jan 2 2009, 12:20 PM']i'm thinking either vacuum leak, loose spark plugs, or a cold start control[/quote]
hmmm... what is the cold start control...and where is it located.....
thanks....
ring up rs barn - they can walk you through that one a lot more easily than i can
before you do that though, take a good look at all the vacuum hoses, and make sure your spark plugs are torqued - i've had that happen - rough when cold - once the metal expanded though, fine
Check the engine temp sensor under the intake manifold towards the front of the motor. It's a blue colored sensor. Easy to get to!!!!You might also check the idle control valve. It could be sticking.
Kevin
[quote name='kwikt' post='64964' date='Jan 2 2009, 02:48 PM']Check the engine temp sensor under the intake manifold towards the front of the motor. It's a blue colored sensor. Easy to get to!!!!You might also check the idle control valve. It could be sticking.
Kevin[/quote]
thanks for the input...I'll check it out tomorrow morning......
If it idles o-k once warm, it's probably one of the temperature sensors [as mentioned]. Most electronic engine controllers start in open loop mode [which includes a fast idle] and then go to closed loop once the engine has warmed. If ECM doesn't get correct temp information it may go straight into closed loop.
Also if an input to the ECM is outside the normal parameters it typically has to last 10-15 minutes before it's stored as a trouble code. That's why diagnosing a start issue is more challenging.