SLow starting when cold, starts great after

calaverasgrandecalaverasgrande New Wagonist
in Engine & Drivetrain
My wagon is running better. I got the oil changed, put a new filter in. Found a few things that weren't connected right and connected them. EG the power to the squid looking thing with all the vaccum lines on the right front was disconnected?
So the low idle seems to have finally been vanquished with the oil change.
But I still have trouble starting first thing in the AM. Is this the distributor?
Battery seems fairly new but I suppose it could be the culprit?

Comments

  • Awdk20a3Awdk20a3 Banned
    When you start it, does it rev slow like if the engines under a load, or does start faster than slow down? It could be a few things but, it may be the weight of the oil if its really cold. May also be your starter sticking when cold, and when it warms up, it will start fine. It may also be a parasitic draw on your battery, which means when car sits over night or for awhile, there could be something on top of your battery, such as small amount of corrosion, acid and other containments. The way to test the battery is take a DMM, digital multimeter. Put your dmm on dc and put one lead on positive post and the other on different spots on the top of the battery, except for the negative post if you get any kind of voltage readings negative or positive, try cleaning the top of your battery, if still has any kind of voltage, replace your battery. That would most likely be your problem.
  • calaverasgrandecalaverasgrande New Wagonist
    It starts idling kinda medium fast then slows down. If I tap the gas at the right point I can keep it from dying. Then usually it dies when I put it in gear! The weird thing is after I drive it at all it is fine for the rest of the day. Maybe a battery ish?
  • sabotagesabotage New Wagonist
    Hi,
    Did you fix this issue? I have a similar issue on my carburetted stickshift '87 RT4Wd. Mine starts up great, revs to 2000 automagically until the choke turns off. At that point I usually have to give it just a bit of gas for just a second to keep it from dying when it revs down from 2000rpm to 800rpm. After I give it just a hair touch of gas it will idle. If I drive it at that point it will die when I put the clutch in and let off the gas instead of revving down and idling normally, i.e. between shifts & when stopping. If I sit there and rev it at 3000 for 30 seconds or so before I drive it I will not have that issue. It idles just a bit rough at all times and I notice that it surges just a bit occasionally while driving. I cleaned out the carb from the top by spraying it with carb cleaner through the mesh filter (without removing it). It seemed to run a bit smoother but not 100%. I replaced the plugs and wires and cap and rotor. It ran the same. When I was replacing the cap and rotor, I noticed oil in the distributor cap. I did some research and it seems that this is due to bad seals in the distributor and that the distributor should be replaced. It also seems to be leaking from the area where the distributor connects to the block/engine. This seems like it might be a distributor o-ring problem. I've ordered a remanufactured distributor from cardone (from autozone) so hopefully this will resolve the issue.
    My theory is that there is oil in the distributor blocking the contacts intermittently and when revved the contacts inside the distributor push the oil out of the way. I also think that I might have a PCV valve problem. The new distributor comes with new pcv valve so hopefully when I replace the distributor it should resolve the issue.
    If not my next try will be fuel filter/fuel pump.
  • PeterPansWagovanPeterPansWagovan Wagonist
    Should completely disassemble, clean, then rebuild your carb, or at least do what sabotage did and shoot some cleaner inside and let it dry, then check all of your vacuum lines connecting to the carb. Highly suggest that you rebuild it though, if you cant, find someone local that can. When you pull your vacuum lines mark them with tape, markers or take a picture, anything to make it easier putting back together.
  • sabotagesabotage New Wagonist
    let me also recommend to use some type of fuel injector cleaner (i've tried this), or possibly seafoam (haven't tried this but heard good things), especially if the car sat for a time (i think u said it was sitting in ur other post?)
  • sabotagesabotage New Wagonist
    @peterpanswagon is the carb rebuild difficult? I am scared lol
  • PeterPansWagovanPeterPansWagovan Wagonist
    Its not bad but you have to take your time and have a good memory. The worst part to me is pulling the thing, honda didnt do great engineering until after the EW generation .. tag your vacuum lines so that you can remember where they go, and overall like i said before, just take your time and dont rush it
  • DerekwagovanDerekwagovan Band Wagon
    ive got an 86 carbed wagon automatic. when i start it for the first time after a day of sitting it starts right up just fine, it will idle at 2k rpm for about 5-6min then drop to 800. if i try to put it into gear while its at 2k it will instantly die.

    also if i drive it for a while and then turn it off it has a really hard time starting back up, ive got to sit there and let it turn over for about 15-20 seconds then it finally fires up.
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2025