Doesn't want to start....sometimes?

[spock2001us]

95 gt is my daily driver with 125k. Battery was going bad over a couple of months, it would give very little crank, but it would start up each time. Finally the battery gave out, so I bought a new one.

Here is the problem.....about every other day, from a cold start...the starter just cranks and cranks....but no start....no spark,pop, nothing....just crank and crank for a few seconds. Then I wait a few seconds and try it again and it may start on that try, or it may take 5 or 6 more tries. It has started each time, eventually, but something is certainly going wrong. I know that eventually I will be stuck with no start. When it does start, it revs to 1100 or a second, then drops to 800, back to 1000, down to 700, back to 900...kind of like a yo-yo. When I begin to drive it runs fine with no bounce of the rpms, they stay at about 650.

Any thoughts?....is it just a tune up thing?....last week I removed and cleaned the IAC and sprayed out the MAF, but that is about it. I am hoping it is just something simple to clean or adjust.

The distributor is a year old as are cap and rotor. Plugs are 6 months old.

I tried to read codes at Murrays, but their code reader was out.

 

[spock2001us]

OMG....what a retard

I went home and looked around the engine to make sure that there were not vacuum hoses unplugged, and that the coil was properly plugged in etc.....when I looked at the Throttle Body I found that the choke cable was disconnected.....WHAT A RETARD I WAS.....arrrggghhhh....I have had this problem for about a month and I was soooooo stupid. I snapped the choke cable back in place and I am going to test it later from a cold start.

too funny.

 

[95cobradude]

do u mean the throttle cable or is your car carbureted?

 

[SeventyMach1]

well ... he did refer to a throttle body ...... I think he was probably referring to the throttle cable.

 

[HISSIN50]

I went home and looked around the engine to make sure that there were not vacuum hoses unplugged, and that the coil was properly plugged in etc.....when I looked at the Throttle Body I found that the choke cable was disconnected.....WHAT A RETARD I WAS.....arrrggghhhh....I have had this problem for about a month and I was soooooo stupid. I snapped the choke cable back in place and I am going to test it later from a cold start.

too funny.

Um, do you mean the throttle cable? Choke cables are generally found on carbed vehicles or are located in the S&M torture room.

If your throttle cable was disco'd, it should not have kept you from starting (assuming your throttle plate was not jammed open at WOT). And it should not cause a surge IMHO.

Just saying this so you keep an look out in case an issue still remains.

Good luck.


EDIT: I am a little slow.

 

[spock2001us]

Not sure

It is a 95 GT...connected to the Throttle Body are two cables that both look like accelerator cables. One of them had become disconnected probably from when I took apart and cleaned the K&N filter a couple of months ago. I hope that the one that was disconnected was a choke cable (or whatever it is called because I believe that it is what revs up the engine when it is cold)

I am going to go test it now from a cold start.....back in a few.

 

[spock2001us]

It worked

It is 30 degrees here in Michigan and I left my car out for over 2 hrs...anyway..it fired right up with no problem...it started at 1000 rpm's and did not bounce at all.

I hope that was it.

Thanks

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

The other cable you're seeing is for the cruise control. The IAC controls the choke function via the computer, instead of like a carburetor.

 

[spock2001us]

In that case....

It did start right up this morning without a hitch......since it has 125k, I am going to start replacing parts a little at a time.....starting with a total tune up, then the IAC, MAF and the TB.

Thanks