Whenever HITHERE start my trans am it takes about 5 minutes for it to warm up. By warm up HITHERE mean for it to idle properly. ANother thing that happens is that after about 2 minutes after it has been started it sounds like it is running on 7 cylinders. However after about 3 minutes you can hear what sounds like the 8th slowly starting up and eventually going normally. WHat could the problem be.
* For the idle part of the question...if this helps..HITHERE plugged up the vacuum lines so when it does idle normally it is at regular speed.
As for plugs..new wires and plugs were installed 1 month ago*

 

When HITHERE start mine cold it will rev to about 1500 rpm and slowly go down to HITHERE normal idle of about 700 in HITHERE period of 5 minutes too. If HITHERE start it hot it will only rev to about 1000 rpm, but it wont go down until i put it in drive. HITHERE thought this was normal? Anyone know? Thanks

 

ok thanks , its good to know my car isnt totally screwed

 

mine does the same thing as yours does 25thrss

 

Mine idles at about 1500 rpm too, I heard that it has to do with some sort of sensor or vaccum being clogged, but personally I don't care, i like the fact that I can practically idle my car half way to work

As for the clyinder thing, this may be some really stupid advice, but check your spark plug wires, and/or run a compression test.

Some one else jump in if thats like not neccessary

 

What sensor would that be? Thanks for the info guys!!

 

I disconnect a vacuum line and my car will pull to 1500 idle...

Normally I get a 675-725 rpm idle in neutral and 550 rpm idle in gear. If I set the timing back to 0, it'll ldle 650 and 500 respectively...

 

I wasnt aware timing had anything to do with what the car idled at, interesting.

 

The car will idle at 1500rpm to help warm the engine faster to get to proper operating temps. The colder it is the longer it will idle high obviously. It will do this with or without vacuum lines plugged.

 

A hotter thermostat will cause the car to take its time warming up.

 

how exactly is that?

the thermistat will be closed durring warm up wether the tstat is 160* or 260*

the other thing to take into account her is if you are using the stock air cleaner or an open element, with an open element it should take longer to warm up because the heat riser isn't attached.

 

My idle will start at 1500 rpm at cold startup, but <2 mins will drop to 1000 rpm...

It will stay there usually until temp goes up to normal operating temp.

When the exhaust gets warm enough for o2 to register some consistent values, it'll jump back to 1500 rpm for a few mins then start a drop in rpm over time until it settles around 700-750 rpm.

I've observed this every morning for the last few years every time I start it in the morning, or after it's been sitting for awhile.

In colder weather it seems to take forever to warm up but will have the temp guage measuring something within 5 mins.

Things that really f up my idle...

1) Exhaust leaks.

It will really annoy the hell out of me because it decides it likes to idle at 1000 rpm in neutral, 750 in gear.

2) Vacuum leaks, had this tube that used to lead to the thermac valve on the air cleaner... I capped it with a screw but had some leakage... well the idle didn't like that and shot up and down like mad. I took a rubber right angle arm tube from the old thermac, put a screw with some putty around the screw's threads, then capped the vacuum source and it steadied back to normal.

 

I mean't a stuck thermostat... It happened to me once.

 

you mean stuck open?

then yes it will take much longer to warm up.

 

If you want to give your engine some more life, drill some holes in the thermostat. Two small holes in a 195 thermostat will make it function like a 180 thermostat. I think mine are 1/16 in size, but I just picked a drill bit that fit.

The reason being even if it does get stuck closed, you still get flow through the holes. Another benefit is that the engine will heat up uniformly thanks to the constant coolant flow. It provides less of a shock to the system when the thermostat busts open and fills the intake manifold with 195 degree coolant. This makes it easier on the whole as everything heats up and expands/contracts evenly.

As far as getting it to warm up quicker, you can always try insulating the engine bay more, but come summer, you want it to get cooler...

 

as for the 8th cylinder thing... check the spark plug wires make sure they are all connected properly and also check the distributer cap and rotor. it could also be a sticky lifter.