I have a 92 RS with a 305 TBI. It has a little over 200K miles on it. Within the past few months I gave it almost a full tune up and more. New cap & rotor, plugs, wires, battery, thermostat, PCV valve, fuel filter, oil change, oil filter, air filter, coolant flush. New radiator + cap + hoses, water pump, ignition control module, ignition coil, starter. Didn't clean the IAC valve, MAF sensor, or throttle body, and the throttle is kinda sticky so I need to do that. Didn't replace the O2 sensor.

Every time I cold start my engine, it takes a while to start up. It'll crank for about 2-3 seconds, then finally start up. If it's been more than 1 day since I last started it, it takes even longer, like about 5-7 seconds. Once it's warm it starts right up. In fact, even if I turn it off right after I start it up the first time, it'll start up right away. So it's not really an issue of the engine being warmed up, it's just that first cold start. I've had this problem since I got the car, before I did anything to it, and actually since the tune up it seems to have gotten just a tiny bit worse.

This happens with all levels of gas, and I almost always keep it above 1/4 of a tank in general. So I'm hoping it's not a fuel pump or fuel pressure regulator issue.

What could the problem be? Please let me know and I will try to investigate. Thanks

 

could be a lot of different things. With older cars most of them arent serious. Sometimes its just the fuel pump taking a little longer to re-pressurize the fuel lines. If you turn the key to the "on" position for 10 seconds before cranking, see if that helps.

Cold starts are just harder anyway, though. Engine needs a much richer mixture, less compression, sensor reading drift over the years, all kinds of stuff will throw that off a little. If the engine runs fine I wouldnt stress it.

 

I'll try that trick tomorrow. Hope it helps. I forgot to mention I give it gas while cranking it too. I can hold down the pedal for the first 3 seconds or so and it still won't start right away. It still starts if I don't give it gas though.

Would an exhaust manifold leak cause this? I'm pretty sure I have one.

I know it's not probably not a big deal, but I see plenty of old cars start up right away all the time. So I guess I'm just jealous and wondering why I'm not there yet, even after a pretty full tune-up.

 

1. dont give it gas to start. If it needs gas to start something is wrong and it confuses the computer and stuff. just dont. It may well be making it worse.

2. exhaust leak will throw off the o2 sensor reading if it's near it/before it. This wont affect cold starts, though.

If it starts better when you're holding in the gas you may have a coolant temp sensor that's going bad and telling the ecm the outside temperature is like -200 degrees or whatever.

Does the car run fine once it starts?