Hey my 85 TPI car is having some issues with starting. I hit the key and the fires up and dies right away. I hit the key again and it fires up runs for a second and dies. Hit a third time and it fires up and runs but every once in a while it seems as if the car is surging looking for an idle. Im thinking its the TPS sensor but im not sure anybody else have any ideas?

 

just went through a lot of this myself. you can do a search for throttle posistion sensor and find about the correct ohms the sensor should be set at (~.54 as I recall).

My best advice though is check your IAC sensor. 25$ for the part at Autozone and you'll need a large crescent wrench (or pay the 30$ for the specific open-end). I chased the exact same thing and that's where I ended up. If it doesn't help, then I'd start chasing your TPS sensor, plugs, wires, ignition, etc. I went in this exact reverse order.

 

Thanks for the information. My ignition and plugs, wires, all that stuff was all replaced and still did it. Im not launching a check engine code either so that doesnt help. Once the car running and gets warmed up i dont have this problem anymore. Thanks for the input for 25 bucks ill just replace the IAC and see where that puts me, i mean it is 20 years old now so its about time for a replacement.

 

If it's only when the engines cold, don't rule out the coolant temp sender, either.

 

coolant temp sensor eh ill keep that in mind thanks man.