Recently since cold weather set in, I've had problems starting my 85 rx GSL-SE. Maybe its the fuel injector? Or the choke? Or the valve sticking since cold weather causes the metal to contract?

It turns over completely and sounds like its going to start but then dies again. Im thinking because I had white smoke a while back that there may be a coolant leak onto the spark plugs, preventing them from igniting efficiently.

Any way to diagnose this?


THanks

 

Ever overheated or use coolant up?Is your battery strong?
White steam is normal on a cold day.If its acrid or hazy smoke/steam you might have a problem.Pull the lower plugs(or all 4) and take a look at them....any green water there?
Crank the motor a few time with the throttle wide open to blow out any fuel,water,oil....then reinstall the plugs or get some new ones if they are worn/dirty.If it still wont start,try a push start with another car or a coasting start down a hill.Need about 10MPH and try 1st gear....be carful no to go too fast in 1st.

If your injectors need cleaning/rebuilding,its a pretty common thing,especially on SEs.Typically when they leak or spray bad,youll get a fuel flooded engine and hard re-starts when the engine is hot and been sitting 10 minutes to an hour before trying to start.Black smoke and rough idle are common symptoms.

The injectors are a job to get too,but its pretty quick and cheap to have them cleaned up and checked out.

 

Replace your Distributor Cap and Rotor - what you describe are symptoms very similar to what happens when the cap gets a crack in it, which throws off the timing just enough to prevent a good start.

After you do that step, reply back here with the result. Next things to look at are the Airflow Meter, coolant temp sensors, and fuel system to make sure that they're all working correctly.

Your SE engine doens't have a choke, but it does have 'Double Throttle' valves that function like a choke would to help get a rich mixture for cold weather startup. These are vacuum actuated and function via the Thermo-wax Pellet which hangs off the rear of your Throttle Body. We can talk about that more once you do some of the preliminary steps.

Have you changed your fuel filter lately?