i know there's a ton of cold start threads all over and i did some searching without much luck. my wife has a '90 TII that's pretty much all stock except for exhaust. it had horrible leaks of just about every kind, so we had a very reputable rotary mechanic take the motor out and replace all the soft seals and gaskets, as well as replace hoses and remove all the emissions equipment. it ran just fine up until it started to cool off this fall. the colder it gets, the harder it is to start.

we basically have to keep cranking it until it acts like it wants to start. then we can blip the throttle and get it to rev. we have to rev it between 30 seconds and a minute before it'll finally hold an idle. i thought it may be the thermo rod, but it doesn't have enough time to get warm in that 30 seconds or so to have any effect.

the mechanic said that he thought it may be because he removed the bac. i bought one from a forum member and installed it yesterday. it started a little easier, but still needed revved for a bit before it would hold an idle. if it's in the 50's or higher, it starts just fine. anything below that, it starts to get difficult. in the 20's and it takes 10-15 cranks before it'll finally let us start revving.

any ideas?

 

I would guess bad temperature sensor, but it could be a lot of things.