Miss Firing When Cold
 

i have an 86 N/A. for the past 4 days when i go to start it and its cold i have to tap the gas in order to get it to start. when it starts it starts to sputter like its only running on 1 rotor. but after it warms up it seems to run fine. its really starting to bother me. can anyone help me out with suggestions on what it might be? thanks

Probably not much help, but here is some reassurance. Mine does the exact same thing. It seems that when it gets too cold it just has trouble sometimes. Just make sure you don't drive it till' it's warm. I know what ya mean though, it used to bother me too. Now I'm just used to it. It does feel really weak and powerless though when it is real cold. Just let it warm up though and I don't think you'll have any problems. They are just not meant for such cold conditions I don't think. Besides that, my car runs great, so I really wouldn't worry about it unless it starts causing you problems.

-Derek

Often rough startup is due to one rotor firing normally, and one misfiring. You might want to check the water seals. They go and leak water into the cumbustion chamber. You can check by pulling the coolant fill cap with the engine running (but not yet hot) and see if there are bubbles coming up. Could also be a leaking fuel injector. Both could cause one rotor (usually) not to fire well on startup.

Could be plug wires...cold makes electrons not want to flow so wherever there's there's a loose connection (grounds!) or bad solder joint can cause more problems.

Cory Waters

When you say "cold" do you mean cold outside or cold not up to operating temp?

on mine at certain time when its warming up it like misses out and drop about a hundred or 2 rpm then goes back up it does that for about a minute then after that its fine

COLD AS IN COLD OUT SIDE. NEVER NOTICED IT WHEN IT IS WARM. JUST REPLACED SPARK PLUGS AND WIRES AND IT STILL DOES IT.

does it smoke a lot when it is misfiring? What color is the smoke/what does it smell like? ex. coolant, rich mixture, oil...

If its REAL cold out it could be the cold start assist injector --it shoots coolant into the intake to keep ice from forming on the runners at startup. It only works when it's like below 10 degrees F or so. Have heard it's best to disable this system, so try disconnecting it and see if it still misses. Be sure to plug the conectors for the cold start assist to prevent vacum leaks.

yeah...i've had the same sputtering during cold starts and the color of the smoke is white-ish and there's a distinct it smell of gas aswell.....any ideas would be appreciated?

Steve W.

Only happens to mine when it is cold outside (therefore the operating temps are cold too). I guarantee (at least with mine) that it is NOT the spark plugs or wires. I have new magnecor 10mm wires and brand new plugs. I think it is just cold as shit and the engine needs to warm up. Go sit outside for a few hours when it is real cold out (say 32 deg F or below) then after a few hours or so, just start running real fast all of a sudden. I bet you have a little trouble. May even pull something. . . :p

Hey
 

It was down to 26 degrees sometimes when I would start my and never happened. Idles perfect because my car was working properly. Now the injectors are bad and leaking so I get lots of shutering and hard starting when cold.

Mine runs fine. It just starts up, and gradually increases RPM to just under 3k (sometimes a bit higher) and then gradually decreases as the car warms up. My car has idle problems, but that is a whole different story. It isn't as smooth and powerful when freezing cold as it is in it's warmed state. That is not a problem, that is a mixture of the laws of physics, and a cold ass motor. My recommendation is that unless it is causing (or could be causing) potential problems, then don't worry about it. Of course it doesn't run as good as new, it is OLD. If you want it to run as good as new, then get a new engine, or take yours apart and clean and rebuild it.

-Derek

With the more mods i put on my car, the more it misses when its just warming up. I think my leading coil is starting to take a dive or something. Oh well. After the new exaust goes on my car, then i'm going to get a HI-6. CJ