I am the (proud) owner of a '88 N/A that has 44000 original kms on it (30,000 miles). This car has never gone wrong. Suddenly tonight, I come to start it at 2 in the morning (back from the clubs) and it won't start! It cranked fine, the battery was alive and well, but the engine wouldn't catch. Then after about 10 tries it just BARELY starts and then sputters as if there isn't any gas in the engine and it wants to turn off. I gave it gas and after that it ran well.

The engine was off for about 2 hours, so its wasn't totally cold yet and it wasn't cold outside at all. The engine wasn't flooded either, I'm pretty sure of that. Also, I started it after getting home and it started normally.

Is there something recognizably wrong here or is this just a freak incident? What should the mechanic look at?

Thanks,
Nima

PS. Maybe this will be a clue - when I turned it on it didn't automatically rev up to 2500 like normal...instead it sputtered around 400 rpm until I gave it some gas.

 

Someone must at least have a suggestion! C'mon guys, I'd appreciate it alot!

Nima

 

It could be alot of things, but one problem may be the air flow meter. If it's not plugged in the car won't get any fuel. So it won't start.

 

Everytime my car has flooded, it acted just like that.

 

Yeah mine acts like that from time to time, cuz its flooded. Does it smell like its flooded? God forbid, Id hope compression is ok?

 

If it's flooded you can try pulling the EGI fuse and cranking it for a few seconds. Then put the fuse back in and try to start it. If it's not flooded badly then that should do the trick.