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Today I went to warm up the car before loading up the baby and it didn't want to start, it took 3 or 4 tries and some nervous tapping of the gas pedal to get it running. I'm not sure if pumping the gas pedal helped, I just want to be thorough. This has been a pattern lately, it used to start immediately on the first try, but I figured it's just because it's 35 degrees outside. So I let it idle and set about other things, but when it warmed up and the idle slowed, the car fell flat on its face, dead. I started it again (two turns this time) and as the revs dropped, I increased the throttle to counter, immediate stall, dead. This continued another 4 or 5 times until I gave up on the idea of our day trip, and went inside to consult the Haynes manual, but I figured I'd consult the wizards first. Mostly because I know little in the way of engine diagnotics.
Some more details.
-1993 Fuel injected, 5 speed
-The car always sounded like it idled high. No way to verify as of yet, but a friend's dad is a mechanic and he mentioned a bad choke after hearing it as I pulled up once.
-Last year I noticed that it would "miss" or lose power very briefly upon acceleration, I could usually reproduce it in 3rd gear around 3/4 to full throttle. I replaced the plugs, distributor cap and rotor (omg nasty), and fuel filter. Haven't noticed it since.
Within the past month or two:
- It it has been taking two tries to start, a literal second or so on the first, then immediately on the second. Or, around 4-5 seconds on one continuous crank (just to see). Like I said, it used to start immediately on the first try.
- It has began taking more clutch to get going from a dead stop. It just feels weak now.
Today:
- Harder to start
- Idle noticeably slower, (it sounded closer to its normal idle upon the first start, while I scraped the frost from the windows)
- Runs for less than 10 seconds and idle slows until the engine dies, despite an increase in throttle. In fact...
- Any added throttle kills the engine, immediately.
Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate any feedback you can give. This is my only means of transportation.
Some more details.
-1993 Fuel injected, 5 speed
-The car always sounded like it idled high. No way to verify as of yet, but a friend's dad is a mechanic and he mentioned a bad choke after hearing it as I pulled up once.
-Last year I noticed that it would "miss" or lose power very briefly upon acceleration, I could usually reproduce it in 3rd gear around 3/4 to full throttle. I replaced the plugs, distributor cap and rotor (omg nasty), and fuel filter. Haven't noticed it since.
Within the past month or two:
- It it has been taking two tries to start, a literal second or so on the first, then immediately on the second. Or, around 4-5 seconds on one continuous crank (just to see). Like I said, it used to start immediately on the first try.
- It has began taking more clutch to get going from a dead stop. It just feels weak now.
Today:
- Harder to start
- Idle noticeably slower, (it sounded closer to its normal idle upon the first start, while I scraped the frost from the windows)
- Runs for less than 10 seconds and idle slows until the engine dies, despite an increase in throttle. In fact...
- Any added throttle kills the engine, immediately.
Any ideas? I would greatly appreciate any feedback you can give. This is my only means of transportation.
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