legacycentral bbs

Ive probably slacked on this long enough, but I learned my lesson last night trying to start my car in 8* weather.

I have a 95 Legacy LSi, the car is a tank, once it is started. The car HATES starting in the cold. I am looking to just purchase everything i need and do it all at once, it is supposed to be a little warmer this weekend so I'll be able to get to it.

When i try to start the car, after, what feels like, 20 minutes of cranking, and the car starting to fire up but only stalling, itll start going. when i say starting to fire, you turn the key, the car will sound like it is going to fire, but doesnt. after 4 or 5 times doing that, itll fire for just a second longer, until finally the battery is about to die from cranking it so much, the bastard will fire up. the first 3-5 minutes or so it idles very low, about 300 or so, until the car is completely warmed up. Once it is started, and as long as the engine stays somewhat warm, there is no problem starting it.

The battery, plugs, and wires are all new. the timing belt was changed not more than 30k miles ago. I'm wondering if possibly the O2 sensor is gone, but still only 100k on the sensor at most. TPS? I was thinking about the TPS, but if it was truly going out, chances are i would have this problem all the time, not just when it is cold out.

Anything else that might help me figure out the mystery of the cold start? Are there cold start injectors on these cars? ANY help at all would be greatly appreciated. Hell, if youre in state, i'll be willing to pick up a 6 pack and deliver it myself if you figure out the bad part that i need to change... granted youre within 2 hours driving that is

Sounds like a sticky or malfunctioning IAC.

If it's the IAC valve, you should be able to get it started by giving it a little bit of throttle, and it should run smoothly even when cold as long as you keep the revs up above about 1000 RPM.

What I suspect is actually the coolant temperature sensor. If it's not properly reading how cold it is, you're not getting enough fuel to burn because fuel doesn't vaporize well in a cold engine. Once the engine warms up, this issue would disappear.

The coolant temperature sensor is fairly cheap even from the dealer. It's screwed into the water manifold under the intake manifold, on the passenger side. There are two pickups; the one you want has a 2-pin harness connector. A replacement is part number 22630AA041 and should run you $20 to $30. I don't think you need to disassemble much to get to it -- maybe just remove the intake tract between the airbox and the throttle body.

If you have access to an OBD-II scan tool and a means to accurately measure coolant temperature in the water manifold, you can check the sensor yourself, but if I were in your shoes I'd just replace it.

Yeah....coolant temp sensor.