4AGE: pls anyone need info and help! difficult to start

[ohmaild]

Hi to all!!
Greetings and thank you for giving your spare time reading my post.
I have this dream car MR2 1985 AW11, actually its my 3rd car, and so far MR2 Toyota is my fave car and dream car. and still have this dream to go for 2nd version and for the 3rd version the ultimate and last answer for my dream if the time will let me have happens. for info my first car is Nissan RZ1 1.8 then i sold it for 3 thousand brunei dollars.(since im here located at brunei) and i purchased a very good condition Nissan 100nx 1.6 T-bar, then i sold it for 4thousand dollars just to buy this MR2, i purchased my MR2 for 5 thousand Brunei Dollars only all about US Dollars of 2.5k.

of course good handling and small but a kick horse power capable engine
and a light body and ofcourse an evergreen sport body style of the MR2, its like Countach, even though its old its still a dream car of many of the modern world.

by the way sorry for any wrong grammar of my sentence, english is just 2nd language of my tongue. anyway somuch for introduction

my problem is, everything in the car is well mantained only the slight problem with the engine.

i dont know whats the real problemo,
here the problem

its difficult to start unless you will try to start it or crank it for atleast 3-5times

its like after the first start, the engine rev and run then after a few second the engine go straight to die. on tachometer first start rev to 1k plus then go straight down to zero.

you have to try that for atleast 3-5 times until the idle or the engine will normaly idle.

now heres the second problem now the engine is running and sounds good,
when you start to press the pedal to accelerate forward or even reverse,
the engine seems like having hard time to cope up the press pedals its like a delay response when you press pedal to the sound of engine rev then the engine start to cough like human coughing then brooooooooom cough brooooooom but whenn you let the rev above 1.5k or 2k you will not have any coughing problem you can accelerate like normal, but ofcourse its too fast for starting. so the problem will stay for atleast 30minutes of driving so u have to maintain a hig rev rpm around 1.5-2k rpm or your engine will start to cough then eventualy die. but after 30minutes if the engine is already warm up or running difficulty for 30minutes everything will be like normal, you can accelerate even 1k on 1st gear, just like normal car do. with out coughing or like drowning sound.one start only. so its like weird and dissapointing when it come to first 30minutes of running the car.

so any info about the problem if you have the same problem encounter? it will be very much appreciated. i really like this car, the engine and every technology of this MR2 has. ofcourse many of you has the same likeness also.

is it can be on the

INJECTION
ECU
FUEL PUMP
or something to do with some sensor
like Thermostat or Air or even Water

any help thanks and Bless you all

[MR2 Drifter]

I have the same starting problem when its cold outside (for some reason) it will turn on and then the idle will go to 0, so what I have to do is when it goes on just rev the engine at 2,000 rpm for 5-10 seconds and let go and it'll go back down to normal

[Papo J]

Look at the hoses connecting the air filter to the air flow meter and throttle body, it sounds like there could be an air/vacuum leak beteween those.

[328FTW]

What are the sparkplugs like? They may need to be replaced, my mr2 used to have problems like this when the plugs were worn and not gapped right.

Would explain why it is hard to start

[ohmaild]

thanks for the reply i realy apreciated it.
actualy every time i have to use my MR2 i have to rev it to 2k or plus for five to 10sec maximum to get the car to normal idle not going to zero idle usualy the car does for frest start.

but the problem is yes its seems normal righter after the reving it high for couple of seconds, the problem will be when you are now starting to accelerate you have to rev it higher or else the engine will something like sounded like coughing or like drowning, that something like you depress the gas pedal but actualy you are pressing it, so to avoide this i have to press the pedal more downward to hit the high rev around 2-3k, then after 30 minutes of running everything will be just fine like normal car do. actualy when running on cruise or like you run on highway its seems fine ofcourse your reving around 2k plus on 4-5th gear on or about 50-60mph. all spark plugs are clean, las time i suspect its sparkplugs so i clean it toroughly with some good guage for the sparkplug gap (you know what i mean) then after i test it again still the same problemo, so i purchase a brand new set of sparkplugs together with those sparkplug power cables or distibutor power cable (im not sure with my technical naming lol) the power of the engine ofcourse is more kicking because of the good burning inside the combustion hence you have a new sparkplug. but every morning the same old problem still there, actualy i already used to it but ofcourse itsnot normal, its like you use to have a good toothbrush in the morning but u still have a good old nice onion and garlic breath still stay in your mouth (syaaaaaaaack nyahahahah) anyway i will try checking those hose PAPO J advice. any info about this problem will be a grate help. thanks so much

[85silverna]

Hmmm... Distributor? Is it maybe the distributor cap? Check all of your vacuum hoses too. Is your timing set right? there are many things that could be the problem... 328, this wouldn't be air in the coolant would it? I mean it goes away when the car is warm... what about the EGR? (exhaust gas recirculation system)

[te51levin]

Congratulations on your purchase, and welcome to the world of MR2 ownership!

Any time you purchase an old car, but especially an MR2, be prepared to correct a lot of neglect. It seems like these cars are never properly maintained. The first thing to do is a good, thorough check and inspection. Read this - I wrote it several years ago in response to all the kids buying nearly dead Corollas:
The Oldcorollas FAQ

Read that first. Clean everything that can be cleaned, lube everything that can be lubed, set everything can be set, check everything that can be checked, and adjust everything that can be adjusted. You will probably need a few tune-up parts and I would be happy to help you with those. Email me, or post inquiries in the Lithia Toyota vendor forum.