Rough cold start...rough idle for 20 sec, then fine (1 Viewer)

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So he did a test spraying the dizzy down with water to see if he sees a spark and saw nothing, then sprayer the plug wires down and said he got a miss when he sprayed the wires? Seems odd to me and he says he wasnt sure if that what caused it not to start.
 
Could be a combo of problems and not just one thing. If the fuel in the tank is really 10 years old drain it and refill it with fresh fuel and change the fuel filter. It also wouldn't hurt to run some good fuel cleaner in it, I've had good luck with the Red Line cleaner. It also sounds like it's due for plugs and plug wires. I've seen leaking fuel injectors cause cylinder washdown and create low/no compression issues on other cars till the engine is cranked over for a while or oil is dripped into the cylinders. I would also change the engine oil and filter if that hasn't been done yet.
 
"One of the heads sticking"? Or maybe he said one of the valves sticking. Been sitting that long and has ten year old has in it? I'm thinking right there is a good place to start. Drain the tank. Refill with new gas and a hefty dose of Lucas fuel system cleaner.
 
Spoke to the PO tonight and I started asking him about the car and any maintenance done to it and I can tell it was very little, he said he actually thinks he put gas in it a year or so ago. Not sure if that changes anything about my situation. I went ahead and put the fuel injector cleaner in it, ordered new plugs, wires, rotor and cap. All the fluids were changed when I first got the car, transmission/brake/oil/coolant flushed..... Any other thoughts? Thanks again for your help.
 
How old is the battery? How old is the starter? It seemed to be turning over pretty slow in your first video....
 
My '94 with 215K has a hard time starting occasionally first thing in the morning, but it's just a normal extended crank situation that takes about 5-6 seconds for it to fire up. Then it runs like butter, and usually starts all day just fine after that first cold start. It has a brand new OEM fuel pump and sending unit due to failure this spring, but I'm changing the engine out next month with a clean, 160K mile engine that doesn't have the abuse this one has had heaped on it by the P/O.

Your cranking situation sounds like a sticking valve, had a few broken/bent valves on Subies and they sounded similar... not to scare you, they wouldn't start at all. And all the smoke when it finally fired roughly, you are getting fuel as that looked pretty rich and almost like a bit of oil. P/O didn't put diesel in there, did he? I've run a couple gallons of diesel through my cruiser before by mistake, very hard start and smoky as he!!....
 
No diesel, this was the first time it smoked like that, I was hoping it was due to the Tecron fuel injector cleaner I put in yesterday.
 
Okay, just checking and a bit of a long shot. If it cranks that long without a combustion event AND it is injecting fuel... you would see some bluish gray smoke I would think, just as it's clearing out the unburned fuel.
 
Change plugs, wires, cap and rotor. All were the originals. The plugs were black with no electrodes left. After changing it all I went to start it and basically no change. I did notice when I pulled the dizzy it was black and covered in burnt oil. Any thoughts now.

 
Is your intake air boot torn? At about the 10 second mark I can see dark lines on it just before you put your hand on that look kind of like cracks.
 
Did not find any cracks. I did find the hose clamp slipped down a little so I put it back where it goes. Now it starts normal ally and idles what seems fine. If I shut it off then try and restart it it will just click, the try again and click again and click again and it'll fire right up. Shut it down and do it all over again.... Any thoughts.
 
Possible bad connection at the starter or battery or bad starter. The click you hear is the solenoid kicking out the gear into the flexplate but the starter motor itself is not spinning to turn the engine over.
 
You were correct it was in fact a bad stater so I replaced that. It fired up fine for a few days and then I go out this morning and does it all over again. Rough start, crank, crank, crank, starts up, rough idle, I keep giving it gas and after 2 minutes or so it "flattens" out and idles correctly again. I am stumped, I did notice the exhaust has a few holes in it by the cats, could that have any effect on it, also had a ton of smoke this morning when I fired it up? I have looked at every hose for any leaks and have not found any, could the timing be off and causing this? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks

No mayo in oil, no bubbles in tank when I rev it, level hasnt changed since the shop flushed it, of course the HG is always in the back of my mind.
 
I did not remove it, more just climbed all over the engine bay looking around. I will take it off tomorrow and inspect closely.
Also when I replaced the cap and rotor I removed the dizzy, could it being off one tooth be causing this as well.
 
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