a few maybe related engine problems (long post!)

["Aaron King" <floodle@xxxx>]

OK, here's what I have. A few relatively minor problems, all relating to 
the way the engine runs. I don't know if there's a connection between them, 
but something seems kind of suspicious. I'll list them and hope someone 
smarter than myself can figure one or more of these problems out. For the 
record, the car is an April 81 automatic, vin 1217, always garaged.

Problem #1: Cold starting stumbliness. The engine starts up just fine 
(except for the next problem which I'll address later) regardless of whether 
or not the engine is hot or cold. After starting up a cold engine, however, 
the initial acceleration is hesitant. The engine stumbles and sounds like 
it's choking. After pressing the accelerator for a few seconds it seems to 
smooth itself out, until the next try from a dead stop where it repeats the 
hesitating and choking. The problem goes away entirely after 1 to 2 minutes 
of driving. This has happened since I started driving the car a couple of 
months ago.

Problem #2: Randomly will not start. Not too often, but often enough to be 
annoying, the car will not start. I get in, turn the key, and nothing 
happens. I hear the familiar two-second hum, and all the accessories 
(radio, lights, etc.) come on, but the car does not turn over at all. 
Usually I try to start it a few more times, but nothing. I sit and wait for 
a couple of seconds, then try again and it starts right up like nothing was 
wrong. This appears to occur when the engine is colder, but it has happened 
when the engine was hot. This has happened off and on since I started 
driving the car.

Problem #3: Terrible gas mileage! Ever since I got the car, it has been 
getting between 13 and 15 MPG. I drive mostly in the suburbs with some 
light highway driving now and then. I don't drive too fast, or accelerate 
like a maniac, so I'd expect it to be a little higher. I know the O2 sensor 
is new and operating correctly, but I don't know what else to check.

Problem #4: Accelerates like a brick. I've lamented about this one before, 
but I'm listing it here just in case it gives any clues. It is a dog off 
the line. My car seems to have no jump at all in the lower RPMs, but feels 
OK once it gets going. It was suggested that I have a faulty fuel 
enrichment circuit, but I tested it by unplugging the electrical connection 
for it on the right side of the engine. It made a big difference when I 
unplugged it. It sounded terrible, so I plugged it back in. I take from 
the experiment that the fuel enrichment circuit is functioning properly. 
Grrr. This problem has existed since I started driving the car.

Problem #5: The last one I have. It just started today. I drive my car to 
the store and back this morning at about 11:00 and everything is fine. I 
start up my car again at about 4:00 in the afternoon, and the idle sounds 
terrible! Almost like it's misfiring or something. The idle sounds very 
uneven and it makes the car shake a lot more than usual. It accelerates 
normally (slow) and shifts smoothly, but at every stoplight, I hear that 
deep cranking sound and the car vibrates along with it. (I should add that 
even though the idle is terrible, it is still at ~750 RPM) I hate new 
problems!

I'm sorry for posting all of my woes here, but I couldn't think of any other 
way to get a bunch of people in on this. I don't know if any of the 
problems are related, but I suspect some of them are. I really hope I can 
get some of this stuff fixed and once again, sorry for being such a 
nuisance.

Thanks!

Aaron King
Kirkland, WA
vin#1217
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