Cold Start Problem on 83SC

[SJR911SC]

I am starting to dig into a cold start problem with my SC. From reading other posts on the board it leads my to believe that it is either a mix problem or WUR. Current symptoms are that it simply takes three starts to get it going in the morning and 3 minutes of warming up to find it's legs without hesitation or back-fire.

Starts right up on the first two tries, but will low idle and stall. On third try, it will search a bit and then fall into a set idle at 950. Once warm, runs like a champ.

When I got it inspected, the emission test showed: HC = 008, CO= 0, and C02 = 14.7. Timing is good and I have just finished new dist, rotor, plugs, oxy sensor and valve adjustment.

Are there any ways to diagnose without taking it in?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Steve,

I'm chasing the same thing. When did you last change the fuel filter and fuel accumulator?

Similar symptoms, only mine was intermittent. Then one day, no start. I did not have good fuel pressure and the accumulator was of unknown age so I replaced it. Good spark, new accumulator and we were going good, no more issues. Then she decided not to start. Fuel weak, good spark. I traded the A/C relay with the fuel pump relay and, voici, everything was great. Now i have a slight hesitation. slight occasional backfire. I'm thinking the original fuel pump is giving up the ghost after all the other issues.

I would swap out the relays and see if that makes any difference before I did more. There is a tech article here on re-building your WUR for under $5.00. Remember, it is better to diagnose than replace parts. But then some will say "David you are replacing the parts as you go." Yep, but they were bad. The accumulator allowed pressure from either direction. The old fuel relay will not work. Sometimes things just break from age.

[David]

If you're going to work on your own CIS equipped car, you really need to buy a CIS fuel pressure gauge. Pelican sells them for about $100. If you don't have a Bentley manual, you should get that too. The CIS system is relatively easy to troubleshoot with these items. Without them, you'll probably replace a lot of parts that are still good.

[SJR911SC]

David, fuel accumulator was replaced right before I picked up the car (6 months ago), so it's in good shape.