help! sierra starting problems

[sierraboy]

hi, i have a '92 sierra 1.8 LX estate. The problem i have is my car won't start when cold it turns over a few times then fires up it then cuts out straight away, i then try it again it will now run for about 10 seconds before cutting out, once tried again it will run so i can pull away but there is no power, it will die down then it then picks up. at this stage it may stall again or be okay.
I have tried new plugs and set the gaps, also replaced rotor arm and distributor cap, with no change.
Once engine is warm it starts fine and runs fine.
Can someone please help me. Thankyou.

[dr pepper]

if it is not an ignition problem then it sounds as though the auto choke is going to be the issue, what to do depends on whether its a weber or pierburg carb, a new carb from a scrapper could be good if you can get one cheap.
some sierras have sensors on the water jacket and inlet manifold, check the connections to these, i'm not absolutely sure what these do, but ignition advance cold starting is quite likely.
sean.