97 EX "enrichment system" issue?

[speediva]

Okay, so during cold weather and on the first start, I noticed my car took a lot of cranks to turn over. It cranked fast and hard, but it would take like 8 "cycles" before it would fire up. The battery is 100% fine, no reason to suspect alternator, and starter is cranking hard so I've eliminated all those as part of the problem.

Now that the weather is warmer, I'm noticing the car has absolutely NO problem firing after 1 or 2 seconds cranking. After talking through all the above items with my dad, he and I are wondering if the "choke" or "enrichment system" could be faltering.

Does anyone know if this would be causing a code that I could get a shop to pull? And even without a code, is there a specific part that tends to go bad that can be fairly readily replaced by a mediocre/lay mechanic like me? If I don't stand a chance of doing a replacement myself, what part should I seek out and any ballpark on item cost??? Thanks from Sammy (the Civic) and me!

[BullShifter]

When was the last time you did plugs, cap, & rotor?

[speediva]

They were done by the previous owner (I have the records from the dealership where he works), who only had the car 9 months before I bought it. As was the water pump, timing belt, and a few other things. The invoice date for the cap/rotor, spark plugs, wires, etc. was 9/20/10. I should have mentioned that, too. Sorry.

[BullShifter]

That rules out what I was going to say.

[speediva]

I mean, I know it's got 193k miles on it, but I'm a little anxious that next winter when it gets cold again that it won't turn over at all at this rate.

[JohnDD]

Originally Posted by speediva

I mean, I know it's got 193k miles on it, but I'm a little anxious that next winter when it gets cold again that it won't turn over at all at this rate.

I had a "cranks well but won't start" issue this spring with my 98 Civic, whenever it was raining or damp outside. When it warmed up and got dry, it fired right up.
There didn't seem to be any spark when it wouldn't start. I removed the ignition coil from the distributor and the distributor cap. The ignition coil looked like it might have a bit of discolouration and the cap seemed to have a minor crack. I replaced both and the problem has disappeared! The coil DC resistance measured OK on the bench, but that doesn't mean it isn't defective at high voltage.

[speediva]

I've had problems like that with my Subaru because there was a crack in the cap. But this one is definitely linked to cold/hot. I'll try watching to see if there is any sort of humidity factor at play, though. Thanks for the suggestion.