Cold start hesitation

[gnitsos]

'96 Grand Am 4 cyl, 105K mi. When cold starting, the engine idles at 1200rpm for about a minute, then when the rpms decrease, the engine starts lunging between 500 and 1500 rpm for about 10 seconds- if I'm driving during this time, there is major hesitation (its even stalled once).
After that, the engine runs fine.

I live in a climate where its rarely below 50 degrees when I start up, so I define a "cold" start as any time the temp indicator is below the normal range.

Any ideas? Thanks.

[matt919]

i have a '93 with 106k. Im from pennsylvania, so the winters are pretty cold.. its just starting to warm up now. But if its cold out, and i don't let the car warm up a couple before driving it, i would have barely any power for the firdt minute or so of driving. It'd seem like the car just did not want to move at all. I assumed thsi was just because the car wasn't warmed up, although i also assumed this wasn't exactly normal. So im not sure, probably just warm your car up for a couple minutes when its colder out. I just lost my transmission also.. so i hope this wasn't related to that.

[ClassicRockMe]

Texas here!
Same symptoms on a '98 4 banger, over 100k. Don't even think about jumping on it when first starting up. I see no one has come up with any suggestions as yet. I still have my fingers crossed.
Many thanks for any suggestions.

[Markgase2000]

The pc can get confused if cold weather isnt common where you live. If you normally start the car in 50-70 f' the car gets used to it then allofa sudden it gets real cold and has to remember to start a bit higher rpms to warm up. And if its really uncommon let it warm up till operating temperatures are normal running temperatures before doing any hard driving. I live in a sub arctic climate , my car will idle at 1200+ rpms till its warmed up half way then goes back to normal rpms. Since we get -40 f' weather sometimes it take more time to warm up than other days and sounds god awfull at first minute after starting. Peace of mind is always your best bet , if it bothers you alot , have it looked at by a tec. or ask the tec the same question , they will most likely help you out as much as they can without tearing out a work order.

[Slade901]

I would remove the IAC (Idle Air Control solenoid) and clean it with a throttle body cleaner and brush. Clean the spot where you remove the IAC with a throttle body cleaner.

See if that makes a difference when you start your vehicle in the cold morning.