96 stratus 2.4l fuel injected cold start issue

[paedbo]

Hi,

I have a 1996 dodge stratus, with the 4cyl 2.4l fuel injected engine, in the summer time the car starts in the morning and runs perfect with no problems, but as the winter comes, it is very hard to start in cold weather ( below 50F) If you turn the key first thing in the morning it turns over strong, and trys to start ( you can hear it trying to catch) , to get it started you have to lightly step on the gas pedal and it will start, sputter for a few seconds then run fine. The idle is usually very low for the first few moments then it clears right up. Sometimes you can just tap the gas pedal when starting to get it going, however occasionally you have to give it alittle gas for the first 5 seconds or so before it will hold idle on its own

Trying to figure out what might be wrong, it has new battery, plugs, new wires, spark is strong, gone over the vaccum line system 2 times to make sure there wasnt any leaks.

Now im starting to wonder what else controls cold start conditions? i see the coolant sensor is fairly cheap and i will try to change it and see if that clears it up, but i was just wondering, if the mixture is totally controlled by the computer for cold starts, and i seen something about an idle speed valve? im not exactly sure what that is or what it looks like but could that be the problem? if so is there a way i could set the idle to be just alittle bit higher so the car will start on its own without being assisted with the gas pedal?

[theFREAKnasty82]

Your assumption is correct; idle speed is entirely controlled by the PCM (powertrain control module). You can not adjust idle; manually at least. What it sounds like you have is a leaky or leaking injectors when it gets cold. One of the four injectors is leaking when it gets cold thus causing a flooding action when you start up first thing in the morning. What causes that is a bad injector o-ring or checkball inside the injector body that is misplacing itself when it gets cold. Either way, it sounds like an injector issue.