96 Metro start/run issues

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1996 3 cyl. man. transmission starting problem -

Car won't start when engine is cold. Takes forever to get started. Once running, engine idles & runs fine. About 3 months ago, I drained & replaced the gas, thinking it was possibly bad gas. No change. The car has been sitting in the garage since then, collecting dust.

Last week, I thought I'd try to start it. Nothing. Battery totaly dead. I charged the battery for about 8 hrs. After I came home from work, tried starting the car. It started right up as if nothing was ever wrong with it... on 3 month old gas even! It idled fine, ran fine under electrical load. The next morning I started it again, with no problems.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Trev

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[hot_sd]

"won't start" is not a clear description of the problem. Does it crank (turn over) but not fire or is it completely dead. How do you know the battery was dead - did you check the voltage or run a load test. It could have bee a loose connection and recharging may just have coincidentally made it work.

[turbogod]

I have a similar or same problem..
Mine starts and runs fine when it is cold as long as it doesnt see above 1800 rmps before it reaches operating temp.. When it warms up it runs fine.. When it is cold (first fired up below operating temp) if it sees above 1800 rpms it will flood SO BAD It will lose all compression!! I mean turns over very smooth until it clears out the fuel after 1-2 minutes of cranking.. It has been sitting since this problem..

I have dealt with turbo dodge cars and the cold temp sensor will not add no where near enough fuel to kill compression, so I tried the ecu I bought off ebay and does the exact same thing.. Ideas??

Originally Posted by hot_sd

"won't start" is not a clear description of the problem. Does it crank (turn over) but not fire or is it completely dead. How do you know the battery was dead - did you check the voltage or run a load test. It could have bee a loose connection and recharging may just have coincidentally made it work.

[MoJoWrrrrKen]

I just bought my car a few months ago, but this morning we finally hit some cold weather, with temp somewhere in the 20's.

My 3-cyl 92 xFi cranked verrrry slooooowwwly. It finally caught a spark, and fired up and ran OK. I might have put a little too much LUCAS oil supplement in with the regular Valvoline 10w-30, at the last oil change, maybe. It reminded me of the time I had 20w-50 oil, or straight 30w, in Minnesota, in October or November one year. (I had been under the impression LUCAS doesn't affect an oil's viscosity pour point, but maybe I was wrong.)

I know there are cranking tests to check a battery under load, but do they also have tests to check the starter itself, to see if the starter motor is a little tired?