420A Won't start in the cold

[SameOldDSM]

190k miles.
Been having this issue throughout the summer. Car cranks fine but never starts strong it always would sit and misfire sometimes even through the intake until rpms would rise enough to smooth out then it would idle and drive fine. Also I noticed that when cranking and running there's a lot of gasses that come out of the dipstick tube.

Now that winter is here it won't start at all in the cold. Not sure where I should start looking but it's very frustrating as it's just been progressively getting worse.

 

[97egl]

If you have blow-by coming out of the dipstick tube there is an issue with the rings. You can do a compression check and leak down test to verify. At 190k miles most 420a engines have been beat on and neglected for quite some time. You probably need an overall rebuild.

 

[SameOldDSM]

If you have blow-by coming out of the dipstick tube there is an issue with the rings. You can do a compression check and leak down test to verify. At 190k miles most 420a engines have been beat on and neglected for quite some time. You probably need an overall rebuild

I seem to have found part of the issue. Pulled my plugs and gapped them tighter and it seems to be running better. The real test will be a cold start below freezing tomorrow morning.

And yes it definitely needs rebuilt, she eats up oil pretty quick, just hoping I can somehow make it through winter as I've been putting most of my spending money into rebuilding my Gsx which I will not drive in the snow.

 

[97egl]

I seem to have found part of the issue. Pulled my plugs and gapped them tighter and it seems to be running better. The real test will be a cold start below freezing tomorrow morning.

And yes it definitely needs rebuilt, she eats up oil pretty quick, just hoping I can somehow make it through winter as I've been putting most of my spending money into rebuilding my Gsx which I will not drive in the snow.

I have serious doubts that plug gap would help with starting unless you have a coil going out. There is much more stress on the coil under load than there is when you start it. But hey if it does work and get you by that's why matters!

I have found that on worn out low compression cars if you can get them to crank faster that helps a lot with winter/cold starting so you may want to look into a starter or battery to help. Also could look into a coolant heater or block heater

 

[SameOldDSM]

I have serious doubts that plug gap would help with starting unless you have a coil going out. There is much more stress on the coil under load than there is when you start it. But hey if it does work and get you by that's why matters!

I have found that on worn out low compression. cars if you can get them to crank faster that helps a lot with starting so may look into a starter or battery to help. Also could look into a coolant heater or block heater

Yeah it makes no sense to me how it would seem to run better with the gap but I'm not expecting anything tomorrow morning. I guess we'll see.

It could be electrical. The coil pack was brand new when I bought the car, pretty sure it was changed before they listed it, maybe its going bad again

 

[97egl]

Yeah it makes no sense to me how it would seem to run better with the gap but I'm not expecting anything tomorrow morning. I guess we'll see.

It could be electrical. The coil pack was brand new when I bought the car, pretty sure it was changed before they listed it, maybe its going bad again

Well good luck tomorrow morning

And if its a parts store or flea-bay coil I would probably just assume its gone bad

 

[awdtsi_90]

I was having a issue where my car wouldn't start in the cold. I replaced the Coolant Temp Sensor and that was the culprit for my issue. Good Luck