1990 Stalls out when it sits a few days.

[chubcobear]

My job requires that I leave my car at work (and drive company car) for a few days from time to time. When I use the 1990 3sfe (140 auto trans.) after these two or three day layovers, the car seems to stall out when accelerated from a stop and runs ratty until it has run for 10 minutes or so. It is almost like it is getting "no gas". After it runs awhile, and from then on (when used daily), it will run perfectly. Does anyone have a clue about this? Vacuum leak? Coil? Any ideas? Thanks for any know how. Chubco

[TBayToyotaBoy]

I work at a wrecking yard, and I've had this happen on literally dozens of vehicles. I've never bothered to spend toooo much time diagnosing, because they're just yard beaters, but it's common in older vehicles. As soon as you put the auto tranny in drive, or as soon as you let out the clutch on a 5-speed car, the engine will bog down and die (unless you epress the clutch again). Unfortunately, it could be a multitude of things. Gaskets and o-rings get old, vacuum lines crack, throttle bodies wear-out, and ignition components break-down to reduce efficiency.

If you're really concerned about the problem, or don't have the few minutes to wait, start by cleaning-out the throttle body--this is the simplest and cheapest first step. If that doesn't work, there are just too many other possibilities to list without further diagnosis...

I hope the tb cleaning helps your problem. Cheers!

[chubcobear]

TBay,
Thanks for the input. Throttle body? OK. I will give that a try. Thanks. Bear