'99 SE, 146k miles, auto, no engine mods

Symptoms:

1. When sitting overnight or for a few hours in the cold (so engine temp is same as ambient temp) car will start, catch, rev to about 2k then die. If I tap the accelerator as engine is dying from startup, the car will maintain normal idle just fine.

2. Engine hesitation when accelerating at speeds 30 mph +.



Any guesses on the likely culprit?

I know these models had some f'd coils, but it seems like more of a fuel/air mixture problem? Maybe the MAF?

Thanks ahead of time for any help you can offer.

 

any CELs? there is a maf sensor cleaner you can get form your local parts store i just cleaned mine its like 6-7 bucks a can

seems like ECTS may be giving a bad reading

 

No CEL, which adds to the frustration. I should add that this all started happening within the last four days. Just today the problem has progressed to the car starting hard, cranking but not turning over until the third or fourth try.

I'll do a little more searching for starting problems on the forum, but if anyone has fought the same issue, please speak up.

I'll check into the MAF first though since it's cheap.

Thanks.

 

does the light come on when you put the key in? (what im really asking is, is the light bulb burnt out)

adding a ground has help many people here

 

I had sorta the same problem. Mine only rev 2500 then die.

I found a used maf at a junkyard, fixed my problem.

 

CEL does come on at startup.

Been searching the forum heavily and noticed someone had problems with old O2 sensors that caused similar problems.

Thanks for the tip on the MAF, I may just swap out for a new one considering mileage. Same with O2 sensors since they're getting up there.

 

i have a similar situation and haven't been able to pinpoint the cause. perhap someone on here can help. here's the problem....one day while driving, my car would sputter and died on the freeway. before it died, all the lights were flashing like crazy. while stranded, i called my brother to go buy a new battery thinking it was the problem. got new battery installed; start up right away and went home. next day, it would start out fine but as soon as the car started moving, the engine would sputter and died while backing out the driveway. if i jump the battery, the car would start but as soon as i move it into gear, it would die. it couldn't be the battery bec. it's new. so i figured it was the alternator since these were typical signs of a bad alternator. so i ordered a new one from advance auto parts. new alternator came and put it in. same result. engine would start and die 2 minutes later. after that, i couldn't start the car again unless i jump start it. if i leave the battery charger on, it starts fine, but once i take off the jump starter, the engine dies right away.

so right now, i'm not exactly sure what's causing the problem. is it the MAF, coolant temperature sensor, knock sensor, etc....? no CEL appeared when engine was running. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Just wanted to say I started having a hesitation last week then finally the cel came on. Sometimes it takes a while for the cel to come on. It was po100 for maf and after clearing it I don't have a cel but I did feel the hesitation again the next day as I slowly drove up a hill and held the throttle low and static. But my "new" maf just came in so I'm gonna throw it on and see what happens.