Must floor gas for car to start

86 DX, 220,000miles, basic daily driver.

the car normally starts and runs great but on and off recently the car turns over and over and over and if i floor it and keep it floored while cranking the motor it will start, but it takes a second to get up to speed and kinda sounds like it's got to wind up like a jet winds up faster and faster until it gets going. it's strange, but it's worked.

well now that trick doesn't work. i tried starting it and it sort of begins to wind up but it never gets going fast enough to get to a normal idle. if i keep the gas floored it will stay running after i disengage the starter but it's really rough and if i back off the gas at all or try to slip out the clutch or it just dies.

anyway, i'm gonna go get some carb cleaner but i don't have time to test it before i leave for work tonight because the battery is now dead from repeated attempts. just thought i'd post on here before work so if someone knows what's going on i can try other methods if the carb cleaner doesn't work.

gumout did not necessarily help. engine has rough idle and no power now. if i goose the gas it will hesitate for an instant before the tach jumps.

sounds like your 2nd venturi is loose mine did the same thing its an easy carb fix

the venturi are both in there nice and tight.

helpful info: i replaced the timing belt before it got this bad habit of not starting. i am reluctant to suspect the timing because it started and revved up normal right after i replaced it. but then the next time i tried to start it half an hour later it wouldn't start.

i just replaced the plugs and wires but the plugs looked great.

i drove it around the block without the air cleaner or hat on and it sounds normal but has no power. also it died and sounded like it backfired - sorta - not loud, just one of those "piff!" sounds, like it shot a spark plug or something (which it did not).

also, it did the "rev up to speed" thing tonight without me touching the gas. granted, i had been trying to start it by flooring it for a couple minutes but this is new.

Almost sounds like a bad carb float to me. Is it running real rich?

the plugs looked great (no deposits or build-up) and i haven't noticed smoke when i start it. i'll check again but i don't remember it dieseling when i turn it off. how else can i tell?

my timing belt was off (not off off, but off like off a tooth or so)