Idle very poor when cold

[sona1111]

Hello All,

I have just finished an engine swap on my 1989 LX automatic. The good news is that, once warm, the engine runs great and has much better compression. However the problem I am having is that in order to get moving after starting one has to wait 4-5 minutes with the pedal pressed down to get everything warmed up before it will shift into drive without stalling. Idle is good, possibly a little high, when everything is warmed up.

I had to fix the choke heater when I swapped the engine. The choke heater cable was only giving about 3V so I spliced into the ign coils to get 12V and now after a few minutes the choke stands up correctly, so I don't think that is the issue. Also actually cranking and starting is ok but if you let off the gas right after starting it will stall out. I tried to check all vac lines with carb cleaner but it is a little hard to tell because the idle seems to fluctuate a bit by itself. I was not able to find any major idle changes with carb cleaner yet. Is there anything I can look into to get a good high idle when cold that slows down when hot? It is this part of the process that seems to be failing.

Thanks for reading!

[Dr_Snooz]

I spliced into the ign coils to get 12V

Why didn't you fix it properly by running a new wire to the correct location? The choke heater can pull a lot of amperage and what it pulls will not be available for creating spark.