Difficulty starting - '90 80

[Kneale Brownson]

>From my experience with bad relays and pumps, you wouldn't get a start at
all without the pump activating.  But I know nothing about the injector
operation controls.

At 07:17 AM 3/29/2005 -0500, Robert Rossato wrote:
>It was around 50F over the weekend and yesterday it was high 30's and
>raining hard all day long.  So, no ice.
>
>Don't know when he last had the fuel filter changed.  But he is
>definitely getting fuel at the start. A couple of times he was able to
>get it running for about 1 minute and took the opportunity to move the
>car to a better area of the parking lot before it died again.  Engine
>ran normal during that time.  Could rev it up and down no problem.
>
>It's very consistent in that it starts immediately each and every time
>and then slowly dies after 5 secs.  I witnessed that when I went to pick
>him up.  I'm thinking the cold start valve may be the only thing that's
>working and once the fuel from that runs out the engine stalls.  Are the
>main injectors and cold start valve controlled by two different circuits
>such that one would work and not the other?  Kind of a dumb question I
>guess as they would have to be, but I was wondering if they are tied to
>a central control that if the main injectors wouldn't work then the CS
>valve wouldn't work either and the car shouldn't start at all.  I forget
>if these are a CIS system or if the injectors are controlled
>electronically.  Obviously the cold start valve is electronically
>controlled.  Again it's a 1990 80q.
>
>I'm still leaning towards a bad fuel pump relay, but would that even
>allow the thing to start?  My previous experience with a bad FP relay on
>a VW Scirocco was that it wouldn't start.  Again the fuel pump is
>audible at least at the start.  He can't be certain if it was running
>for a second or so after it stalls like it normally would.
>
>Bob