96 Previa hard to start when cold, floods out and takes forever to start

[f18cmech]

My 96 Previa has had this problem where when its cold outside and the van has been sitting a while, it just doesn't want to start and after cranking for a while it finally putters to life but after about 7 or 8 minutes of on and off cranking. It also floods and I can smell fuel strongly, along with white smoke out the tail pipe. I let it sit for two days and it started right up but this morning after 7 hours and it was pretty cold outside it didn't want to start at all. I checked the cylinders and plugs after a 12 hour sit and they are dry(no leaking in the cylinders). I replaced the coolant temp sensor that helped for a little while but now back to the same. I cleaned the IAC as well but it still idles erratically so I'm gonna clean it again. Can anyone tell me with all these symptoms what it can be?

[Kurtanius21]

Try putting in some HEET starter fluid in the van. It is meant to help with freezing and moisture, but it solved my camry's cold start issues, similar to yours. I don know why it did, but give it a try, it's only like 2 dollars.

how does your coolant overflow tank look? Clear? My first suspect would be spark issues if you're not having leaking fuel injector issues. Also, maybe your cold start fuel injector is going bad. It may not be atomizing fuel any more, just dripping fuel, causing flooding issues. In fact, I would suspect that first, rather than spark plug issues. Read up on that.

[timsrv]

I would start by checking to see if there are any codes stored in the ECU. The newest Previa I had was 93, so I'm not sure when they went to OBDII, but I think yours has that. If so, get a scanner and read codes. I had a problem very similar to this on my 91. It developed over time and would require excessive cranking & stink of gas when trying to start. In my case it turned out to be leaking injector(s). There were never any fault codes stored in my ECU. When it got bad enough to investigate, initially I disconnected my cold start injector (that helped, but did not completely cure). At that point I suspected leaky injector(s) so I swapped them out with a nice set I found in a salvage yard Previa. Doing that completely solved the problem..........even after I hooked the cold start injector back up (YMMV). Tim

[f18cmech]

Thanks for your answers. I haven't tried the HEET starter fluid yet but what I did do was I took apart the IAC valve again and cleaned it real good and adjusted the little spring loaded flapper that uses two screws and can rotate a little. It seems when I had this set in the center it starts fine, but when I rotate it in either direction(raises and lowers the idle) it made my cold start issues return. With it set back in the middle and everything tightly bolted back together it started immediately this morning under the same conditions. I don't why the IAC seems to play a major role in cold starting but the steps I took made a difference.

[Kurtanius21]

Keep us posted if the issue returns. Interesting how the darnedest things can fix a car. Maybe with time this odd fix will not prove to be the root problem. Or maybe it will.

[TheMAN]

could be cold start injector problems...

[f18cmech]

The problem was solved. It turned out to be the coolant temp sensor. I had put a cheap one in which failed quickly. Spent 45 on the new one and good as new now.