94 Sidekick Starts Hard

[Dan-O]

94 1.6L 16 valve sidekick, Have to crank motor for at least 5 seconds before the motor starts and then it sounds like it's running on 3 cylinders for a few seconds then dies. Almost like its getting too much gas, then I crank it over again and it starts fine. It starts fine when warm. I have taken it in and found the egr valve and solenoid bad and replaced them. I have replaced plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor. Fuel filter and pump replaced 6 months ago. Guy at parts store said it could be O2 sensor or the temp sending unit, but he couldn't even find the O2 sensor to order. I'm thinking I will replace the temp sending unit this weekend. Any thoughts or ideas?

[94box]

o2 sensor will not cause vehicle to stall, did you check the egr port for carbon build-up when you replaced the valve?? just a thought,

94box.

[Dan-O]

I had my mechanic replace the egr valve. Where is it and what does it look like and then maybe I could take it off and check. Thanks for the info. Just curious as to what happens when an Oxygen sensor goes bad? My mechanic also told me its not a bad idea to replace the o2 sensor as a maintanence measure. I have 129,000 miles on it and its never been replaced.
Dan-O

[94box]

very good idea as preventative maintenance, bad o2 sensor will hurt greatly on fuel economy, easy way to check is to do a hydrocarbon reading, hook vehicle up to scope, stick the tail pipe probe in the tail pipe and computer reads hydro-carbon level (usually in parts per million), hydrocarbons are unburned gas, if reading are high, then definately replace o2 sensor and do injection flush,

hope this helps,

94box.