Possible vacuum leak?

1988 Astro Van. Engine rebuilt, over 7 years ago, quality job. Never had any real problems other than the peripheral things one would expect to encounter. Alternator, water pump, etc. Lately, however, the engine is cold starting. It starts, and you have to let it warm up really good, before attempting to put it in gear or go anywhere. It will definitely die if it's not warmed up. Lots of engine stuttering. We just did an extensive trip (2000 miles in a week) and along with the cold start problems, we noticed a sluggishness in the cruise control. The cruise is an aftermarket installation (installed many years ago), but once again, has been flawless. On this trip, maintaining constant speed on hills was a struggle. It seemed ok, if you "helped" the cruise with the accelerator just a bit. Also, not when cruising, but when accelerating to pass another vehicle, that the kickdown was sluggish. My mileage on trips has always been 20 or 21. On this trip, my gas mileage was down to 19 and 20. Any suggestions? Thanks. The engine is sound, doesn't burn, leak or use oil. Compression is good, and it doesn't run hot. Transmission was rebuilt about 50K ago.
Reply to
Perry Templeton
Loading thread data ...

Very Possible it is a vaccume leak. Your van has hard plastic vaccume lines. These crack with age, and at times are hard to spot. I use carb cleaner to find cracks in them, on a cold engine.

Something else is your ignition system may need repaired. Weak spark will cause hard starting, and sluggish perfromance. Even engines done well

7 years ago could be ready for new spark plug wires, distibutor car, rotor, magnets, module, and a new remote mount coil.

Another Astro problem is carbon biuld up in the vaccume ports in the TBI injection unit, and dirty fuel injectors. Charles

Reply to
Charles Bendig

Reply to
Perry Templeton

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.