Struggling Start-Up & Rising Coolant Level
 

Hey, I've had this 1988 Legend L (79,400 miles) for two years now. It's never given me much trouble but just recently its begun struggling during a cold (sitting over night) start-up. It sounds strong when it first starts, then the tach flutters for a moment and then it usually dies. I can restart it immediately afterward and it's fine. Any ideas? I've read some old threads and I noticed that leaking fuel injectors can cause a similar problem, but I wanted to get some more ideas before I went into the shop. I've popped the hook several times to look for problems and I don't smell fuel or anything and I haven't seen anything to suggest it.

At the same time, the level in the coolant reservoir has been increasing. I could walk outside right now (11 PM) at night, after its been sitting for several hours and the coolant level would be way over MAX...the engine hasn't been getting hotter and is nowhere near overheating. I'm thinking there might be something plugged up in the radiator, but I imagine that would make it overheat pretty quickly. Oh and occasionally, when I start the car or shut the car off it makes this sound like there is rushing water going somewhere, but it's definitely not leaking anywhere. Any ideas?

Well, this won't apply to all cars, I realize, but my civic had so much fuel in the cylinders it was running out the intake and yet as soon as I got the new coil in it started immediately.

It did idle low (for a cold engine) at about 1000rpm for a second or so though.

Keep in mind I use upper cylinder lube so maybe that's why.

Back to the point, it sounds so me more like there isn't enough fuel getting to the cylinders as opposed to too much - not an expert though.

When was the last time your fuel filter was changed?

If you can rule out the injectors, filter etc. I would lean towards main relay or something under the dizzy cap.

Coolant overflow container rising is usually a sign of a blown head gasket. It is caused by exhaust gases entering the coolant lines and pushing the coolant out. Bleed your coolant and see if you have a lot of air in it. Also check the radiator and overflow tank and see if there is anything floating on top. And look into the the valve cover where you add oil to see if there is anything other than oil visible.