If anyone has seen this before, please help with your insight.
2001 Freelander 1.8i. Complete rebuilt engine has about 5,000 km (I replaced it in February). Also has new plug wires, distributor cap, and rotor. Ran perfectly for a few months. Around April, it began to have a rough start condition. Approximately 75% of the time, it runs rough when first starting up (when the engine is cold) - the other 25% of the time, no problems at all. Usually at least three cylinders are running at startup, though lately it's been that only two cylinders are firing, just enough to get started. Within 10 seconds, at least three are firing, and within 30 seconds, all four are firing and it's running perfectly fine for the rest of the drive, but if/when the engine cools down, the startup is rough again. If the engine is fired right back up (within a minute or two), I never get the problem.
The problem is definitely not spread across all cylinders, you can clearly tell when the additional cylinders begin firing. What do you think - spark plugs, injectors...what? And how would you diagnose it? I think we can rule out the distributor cap, rotor, and plug wires because I replaced them after the problem began. The problem went away briefly after they were replaced, but came back within a few days.
Thanks in advance for your help. This thing is perfect for getting around the jungle of the Naples province, and Freelanders sell for a premium here (and I'll have to sell it by November due to a move), so I want to keep this running great.
2001 Freelander 1.8i. Complete rebuilt engine has about 5,000 km (I replaced it in February). Also has new plug wires, distributor cap, and rotor. Ran perfectly for a few months. Around April, it began to have a rough start condition. Approximately 75% of the time, it runs rough when first starting up (when the engine is cold) - the other 25% of the time, no problems at all. Usually at least three cylinders are running at startup, though lately it's been that only two cylinders are firing, just enough to get started. Within 10 seconds, at least three are firing, and within 30 seconds, all four are firing and it's running perfectly fine for the rest of the drive, but if/when the engine cools down, the startup is rough again. If the engine is fired right back up (within a minute or two), I never get the problem.
The problem is definitely not spread across all cylinders, you can clearly tell when the additional cylinders begin firing. What do you think - spark plugs, injectors...what? And how would you diagnose it? I think we can rule out the distributor cap, rotor, and plug wires because I replaced them after the problem began. The problem went away briefly after they were replaced, but came back within a few days.
Thanks in advance for your help. This thing is perfect for getting around the jungle of the Naples province, and Freelanders sell for a premium here (and I'll have to sell it by November due to a move), so I want to keep this running great.
