hard cold start

[Pabstkiller]

going to look at an 03 rx1 and the guy says that its a real bitch to start when its cold. any ideas what would cause this? I don't know much about these sleds is there anything else I should look at its got around 8000 miles on it

 

[Confused]

Could be as easy as plugs and/or carb clean and adjustment. Otherwise more serious, but normal, would be valve adjustment.

 

[RobX-1]

Hopefully, the PO is aware of the choke lever since it's not FI and uses it during cold starts as I could see not using it causing hard cold starts. Other than that, I would agree with Confused in it could be relate to bad plugs and/or dirty carbs as well as the carbs being out-of-sync.

 

[Pabstkiller]

Could be as easy as plugs and/or carb clean and adjustment. Otherwise more serious, but normal, would be valve adjustment.

how hard is it to do the valve adjustment? or is it something that should be taken to a shop?

 

[smokingcrater]

How many miles, and when was the last time the carbs were cleaned? Valve adjustment is the last thing to check.

 

[maim]

fuel filters can be an issue too but it is sounding like it is draining back from a pinhole somewhere. might want to blow in the tank vent line to see if it starts easier.

 

[Confused]

how hard is it to do the valve adjustment? or is it something that should be taken to a shop?

Depends how handy you are. Getting to the cam cover is half the battle. As others mentioned, start with plugs then carbs.

Also, don't fix it for him while looking it over, the price becomes less negotiable.