Help me make this relationship last

Hello big boys,
I have finally attained my dream car, 1989 Ford Escort 1.6 (Made and bought in Spain)

Relatively low mileage, no serious issues except for ONE:

When I start the car, I have to crank it for three-ish seconds before it catches, and have to have slight pressure on the accelerator for it to catch... after it starts it dies if I take my foot off the gas, so i have to manually rev it around 2K for 30 seconds.... after which it rough idles at around 600 RPM, so I drive around for a while and then it goes normal and idles at 1000.

What could be the cause of this? Am a poor student and need to prepare myself for the expense of fixing it - also Spanish people are lazy so all garages are closed this week.

Suck squeeze bang blow. The starting issue could be fuel pump or filter. The rough idle until warm could be cuts in the insulation of the spark plug wires. I had that happen on my Saturn. The wire was nicked and shorting through a small cut on the insulation but when it got warm the rubber expanded to make a better seal.

>dream car
>1989 Ford Escort 1.6
That's some pretty low standards even for Veeky Forums

>being smart enough to understand sarcasm
>you

I'm not sure. Maybe someone will know exactly what is is. Is it fuel injected? Could be the fuel injectors need cleaning. I'd run a can of Seafoam or equivelant through.
Also like the other guy said it could be sprark plugs or wires. Possibly spark timing is off a little.
Hmm also maybe the mass airflow sensor is dirty. There are a lot of things it could be

To add to this I'd try shooting some brake cleaner in through the air filter (works like starting fluid but less dangerous). If it fires right up and runs great for a few seconds then it probably is not a spark issue. So, fuel system or intake/ exhaust issue (clogged air filter, dirty MAF, clogged cat etc)

I did not pick up on the scarcasm either. You do know Veeky Forums is the second most autistic board on the chan.

If this is not bait, why is it your dream car? If this is a shitbox you just bought because your poor, give it some respect

Not him, but they're quite endearing cars if you ask me, even with the underpowered engine you can apperciate the look and have a good time cruising around with it.

Is that yours?

That has to be the cleanest looking Escort I have seen, EVER.

Kadett >Escort >>>> Golf

Sierra>Manta>Ascona>Kadett >Escort >>>> Golf

It was sarcasm but with good intention, as said, I think its a very simple and fun car to drive that has quite a bit of character.

Mine has a carbureted 1.6 CVH so its not horribly underpowered like some of the other models, still quite slow but fun to drive.

and yeah, this is an annoying issue because it could be so many things, was kinda hoping someone here would have some experience with these and had faced similar issues.

>Sierra over Manta

....perhaps

Here's another one, the badge on the side is from a Spanish air force F5 Squadron.

I appreciate all the serious replies BTW, was expecting to get pied

A tough choice indeed, but the Sierra managed to win me over long before i got acquainted with the Manta i'm afraid.
Beautiful car, take good care of her user.

>carbureted
That changes things m9. Sounds like your choke isn't working. That matches best with what you described, but I assumed it was FI which wouldn't have a choke problem. So, yeah.
As you'll see I asked right here if it was FI Get a look into the carb and see if the forst butterfly valve is open or closed while the car is off. It should be closed. If not, press the gas pedal a few times. If it still doesn't close try closing it manually and see if it's stuck. Report back.

Why ddo I like clean old shitboxes so much?

Sorry for delay, had to sleep. I need to go to the auto store and buy a little basic tool kit.

Want to remove this massive air filter and replace it with something smaller maybe a K&N one that just sits on top of the carb, but then I wont be getting outside air.. seen it on a youtube video, thoughts?

I'm gonna try remove that whole filter assembly and have a look at the carb later on today if anyone is still here.

What's that thing supposed to Escort, your virginity?

...

que rica

she has shit taste in fashion

But good taste in cars

chris-chan drove an escort

not gonna lie, thats a cute little car

but the american escort from the same era is ugly

Forget any filter which would make the motor catch hot air. The car needs fresh air. You'd better put an original air filter if you can not find a "sport" filter fitting the original air box.

Buy another one for parts now before it gets impossible to find them.

coolest ford escort t b h

Cute car, cute girl.
can't offer much insight on your issue but i'll bump with this beauty i owned a while back.

Update, hope some of y'all are still here...

I removed the air filter, exposing the Weber carb underneath. As you can see in the photo the choke isn't fully open when idling and it also doesn't move much when I press the gas (sorry, don't have much knowledge about carbs)

Anyway, the choke has about a half inch of freedom of movement and I cannot push it all the way closed. When I start it and get the low idle, the valve doesn't stand up straight, but does so after a little while at which point it idles normal (1000rpm)

thoughts?

That's real clean, and red is my favourite color. The 4 door practicality is cool but I bet I would love it in two door even more.

Somehow I actually paid only 900 EUR for this one...