cold start problem
 

HI all

Have a 99 Sable with a cold start problem. I didn't know my wife was having such a problem with this.
I have to hold my foot on the accelerator petal to keep the car running for 3 to 5 minutes before the car will stay running. Can you point me to what might need to be cleaned or replaced? Also if I need to replace or clean a part what the part looks like.

sounds like the idle air control motor is clogged. carb/throttle body cleaner is your friend here. take the air intake hose off and you can clean out the throttle body (probably carbon build up) and if you want to be really thorough, get a gasket for the IAC and take it off and hose it out with the throttle body cleaner too. You can do a decent job by just shooting through the holes in the side of the throttle body that it's mounted to though.

I took the throttle body and iac off yessterday morning and cleaned them with carb cleaner. Started ok this morning. Have to see when it gets real cold. Thanks for the reply

if there was a good coating of carbon, this may have solved it. hope it does. if not, you may need to check that the IAC actually works and isn't just stuck in one position.