Hi guys, new user here...

I have an Auto '90 TP Wagon and she's a little beauty. Lately I've been having a problem with it stalling when it's cold though. And it seems to be chewing through the juice at a higher rate than it should but I haven't actually tested it yet, just realised I'm refueling more than I used too. I've a few bottles of injector cleaner through it but to no avail, I think it might be getting worse.

So what do you guys reckon? When it's warm she's beaut but overly thirsty. The Oxygen sensor has been suggested to me but I don't where to locate it and check it. Or just replace it? And someone said something about a MAF but I don't know what that is. Please let me know what you think, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Oxygen sensor is located at the very front of the engine in the exhaust. There should be a single wire sticking out from under the cover over the exhaust manifold. When that sensor fails it does cause higher fuel consumption, but won't make the car stall when cold. Depending on how many k's the car has done, it may be worthwhile to simply replace the oxy sensor anyway. They only tend to last up to around 80,000k on average if you're lucky.

The MAF is an airflow sensor, which basically just monitors the flow of air into the engine. If you completely disconnect that the car will usually just stall. Check the connectors on the back of the air filter box. The MAF is located inside there, but if the connectors are loose it could be causing your stalling issue. Occasionally the sensors do fail, but it's not very common.

Other than that, I would look at the ISC motor (do a search through the forums for testing) or idle adjustment, which I would seriously look at if the connector doesn't make a difference.

also have the overdrive off when cold

http://www.aussiemagna.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40090

What would be the reason to do that for? To heat up the engine faster?

Overdrive off when cold is recommended on every automatic car actually!

The Fast idle throttle when cold is the EFI equivalent of a carburettor's choke. Unlike a choke though, it just revs the engine a bit (the exact same think can be achieved by pressing your foot slightly on the accelerator).

The fast idle apparently uses a wax pellet and the system was changer on the TR. They fail all the time from what I've heard and is expensive to fix up. If you do it yourself its cheaper but an **** of a job from what i've heard. Basically just don't drive your car hard until it warms up. Secondly check your idle is around 900rpm when warm. yes that is slightly high, but will partially counteract the low speed when cold...

For fuel economy, maybe a too thicker oil is used? If you're engine is in good nick a 10W oil may be better (such as Penrite HPR10). A too thick of an oil means the engine has to work harder to circulate the oil. A thicker oil however, is required if your engine is worn. 10W works fine on my TP and doesn't burn any, but I did add a bottle of Morey's Oil Stabiliser which I think helps :)

Just realised the original posting here was a duplicate. There are other replies to the same thread title in "Tech Torque". For anyone using the Hayes workshop manual and looking for the coolant temperature sensor, illustration 8.15 on page 6-7, Chapter 6 is just plain wrong. The item being back-probed in the pic. is the motor position sensor which is nothing like it and not even close. I believe someone posted a pic. of the temperature sensor recently. If not, I will take a pic. tomorrow.

regards
Coldamus

for chewing fuel . change the fuel filter and see if it chews less. thats all i could think of that hasn't been mentioned.

i go coolant temp sender theres on the top of the intake manifold (front of motor) the also one hidden underneath it the one under is the ecu's reference to the engine temp it usally doesn't show and error on the ecu tho, but if it the resistance doesn't change with the heat the ecu runs the motor with start-up enrichment all the time