Engine stumble, then smoke???

[rousie13]

Well today I noticed that if my engine stumbles to start, it shoots out a little smoke from the exhaust. I can't tell what color it is, but it looks like a lighter color(whitish/grey?). I don't notice any smoke when the car starts quickly or when i'm under throttle. The power of the car when accelerating seems to be fine too, so I'm a little confused. The radiator coolant is full and the car doesn't burn any oil(that I know of anyway). By the way, I have a 166K on the motor. I have a couple possibilities of what it might be, but I would like others opinions, as I'm very unsure what it is: head gasket, piston rings, valve seals, or maybe just gas/smoke from the stumbling start. I'm going to do a compression test later this week, which should give me some information. Whats the factory compression for a 91?

[NISTECH]

its flooding most likely try checking your base idle adjustment. if thats ok check your cts connector for corrosion.

[rousie13]

Thanks for the info, but I have a couple questions. My car idles around 600-700rpm(not sure if thats what you meant by base idle). And what exactly is the cts connector and where is it? I've noticed that my gas mileage has been sucking lately too. Would a corroded cts connection be doing this? I have no idea how old the O2 sensors and things like that are on the car either.

[NISTECH]

base idle is when you disconnect the throttle position sensor and start the car when in this condition you check your idle and timing. once they are both set you shut the car off and reconnect the throttle postion sensor . cts= coolant temp sensor. located on the front of your intake manifold ,yellow or red 2 wire connector . yes if the resistance is to high it will think the car is colder then it actually is and it will richen the fuel mixture.

[rousie13]

Ok thanks a lot. I will check those things tomorrow. I seriously need to get an FSM, so I can look this stuff up myself.