Well it did eventually start but let me share the problem.

- has occasionally done funky things on semi warm/warm engine that it needs a long cranking and some gassing to get going. Afterward runs fine.

- last week had problems starting - no signs of life when cranking. waited 2 min and waited with the ignition on so throttle can adjust itself. Then started on quick crank.

-no error codes. I occasionally get 0411 secondary air injection code.

so yesterday was leaving work early 0 the car had only sat for few hours. Car did not start - no matter what I did with the throttle. At best you could hear maybe one cyl. trying but mostly absolutely no sign of life. Smell plenty of gas. Waited tried etc.
In the evening came back with my wife and her corolla. With cables hooked continued exercises. At wot you could get some accelerating in cranking but not even close to starting. As wot was most promising I opened the air box in case the car was starving for air or something. No change. I had already given up but my wife insisted on trying her magic touch.

I had my fist blocking the air intake when she cranked - no help but soon after I removed my hand it started. Ran fine after. very frustrating.

Any tips or pointers would be much appreciated.

 

What maintenance have you done ??
Plugs, wires, fuel filter??
You have to start with the obvious before going to the exotic.

BTW it is probably the temp sensor or fuel pump but could be lots of other things..

 

Testing is the thing to do at this point, get the fuel pressure tested first, check the plugs to be sure they are firing. The sporadic nature and multiple warnings kind of point to a sensor going bad. It could be the temp sensor, the throttle body, the MAF, or a spotty connection to one of these. Sometimes in older cars, it's good to pull the sensor and module connectors one by one and spray them with electronics spray while having a look at them, especially the ECU connector. You don't give the mileage but a compression check might also be in order.

 

Thanks for the replies.

Car has 100k miles (100,020 exactly). It doesn't consume oil and when it runs runs fine so I doubt that its compression.

I have had the car since 85k miles and haven't changed plugs or fuel filter. Where is teh filter located?

Whats should the fuel pressure be? - can I find a spot where to take readings for fuel pressure.

I will get a gauge and start from t here + check and jiggle connectors. Any idea of what kind of readings working temp sensor gives?

The car is not the prettiest example so its not worth much - maybe 3-4k$ so I want to be sensible in what I pour my money to.

 

Holy crap -- Isn't it time you did a bit of maintenance?

At 110 k you should do plugs, wires, fuel filter, and run a bit of fuuel injector cleaner thru the thing.

Is the CEL on? If so you need to get the codes.

What about the timing belt? Has it been done?

With a bit of care 100K is just a baby. If you don't take care of it 100K can be on old lady ion crutches.