Hey guys,

Just bought my first 1990 MR2 SW20. Loving it!! Anyway, I have two questions.

Firstly, I found when I turn the car off and jump out and have a listen near the engine bay and I can hear an intermittent electrical discharge noise. I remember hearing this on my 1990 Corolla Seca SX. It doesn't seem to affect start up or battery but want to know if this is a start of a problem or what not.

Second question is about startup. When I try to start it up after it's sat for a day or so, it will sit turning over but not starting. Once I've pumped the accelerater a couple of times, it normally starts but struggles to idle or gain revs even under acceleration and pops and splutters around 400-600rpm until I kill it. Once I restart it again,it springs to life with no problem. Any suggestions? I'm thinking fuel issues but could be wrong... Oh and it doesn't shoot any smoke on startup.

Cheers,
Graham

Electrical discharge? Never heard that before...
Do you mean a ticking of metal parts cooling down maybe?
 
Other question.
Turn the key to on, (but not all the way to start), pause for 10 secs and then hit start, does it make a difference?
Can you hear the fuel pump come on during that pause?

re: electrical discharge sound... does it sound like a buzzing noise.. like you half killed a bee? I get that... have been getting it nearly 10 years and have NO idea what causes it but it doesn't seem to do any harm...

@TRD2000. That's exactly what I am hearing!! It happened in my Corolla for about 2 years and didn't seem to be a problem but I would love to know what's doing it!

It's definitely not the tinkling of the engine cooling down.

I'll give your suggestion a go later this morning and I'll let you know if that changes anything.
Thanks for your guys help already!

Sounds like you have an extra kilowasp :D

That stuck bee sound is apparently normal. Someone has said earlier (I think) that it's the charcoal canister.

Nothing to worry about but it does sound like there is a short.

the buzzing sound is the gas fumes purging in the charcoal canister.
with the second problem, do as mentioned above and wait and see if you can hear the fuel pump priming. then start the car
 
cheers

Dudeman
That stuck bee sound is apparently normal. Someone has said earlier (I think) that it's the charcoal canister.

purple5ive
the buzzing sound is the gas fumes purging in the charcoal canister.

This is correct, the buzzing sound is normal (or at least common) from the charcoal canister, it's nothing electrical.
When you hear the buzzing sound, give the charcoal canister a tap on the side, and the sound will stop for a moment.
EDIT: In case you're wondering, the charcoal canister is the round container on the left of the engine bay near the coolant filler neck.

Regarding the start up, what type of fuel are you using? I use to have awful first start ups with Caltex Vortex 98. The car would just splutter at idle or stall but if I turned it off and started it the second time there was no problems. I changed to Ultimate 98 and it now starts perfect every time without fail. I also tried V-Power 98 and no problems either. I switched back to Vortex 98 to make sure that was the problem and had 2 weeks of spluttering first start ups.
 

Lumix
Regarding the start up, what type of fuel are you using? I use to have awful first start ups with Caltex Vortex 98. The car would just splutter at idle or stall but if I turned it off and started it the second time there was no problems. I changed to Ultimate 98 and it now starts perfect every time without fail. I also tried V-Power 98 and no problems either. I switched back to Vortex 98 to make sure that was the problem and had 2 weeks of spluttering first start ups.

Wow, that's pretty bad hey!