Delorean Ran for a little then stopped

[Choad17]

When I received the car, it barely had gas in it. I added gas and was able to start the car. Would stall trying to find idle. I drove to get gas and made it home fine. Took it out another day and car died pulling into garage and I couldn't restart it. Noticed that the fuel mixture stopper was missing. I bought one and adjusted it and was able to restart car and seemed to find idle. Drove around and car died again pulling into garage (driveway is uphill but not too steep). Couldn't restart it so I believe it has a hot start issue. I noticed that there was a hole in the cold air intake hose so I decided to completely remove the hot air intake tube and switched to a newer cold air intake. I also changed the air filter as the existing one was dirty. The last time I took the car out, it died on the road. I couldn't get it started and luckily I wasn't far from home that I car towed it back home and used a wench to pull it into garage. Now it won't start at all. It tries to turn over but immediately dies. I can smell fuel so I believe it is getting gas.

The other day I tried to start it again and it finally turned over but could not find idle and was about to die unless I gave it acceleration. It smelled badly of exhaust and I could see it smoking white smoke from back of engine closest to back seat. The fuel distributor, cold start valve, frequency valve, fuel pump sensor module, new pump, relay, filter, and hoses were are replaced in 2017 according to papers I have from previous owner.

What would cause it to smoke so badly and what can I check? I'm no mechanic so I would need some explanation of what to perform. I checked the starter coil seemed fine and the ballast resistor seemed fine. Inertia switch seemed to be ok as well. Not sure what to do at this point.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Most common problem with a new to you car is mixture is not set correctly. That can cause starting and running issues. I would suggest you get a dwell meter and check and set the mixture before trying anything else. You can't set the mixture for best idle and expect it to start correctly.

[Azar]

I have a similar issue after recent rebuilt. It won't start after 5 minutes and even after 2 hours. Have to crank it a few times till it tries to start and keep the WOT so it will not die after start, but after 5-10 seconds it idles OK, albeit rough.
Yes, tuning CO for the best idle (checking with the professional smog check system in Europe) will not result in the best starting...

[bueller]

Don't know the full background of your car Azar but this sounds like a somewhat classic hot start issue. This article covers some of the options but accumulator is often one of the first places to start: https://support.delorean.com/kb/a61/hot-start-issues.aspx

[Ron]

$.02

CO should always be set last. You should figure out why it keeps dying and having starting problems first. I would treat it like a new engine and go to square one:
-Inspect and clean/replace the spark plugs.
(Record the position of any that look different than the others.)
-Have a fire extinguisher ready.
-Remove several of the easy to get to injectors and place them in a container suitable for catching fuel.
-Remove and jump the RPM relay to turn on the pump.
-Turn the CO screw to the right (CW) until the injectors begin to spray then left (CCW) until they just quit. (Use very small increments and don't press down.)
-Check Primary and Control pressures.
-Remove jumper and install the RPM Relay.
-Start the engine.
(If it will not, check for spark at each plug wire, vacuum leaks, etc.)
(After you resolve any problems, recheck the spark plugs, for fuel fouling...)
-Set the timing.
-After it warms up, set the CO. (Plug the access hole and wait a few seconds before taking a reading.)

Stop and post up if you have any questions/problems...

[MrChocky]

Don't know the full background of your car Azar but this sounds like a somewhat classic hot start issue. This article covers some of the options but accumulator is often one of the first places to start: https://support.delorean.com/kb/a61/hot-start-issues.aspx

Yes definitely, *however*, and this is strictly speaking a cold start issue, check if the pins on the TTS plug aren't backed out. One was on mine after visiting the valley, and I had similar starting issues to what Azar describes.