We got a 97 2.2 cl with a blown headgasket. We replaced the head gasket and all the other random gaskets and seals. The timing belt has only about 10k on it so we put on the same one.

We started it up and it idles a little rough when its cold and runs perfect when you give it gas. When it warms up, it runs perfect still but if you let go of the gas, it will idle very rough and die. It dies when its warm for some reason.

It is also very hard to start it and its not the battery or starter.

Another thing we noticed was water out of the exhaust. There is a small puddle of clear water if you let it run for a little bit or rev it. It happened a lot when we first changed the head gasket. It's been about a week now and there's still water sometimes. The oil and water levels are exactly the same as a week ago.

The car drives fine and I've driven it on the freeway for about 130 miles so far with no problems. Its just that I have to hold the gas and brake at stop lights so it won't die.

Any idea what would make it do that?

And the new head gasket isn't leaking or anything. The head wasn't warped either.

The check engine light is not on and I scanned it and there are no codes

I just rechecked the belts and they are not too tight or anything. If I can't figure anything out I'll check the timing belt again but I'm sure its good. Could it be that small balancer belt or something? Like I said, the engine runs very good its just the warm idle that's the problem

 

my first thought would be a vacuum leak... you might check around and make sure you dont have any vacuum lines that you forgot to hook back up putting everything back together... Another possibility is that your EGR valve is staying open... you might try disconnecting the vacuum line to it, while its running and see if it idles better... if it idles better and there's vacuum on the line at idle, you've connected the egr to constant vacuum, and u need to recheck your routing... i've done this to a car or two myself, lol... its very easy to get one of those little hoses confused when doing a big job like a head gasket.

 

I would start with a compression test. How warped was the head? All heads are warped to some degree. Did you take the intake off with the head or unbolt it and leave it in place?

 

Carb cleaner spray is a good way to find vacuum leaks, just don't spray it where there could be a spark.
Like spray along the intake where it meets the head.
Recheck all the vacum lines are in the right place as well as electrical connections.
TPS/IAT/MAP.
I seem to remember that there are 2 connectors that can be swapped on the throttle body. [wheeeeew What a Flashback]

 

I unbolt the intake and leave it in place and it would help to know which way the OP tackled the job.

 

We can't do a compression test because we can't screw the piece on. Our socket is too big to fit.

And we unbolted the intake and exhaust from the head so we just took the head out. We have new gaskets everywhere. There was really almost no lines to confuse since we didn't take the intake manifold out or anything. Just the head.


UPDATE: I took off that idle control valve and it was very clogged. Cleaned it out for like 10 minutes with carb cleaner and now the idle is normal like 99% of the time. When I come to a stop, it doesn't die and almost never goes lower than 600 or 500 rpms. The starting got a little better but it's still having trouble starting cold or warm. I've driven it a total of 300 miles so far after the head gasket was done and it drives perfectly. The oil and water level is still exactly the same with no leaks anywhere.

Any ideas on what else I can check for the starting issue?

 

When I read hard starting and head gasket the first thing I think of is coolant fouling the spark plugs even with no coolant loss. A compression test would eliminate that cause. What do the spark plugs look like? Did you put in a new set of plugs; many times spark plugs if fouled will not clean up from use. I have seen a brand new set of spark plugs get fouled from a gas flooded engine and have to be replace because of hard starting. These areas are where I would start.