Chrysler Repair: 88 LeBaron 2.5 no/hard start, eric pederson, coolant temp

Question
My 1989 Lebaron with a 1988 2.5 liter with air, no turbo and 182,000 miles fails to start. Cranks fine. If I floor the accelerator and pump it, the engine will start but runs as if the EGR valve is wide open (it isn't), or there is a terrible vacuum leak. I can start the car with starting fluid. After 7-8 shots of starting fluid while cranking, the engine idles fine and I drove the car a short distance and it ran perfectly. After shutting off the engine the problem reappears. I replaced the fuel pump and fuel filter. This may have helped things a bit, but far from the complete answer. I haven't checked for codes yet and I now suspect a problem with the TBI. Any guidance you can give me will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Eric Pederson

Answer
Hi Eric,
It sounds like a mixture issue. It takes so little time to check the fault codes why don't you do that first and write me back using the 'evaluate' tab's comment area to tell me the results (I will be "maxed out" for the day, but this is a by-pass)*. The egr doesn't need to be stuck open, just ajar to make it hard to start, so see if it is truly bottomed in its resting position. It could also be the MAP or the coolant temp sensor and those should show a fault code if so.
Let me know what you determine to be the codes, if any.
Roland
*on-off-on-off-on and leave on, within an elapsed time of five seconds. Then count the "check engine" light flashes before each pause and pair them up to form two digit codes. 55 should be the last code meaning "end of readout".