Toyota Repair: 89 Toyota Corrola Cold Start Problem, toyota corrola, cold engine

Question
When the temperature drops to freezing or so my car is hard to start.  It turns over without a problem, but won't catch.  What I need to do is pump the gas pedal quickly for 15-20 time, and then turn the engine on.  It is slow to catch and I have to keep pumping the gas until it finally catches.  Once it catches I have to keep my foot slightly on the gas for a couple of minutes until the engine is warmed up.

Is there something simple I can do to get it working correctly?  I have put dry gas and carb cleaner in the fuel tank, with no improvement.

I don't know if this is related but on some intermittant frequency the car diesels when I turn it off.

Thanks.

Answer
Hello Fritz, welcome to my expert page.
It sounds like there is a problem with the choke in the carburetor(it has a carburetor, correct?)check to see that the choke plate closes fully when the engine is cold, to do this remove the top of the air cleaner(cold engine) step on the accelerator all the way"ONLY ONCE" then look at the choke, the plate should be almost closed, if not it is sticking open, you may be able to free it up by spraying some carb cleaner and trying to move it by hand with the accelerator fully depressed.