So, I may have asked this on this forum before, but the problem is clearer to me know, but the cause of it isn't.

So, when I fire up cold, in the morning or after a few hours, everything seems to run great, meaning power is fine, low to no smoking, pulls hills, I can give it fuel at 60 mph and still obviously accelerate.

However, if I shutdown, even for a few seconds, and then fire up again, I have a lack of power issue that I can't get to "go away." Smoking becomes much worse, my top end on flat ground is 60 mph, I can't pull small hills in south Georgia! My mpg is low as hell too, averaging 22, when it should be 35 or so!

Now, curiously, once I was able to regain "normal" power by backing off the fuel pedal and then giving it fuel again gently, but I've never been able to replicate this.

It seems as though the heated engine is causing something to not operate properly after shutdown. Fuel cut solenoid? If so, how can I check this and where is it?

Could timing be the culprit? No knocking either. My tranny needs some work though. Could the tranny cause it by inducing drag or something?

FYI, it drives fine if I never shutdown, for hours even, on road trips.

The motor is original and the mileage is about 137K. It's not a turbo, just a regular c223.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Dean