Hesitant to Start... Stalls and Coughs when Given Gas

[ejsharp]

Just got Another 87 300E for the wife from a fellow who has had a run of engine related problems. It seems he has taken the car to every local shop between his home and place of work but has given up trying to find the problem. I spent the day under the hood checking everything out but could find nothing obvious. The engine is moody. Sometimes it runs well but most of the time it is hesitant to start and wants to stall out if given too much gas. If just a wee bit of gas at a time is given the engine will accelerate untill high RPMs are reached and then she purrs like a kittten.

I suspect maybe something is wrong with the throttle or possibly a cracked intake manifold .

Has anyone had similar experience or can someome give me some leads as to where I might find the problem?

Thanks.

[ejsharp]

Would one of the Techs give this a shot?

Thanks.

[pesuazo]

Mileage?
Service?
Work done on the car?

[ejsharp]

Milage is 264,000 miles and I do not know the service record. It just had a new fuel pump and a O2 sensor installed.

My sense is that it has something to do with the throttle or air flow meter.

It reminds me of the old distributors when the vacume advance woud be disconnected and the engine goes into a retarded stall if given too much gas.

More info would help, is the hard start when it is hot or cold?
Does the stalling occur at speed when accelerating?
or when accelerating from a stop?
Is the stalling actually a stall or a hesitation?