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.