Question about varied starting behavior

[Roadkilled75]

Tried a few searches but none of the keywords I could think of yielded much.

My car is a 100% stock '89.

When starting, like every other car I've driven, the engine 'catches' and revs away from the starter, if you will, up to around 2100rpm, then settles down into idle depending on temperature.

Sometimes, though, and with increasing frequency as of late, as long as I hold the key in the 'start' position the engine doesn't 'catch' and run. However, it never fails to start - when I give up and let go of the key it picks up and runs just fine.

Does this mean impending failure of the...DIS? CPS? Just paranoia?

 

[hawkeye18]

I think it's just paranoia. Or, perhaps, the starter is starting to go bad, or maybe the cluch in it isn't letting it rev?

Most starters, the SHO's included, have a one-way clutch that allows the engine to rev while the starter is still engaged without damaging the starter. I would have to imagine that if that isn't working right, something weird might happen.

Or, it might not be any of those things. Personally, I'd just wait until a symptom that affects driveability appears to troubleshoot it. SHOs are weird.

 

[93rev2sev]

coil pack.