Why is my cars RPM gauge idling?

I have a 1994 Honda Civic hatchback. Every time I turn on my car on a cold start, the car sounds accelerated and after about 40 seconds of waiting it begins to idle while being parked and while driving.

Now, I've cleaned out the air idle control valve, cleaned out the manifold, checked to see if there was any air in the cooling system, and also checked for any vacuum leaks. Let's keep in mind that I'm no mechanic and all of this that I've done came from research and advice from others who have had the same issue.

So I performed all of this and nothing. Now, I just recently had the issue where I turn on the car and it turns off on me. Lately it's also been smelling like gasoline after I drive the car or when I have my heater on. Could this possibly be related with any of the idling?

Please, any help or any of your knowledge would be very appreciated and helpful. Winter is coming and I need to have this car running at its best.

A fast idle on cold startup is NORMAL. There's NOTHING WRONG with your car. It's supposed to do that.

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