mr T

ok this isnt an emergency or anything like that...when the truck sits for a day or its cold or whatever...i'll turn the key to start and it shakes and kinda chokes for 10 or 15 sec i gotta give it some gas to about 1100 rpm hold it there for 10 sec till it smoothens out then its fine
it smokes while its doing this and then clears up
truck runs fine otherwise and fuel economy is very good

is this normal? idle is at 800rpm by the way so its good too


Andrew

infidel

Sounds like air is leaking into the fuel system.
First place to look at is replacing the rubber fuel hoses.
You can suck air without leaking fuel.

RedD

I hold her to the floor and ease up accordingly.Alot of smokebut she evens out and runs fine and gets decent milage for a 4x4 dually aprox. 15 mpg.I was told to check the timing but I never did as she just runs so strong I didnt want to mess anything up.135k on her auto as the wife drives this one.My 2 1st gens did not ever do this.I have been told the diffenrt pump reactsdifferently upon start up

RedD

I had aprob. with the fuel heater conn. a while back and I really wasnt satisfied with the fix I did but it did work.The elec. conn. was leaking and I filled it with dielec grease. Just thought I would mention it as it might be a good place to check before you go trying to replace your fuel lines.Thank you JoeG.

DZLPWR

Pressurize your fuel system. Its very easy to do and you will be able to pin point your leak instead of replacing parts and hoping its fixed. When i did it, i regulated the air down to 5 psi. I shoved a 1/2 rubber hose over the nozzle and wrapped a rag around it and shoved it into the fill tube. I found my leak about 10 sec. later. If you dont see anything for 5 min. or so, increase the pressure to 10psi. I wouldnt go any higher than that.

It definately sounds like you have a air leak. My truck would do the exact same thing when it had an air leak.

RedD

Even at 5lbs you can get soaked especially if you have a full tank.Greenlee makes a full line of adapters for all sizes of pipe.I know we all do things in a pinch but unless you like the taste of#2 beware

doodah

This sounds normal for a cold day start-up, specially if its been sitting for over a day! Mine starts like that if it hasn't been pluged in, in cold weather! If its pluged in and it starts hard and runs ruff like that, then I would be worried!

mr T

thanks guys i'll look at the air leak situation..yeah this does not happen after its plugged in all night in the morning...only when i dont plug in or my truck sits at school all day in the cold....but i think that its gonna be time to replace the hoses anyway..i think there's instructions on dodgeram.org right?

Andrew

ps maybe it is timing too..previous owner told me that everything has been done but the timing has never been checked EVER...so 12.5 factory timing could have slipped a bit maybe?

torquefan

Even at the factory setting it will run like this, if it slipped it will be worse yet. Either way, it may benefit from a couple more degrees. Also, check your preheaters to make sure BOTH elements are working. I have seen several trucks lately with only one grid coming on before startup. The relay assy. has been the culprit every time. I use an amp clamp to test them. Together, they should draw around 200 amps on preheat. (on post heat- after startup, only one grid at a time will be energized.)

mr T

awesome...between you guys ive gone to a couple diesel truck places to ask to get my timing to 16 degrees and they're all pulling a weener act on me (dont wanna do it over 14.5 so they dont get busted) so what to do?..settle for 14.5? anyhow...i think its gonna be lines...things are gonna crack n leak at this point time to replace the rubber hozes

Andrew

torquefan

14.5 is good. That's where I set all my stuff. Works well, and still way better than the 10 or less factory setting. Go for it. As a professional, I'd probably hesitate on setting anyone's timing over 14.5.