I live forty miles south of SLC, UT where I just purchased a condo that I am currently refurbishing.

In running back and forth on the freeway in this hot weather I have noticed some truck behavior. Air is on and is not affected. This only happens when after the truck has been run a while. It used to be an occassional occurance, but now pretty regular with the hotter weather.

• When I come to a stop, the idle speed falls to a noticably lower than normal level.
• The voltage drops slightly.
• The oil pressure drops all the way and the oil sensor light turns on.

When goosed slightly, the pressure and volt return to normal readings. The battery is known good and is under a year old.

Things I need to check are:

• Get an accurate reading of the voltage.
• Put a mechanical oil pressure gauge on it to see what the pressure is dropping to.

I am wondering if the voltage regulator on the alternator is starting to fail.
I also may have a bad oil sending unit.

What do you all think?

 

Pump's hot (and probably a little tired). Nature of the beast, they idle slower when they get hot - but it does get worse as the pump wears. Set it so it idles around 850 cold and you should be able to keep it above 700 hot. If you can't get it to behave with an 850 RPM idle, start saving your pennies for a new pump.

 

Thanks Wanna...

Bummer, that is one prognosis I wasn't exactly hoping to hear. I guess I need to look at pulling it out. I will set the idle up a little and see if it will last through Aug - I should have a little time then to pull the pump and replace it. Guess that will be a good time to check and do the KDP if not already complete..

 

Dang! Its 115 here and my truck did the same thing today...idle dropped so low it was cutting out . Hmm, saving for a pump huh. I guess I should ask if there is a "performance" VE out there? If so, what makes it performance.

 

Mike, you should be able to raise the idle to over come it in this heat.