OT - engine dies when cold

It's a 5.9L gas engine on a 2001 Dodge Ram 1500. When it starts, I have to keep the RPM's up until it warms up a little, then there are no more problems. This is our winter plow truck, so would really like to figure out what to check before the temps get much colder. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Also, this truck is no longer licensed for the road, nor does it have insurance. Taking it in somewhere is out of the question. Everything else works terrific.

Is it fuel injected? Cold idle solinoid would be a first guess.

Yep, pretty certain is fuel injected. I'll have to look that up in the repair manual......IF I can ever find it! *lol* Sure does plow the snow good, though!!

Thanks for the solenoid tip.

Got any check engine light?? , does it surge?? , when was the last time ya tuned it up ?? could be the idel bypass motor and valve are sticking , Have to clean the one on our 03 Durango every once in a while . When ya own this new junk one MUST have a GOOD scan tool , No not the ones ya get at harbor freight or the big box parts store , ya need a good one like a Solus or otc genius , nope they are not cheap and neithe is payen someone to DO IT FOR YOU and have them guessing for hours at a time on your dime.

Had the truck in for professional tune-up a couple years back. Only use it to plow snow on our property, so definitely no abuse. Engine starts and runs so long as I give it gas, but will [b:3c4e9e7922]immediately[/b:3c4e9e7922] die if I let off the gas even most of the way, until it warms up a little. Today it was right at 32F and I hooked up the plow. Brand new battery cranks the engine with power to spare. Once engine is warm, everything is fine. Doesn't even have to register on the water temp - just needs to warm up somewhat.

Can't take it back to the mechanic, as we were his last more in-depth job. When we got back from Dad passing away (cancer), we found out he had cancer also. He wasn't very old, either! Truck started fine then, but it was Summer. Just three months later, when the truck wasn't starting well, I called but got no answer. Soon after that we saw that his shop was closed up. About a year later we found out he had also passed away shortly after closing shop.

Great guy! Would help out "anyone", charged less than anyone else, but took great pride in his work. Used to race cars until accidents and orders from "The Boss" (his wife) made him stop. The mechanic before him.....well, that's why I left the truck with Steve for 3 months, to fix the other guy's scab work.

...I've kinda got this personal beef with cancer. It took Steve too(!!) young - left a wife and two beautiful little girls. Took Dad. Seems to have taken Dick2. Just thankful that Larry is fighting back as well as he is. Those last pics of him fishing -- just awesome! Not to mention all the others here who have or are still fighting with it!

Hmm...seems I've got more than just the truck on my mind tonight.

Ooops! Forgot to answer - there is no engine light. Nothing comes up on the OBD tool. Not Harbor Freight, but also not top of the line. Actually bought it after the first mechanic "fixed" the truck!!

chech for some vacume lines rotted or chewed off.

My Chevy did that and it was the intake manifold gaskets.

Plug it in!

IAC (Idle air control) valve stuck, very common. Some come apart (most Fords for ex) for cleaning, carb
cleaner in the vacuum control line may help. It senses engine temp and increases the idle speed
accordingly to keep it around 900rpm no matter whats' going on. If you turn the wheels, a pressure
switch in the power steering high pressure line will increase rpm so it doesn't stall when parking and
you do not have to add gas, turning on the a/c will trigger the IAC to increase rpm as the compressor
draws power............ Just a couple of examples. Easy to find

I would say IAC as well. Can't remember if
my 01 5.9s had them but I suspect so.

oldproudvet -- Wow, thank you! Think you might've nailed it. I had forgotten about this, but a couple years back I had to replace the IAC valve on this truck. Was doing the same thing that time also.

My experience with air intake valves is from a 3.8 v6 Mustang. AS others have mentioned if you can remove the valve,clean it with brake
cleaner , I then put a couple of drops of light oil on the piston in the valve and then follow a procedure of hooking it back up. Ford has a
protocol of hooking up the AIV and then run 2 minutes with all accessories off,shut off for two minutes and then start with all acccessories
on,run for two minutes. This is apparently teaching the computer the different load on the engine. It works well for my car and I have a good
idle speed. I don't know if the Dodges had a protocol to follow when disconnecting and reconnecting,hopefully someone will know. A new valve
for my Mustang was a tad over $100, so cleaning and oiling it cost nothing and it is now working fine with no dash lights appearing on idle.

I'm not sure if the Dodge-style IAC valve is designed to be cleaned. Did a web search and found that many or the Ford models can be. One page said that a valve could be cleaned "IF" it had an exposed spring; otherwise, would need to replace. One thing keeps coming up over and over - never allow the carb cleaner to run into the valve. I s'pose that would only flush the carbon deeper into the valve and motor?

While pondering over this, I happened to remember that my old IAC valve used to sit on my desk, right here in front of me.......SOMEwhere! Well, after moving about 50 lbs of useless papers, there it was. I'll try spraying a little cleaner on it and see if I can get the thing to work. New one won't be here till next week.

This old one looks pretty darn cruddy! Looks like it "could" be original to the engine? Lots of carbon on it - not even sure it's worth messing with. Seems like it got so bad last time that I couldn't even start the engine. ...Maybe I should make cleaning this an annual "summer" chore!

Still going to look into some of the other suggestions.

I'd remove and clean the idle air control with carb. cleaner, wipe the pintle end off good, you can wiggle the pintle side to side and push it in a hair to make sure it's not seized. Spray varnish out of the seat the iac came out of and then hold the throttle open and soak both sides of the plate and throttle body and wipe out until it's Clean. When you wiggle that pintle in don't pull it back farther than it was or you can ruin it when you tighten the screws installing it.

There is no such thing as a "tune-up" on cars and light trucks manufactured within the last 30 years.

Definition of the word "tune" is "to adjust for peak performance."

There is NOTHING that can be adjusted on EFI engines. It is all in the computer. Pre-adjusted by the folks that programmed the computer.

What WAS a tune up?
Replace points, plugs, and condenser. Replace wires if necessary. Then, adjust dwell and timing to specs. Carburetor to be adjusted for fast idle, curb idle, and idle mixture. Choke linkage cleaned and lubricated. Choke operation checked for closing when cold and opening as the engine warms up.
Vacuum lines to be inspected and replaced as necessary.

Now, how much of this is left? Carburetor and choke are long gone. Points, condenser, and even the distributor are gone as well. Replaced by sensors and programming. Still spark plugs and a few vacuum lines, but not much more. Adjustments are long gone. Can't adjust timing, dwell, or idle speed.

I repeat. There is no such thing as a tune up on cars 30 years old or less.

Does the scan tool read the actual engine temp when the engine is cold? If it is reading warmer than actual coolant temp,the ecm may be adjusting the fuel mix for warmer engine temps,and not the actual cold temperature of the engine.The coolant temp guage may be a different sensor than the ecm temp sensor.Mark

"Tune up" is just my words. Truck had some minor probs, so left it with the mechanic for a few months while we were down in Arkansas.

You call it what you want and i'll call it what i want , Been working on THINGS for well over fifty years and ya know what i am pretty darn good at it . Ya want to make it go then i am the guy that can do this . gas diesel transmissions rear end electrical small to Huge . and as far as i am concerned replacing plugs cap rotor and wires cleaning the idle bypass is still a TUNE up . I do have all the toys to play with . No i do not like working on cars and trucks but i can and i am the guy that solves everybodys Carb issue and can still do a recurve on a dist. . I am a Certified Chrysler and Ford tech , a little out of date but i can still make them go .

You call it what you want and i'll call it what i want , Been working on THINGS for well over fifty years and ya know what i am pretty darn good at it . Ya want to make it go then i am the guy that can do this . gas diesel transmissions rear end electrical small to Huge . and as far as i am concerned replacing plugs cap rotor and wires cleaning the idle bypass is still a TUNE up . I do have all the toys to play with . No i do not like working on cars and trucks but i can and i am the guy that solves everybodys Carb issue and can still do a recurve on a dist. . I am a Certified Chrysler and Ford Master tech , a little out of date but i can still make them go .

Well, sir, I have been working on THINGS at least as long as you have. ASE certified master auto technician, certified heavy duty truck technician as well. Ford certified for ANY of their training schools without needing a specialty.
I've done it all as far as mechanical goes. Transmissions, engines, final drives and everything in between. Also have worked on my share of tractors, mowers, chain saws, and about any kind of outdoor equipment you can name. also have experience in plumbing and electrical. I have worked with pressures up to 250,000 psi.

My position is that TUNING amounts to ADJUSTING for peak performance, whatever that performance may be. Peak economy, peak horsepower, quietest operation or whatever your requirement is. Most vehicles today to not have distributors, cap, rotor, or even wires. Representing a bunch of parts changing as "tuning" in my book amounts to misrepresentation. The manufacturers' goal has been to eliminate troublesome components that require periodic maintenance. Points, carburetors, and distributors are among the casualties.

Times change. We should at least update our language to reflect that. That is why I say that the "tune-up" is a thing of the past.

Your a Blow hard, plain and simple

Try this first. It takes 5 minutes and doesn't cost a penney. I don' think it will fix it but try. 1. Start engine 2. set parking brake 3. Put transmission in drive 4. Wait five minutes. Keep it running
with the accelerator. This process will reset the idle motor memory on a 92 Dodge. It can lose it's memory if the battery has been disconnected or discharged completely.

mt pockets -- Yessir, that's the rest of the puzzle. Thank you! I replaced the battery about a month ago. Before that, it sat for an unknown amount of time this Spring/Summer with a fully dead battery. Makes sense that the computer would need to re-learn things. ...Guess this new "high-tech" stuff is just as reliable as my very own "high-tech" mind! *lol* Thank you for the info.

Was also doing some other reading and found that, on Fords anyway, that there is a similar process for re-training the on-board 'puter. So next week, maybe there will be a slow day and I can get outside and get the new IAC valve on without having to be decked out in blaze orange! :shock:

Michael Soldan -- You were the first to mention this process. Like you, not sure that Dodge even has such a process, but it can't hurt to try. Thank you.

[b:738436e1a0]the tractor vet[/b:738436e1a0] and [b:738436e1a0]jimg.allentown[/b:738436e1a0] -- You two crack me up!! *lol*

That comment is just plain RUDE. Whether it is directed at me or the other poster, it is uncalled for.

Uncalled for? Why? The two of you made me laugh. ...What's wrong with that?

In any case, I apologize if that hurt your feelings. That was NOT my intent.