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Starts good, idles good, no power when cold

1K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  99Smokin73Stroker 
#1 ·
I have read a lot of threads and I have to be honest, after reading so many I can't remember which is which so I am going to ask for help. I have a 2001 F350 with a 7.3 PSD. When it is cold outside my truck will start and idle fine but it has no power for about 5 to 8 minutes until the motor is warm. It doesn't do this all the time, but most of the time when it is cold or when i haven't plugged it in. Now tonight it is 43 degrees outside and I started it and it ran fine, but when it is cold it will start and idle fine, but has no power for several minutes. It is stock with 141,000 miles and about 8000 miles on a tranny rebuild. I appreciate any help. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I going to bump this for you and i sure someone will help you out, and don't worry about asking questions that is what this site is about.If you got um ask,a lot a great guys on here.
 
#3 ·
Could be your exhaust back pressure valve. When its cold the valve will close to put a load on the engine to aid in warmup. Do you hear a loud hiss from the tailpipe when your power is down? If you do thats probobly what it is. Its normal to do that but should open up when you hit the throttle.
 
#4 ·
That is just how the 7.3 is. The colder it is, the less power it has upon startup. Once in my 99 I had to start it up at -10. It took several cranks before it fired, and it ran so lopey that the truck rocked back and forth. I gave it some gas, all the way to the floor and it did nothing. After about 30 seconds the idle smoothed out and I left it outside to warm for about 15-20 minutes. Plugging in really helps a lot, but I never plugged in until it was below 30 outside. Nothing is necessarily wrong, that's just how they behave until they get a little heat goin.
 
#6 ·
Man, don't they sound good on a cold morning!
 
#7 ·
Hey quad next time you see a post of that type click the white triangle with the red line around it and black line, it's located at the top right of each individual post box, it will report the post to moderators.
 
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