'04 Cold engine driveability issues

[Overclocker]

I've got a bad stumble on acceleration with a cold engine. No trouble codes. It idles fine. It was difficult getting out of the driveway this morning without stalling it. It quits missing only when it's well and truly warmed up. At that point, it runs great. If it was an older car, I'd say it runs like the choke linkage is jacked up.

I admit I did get the engine wet last fall when detailing it, and that's when the issue began. It's been parked since early last November, so I'm pretty sure it dried out.

Help?

 

[Snakes709]

how cold are you talking about? It was -40*C here and mine ran great....sounded like a broken tank when it first started up but thats it.

 

[viperhauler]

sounds like the computer's got a short...

 

[Brat]

Could be a bad TPS.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Could be a bad TPS.

My thought too. Cheap $20 to $25 fix from your local parts place.

 

[Overclocker]

Could be a bad TPS.

Wouldn't that set a DTC?:dontknow:

I can get out the DVM and see if its got any crunchy spots.

 

[VENOMOUS1 RACING]

Yes it should, but apparently Dodge's specs were set with alot of allowance for variances. Many have gone out or had a bad spot and never shown a code.:dontknow:
Need to get it on a computer and ensure it is accurately measuring ambient temp outside and adjusting A/F accordingly. Coolant Temp sensor, Battery Temp sensor, and Intake Air Temp sensor all tell the computer what to adjust the A/F to as well as the O2s.

 

[SilvrSRT10]

Wouldn't that set a DTC?:dontknow:

I can get out the DVM and see if its got any crunchy spots.

Mine was running real rough. Could hardly get it to idle. Once it warmed up it ran better. No code. Replaced the TPS and all is good again.

 

[Overclocker]

Hmmm...I have a OBDII reader that shows a bunch of sensor outputs. Maybe we can take a few minutes and see if the outputs are within a reasonable range.

The temps don't have to be perfect, just reasonably close, right? I'm pretty sure that the scanner I have shows throttle % along with other stuff, so I might be good to go.

I sincerely appreciate the ideas. I'll follow up when I have something to report.

 

[Overclocker]

So I disconnected and inspected the contacts for the intake air temp, MAP, idle air controller, and throttle position sensor. The stuff right in front on the intake. I grabbed my little meter and checked the TPS for crunchy spots. It seemed to sweep the dial pretty smooth, but then, I'm no expert. I then hooked up my little OBD2 scanner and looked at some of the live data as I warmed up the engine. Initially it threw a code and wouldn't idle. Once I plugged in the MAP sensor, and cleared the code, all was well. There was nothing remarkable going on. I drove it to work a few days later, and it was much better. I have no idea what I did to change it, but it's got just the slightest cold miss now. I can live with that.

 

[500snakz]

First thing I would do is fill it up with some good quality gas and throw in some Stabil marine(The blue stuff). The ethenol in the gas attracts moisture. It may be new to your tank, but you dont know how long it was in the stations tank. With the price of gas now I don't think premium is selling as much. Run it a while and then pull a couple of plugs and inspect. Then go from there. I always start with the obvious simple stuff first.

 

[JTS VENOM PERFORMANCE]

I've got a bad stumble on acceleration with a cold engine. No trouble codes. It idles fine. It was difficult getting out of the driveway this morning without stalling it. It quits missing only when it's well and truly warmed up. At that point, it runs great. If it was an older car, I'd say it runs like the choke linkage is jacked up.

I admit I did get the engine wet last fall when detailing it, and that's when the issue began. It's been parked since early last November, so I'm pretty sure it dried out.

Help?

before filling up the tank next time , walk into the station and ask what there experation date is on the fuel in there tanks, that could be your problem

 

[500snakz]

before filling up the tank next time , walk into the station and ask what there experation date is on the fuel in there tanks, that could be your problem

Or just smell it to see if it is spoiled...

 

[SRT Dude]

Used a meter last night looking for an idle problem and discovered I had some crunchy spots.......would milk help out here or would that only leave me with soggy spots???

 

[Slitherbeast]

I am pretty sure they stay crunchy in milk.... unless you use warm milk

 

[ZCx]

is that llama or yak milk?????

 

[SRT Dude]

WTF is a crunchy spot anyways LOL

 

[SRT Dude]

before filling up the tank next time , walk into the station and ask what there experation date is on the fuel in there tanks, that could be your problem

Great advice as I always ask the attendant when their gas is due to expire....usually if you find its on its last 6 months the octane rating will be lower than what it should be....hell I have seen 93 oct test out to only 88 sometimes when close to that expiration date :rock::rock:

 

[500snakz]

is that llama or yak milk?????

MAN milk...:dontknow:

 

[Overclocker]

WTF is a crunchy spot anyways LOL

It's a bad spot in the TPS rheostat that has more noise than signal. If you look at it on a scope, as the tps sweeps through it's range, that bad spot shows up as what I can best describe as crunchy-sounding static on a radio. Have you ever heard a bad volume knob on an old radio? Same thing. Crunchy!