Aaheemm,.....pardon me, I am talking about my 2002 Excursion 7.3 diesel by the way
I love my diesel, and this is the only one I've ever owned. I bought it used, and it's always been very warm blooded, meaing that until she warms up, she either wont go or will be very slow going. She always starts and runs fine, but on cool mornings she will resist going and no matter how hard I push the gas pedal, she wont rev up until she's ready to rev up. It's definately different from the gassers I've driven.
I thought it was just a normal thing for these diesels to have to warm up before they loosen up and do what we want them to do.
Today I was told by someone who experienced it with me, that this may ba a transmission problem. Just as fyi tho, he doesn't own or drive a diesel, so Im not sure how much he knows, but he made me want to ask.
As additional background, two summers ago we were towing a trailer through the Big Horn mountains and lost the front seal in the transmission. The Ford dealership fixed it and everything seemed to be fine as far as I knew. She's always been sluggish and cranky when shes cold ever since I got her. Normal ? Right?

 

I don't own a diesel Ex but I work part time at a place with a fleet of 7.3 psd trucks. There are some that act exactly as you've described when they're cold. I wanna say it's normal but I don't know for sure. I can at least say that it's definitely not out of the ordinary.

 

During hte winter months or year round? My 6.0 is really sluggish in the winter until it's warm, but in the summer there's no issues, I normally meander down the street at 2k rpm and 15mph to get out of my neighborhood, and by the time I'm out it's ready to go. Plugging it in makes a huge difference as well though. Also switching to a 5w-40 synthetic over the 15w-40 I use in the summer.

 

My 7.3 with 169K does this as well. As a matter of fact, if I start it up dead cold outside, let oil pressure stabilize, then put it in gear and try to pull into my garage (small incline) it barely pulls itself in. If I take off down the street, it will go a little ways then it's like a lightswitch and takes off normally.

 

My 6.0 acted the same way in the winter. That was one of the main reasons I switched to the V10. I don't need the Ex for work anymore and the diesel would not even be warmed up on many of my short trips that i use it for now.

 

My 6.0 is very hesitant and makes less power. Until my scangauge shows 120 degrees I am definitely not getting the full experience....

 

yes thats normal .. mine did that to but i found that if you plug it in ( the block heater) you wont have that problem

 

Normal. The engine is de-tuned to some extent as self-preservation. Stock tuning advances the timing to compensate for cold/more viscuous oil thru the HEUI injection system.

Dunno why some take longer than others, but it is driven by EOT, so id check that sender first if there seems to be a problem.

Note, at least one popular tuner appears to disable this feature. It is very important to 'baby' the engine until 130* EOT - normal operating temp. Especially with a chip/tuner.

 

Moved to the 1999 - 2003 7.3L PSD forum.

Stewart

 

This is normal in cold weather.
Just like the glow plugs are there for a reason, heat to help get the engine started.
Get in the habit of letting the truck idle for a minute or so on cold mornings before you take off.

I have been driving Ford diesels since the 90's as daily drivers and most of my equipment is diesel.

I notice this thread is in two places.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...is-normal.html

 

OK, thanks everyone. I do keep it in my garage when home, but when on travel its where I park it. I will try to find the heater plug and plug it in while its in my garage to help,...LOL I just envisioned myself forgetting its pluged in and backing out while its still plugged in,....I can see that happening.
You guys are right I did post thiis in the Excursion forum and in the 7.3 forum.. Thanks again, Im glad its normal.

 

My 7.3 won't evin wind up cold in nutral or park. Try it. Been that way every winter since new.

 

Mine with 220K miles did that when I had cheap 15w40 in there. Couldn't get speed up. About 5 miles of 45 mph finally clear.


When I switch 5w40 it HUGE IMPROVEMENT I ever notice. Could start and idle about 1-2 min for oil circulate then drive like it was summer.

With 15w40 it would start then run for short if you not hold gas pedal down. Then 3-4 mins idle and still get forever to go speed with foot down metal/ rpm only go 1200 in load.

 

Another possible senario is if your EBPV could be sticking, had that happen to me pulling out after a quick start and it didn't want to go anywhere, had the pedal mashed to the floor and it didn't want to move. It only happened twice since new but it did happen. It eventuially unstuck but you know.

 

Already been said....

1. Switch to a high quality 5w40 synthetic oil, at least for winter, and this can also be run year-round with NO negative consequences at all.

2. Let the engine warm up a minute or two AFTER the GPR shuts down (or use your block heater and then wait until the GPR shuts down). I can tell exactly when my GPR shuts off because of two things... I hear the vacuum pump start running, and the lights on my dash and stereo brighten up just a tad (as do my headlights).