Over the past couple years my truck has increasingly exhibited cold-start romps even in 80F+ outside temperature.

-All eight glow plugs replaced a few months ago, one of the old ones was bad, didn't make much difference.

-GPR voltage output seems correct and I have the LED mod.

-Romped with Rotella 15W-40, romps with Delo 15W-40

-HPOP reservoir is full, no fuel or oil leaks.

-ICP and duty cycle seem good AFAIK, they are displayed on my SGII

-Letting glow plugs run for >30 seconds before start helps but not 100% of time

-new Motorcraft ICP sensor about a year ago, new one seems to have oil in plug again though.

-Rebuilt IPR a couple weeks ago, complete disassembly, new orings. This seemed to improve things until:

-changed oil (Delo-Delo) three days after IPR rebuild and romping is back, bad as ever.

Doesn't romp at every start and the truck runs great otherwise (smooth, good power, no evident issues). Romping used to stop after a couple seconds, now it sometimes keeps going and a blip of the accelerator pedal stops it.

I've been resisting going to 5W-40 due to location (Florida) and the fact that it didn't used to romp and now does and is getting worse. I've done quite a bit of searching and thought I was on to something with the IPR.

Any other hard parts or sensors to look at before I throw in the towel on the oil? I don't feel that I should have to run 5w-40 to avoid romps in FL and also think that might just mask another issue in my case (assuming the 5W would resolve my romps).

 

I'm no help, but you must have some sort of issue.

For comparison sake (& I'm not trying to be a smart a$$) I have the original glow plugs (296k) & I know a few are bad. I run Rotella Syn 5-40 & dino 10-40 with no romp issues.
I never cycle the glow plugs, just turn the key like a gasser most of the time.

I can't ever recall my truck romping except one time in Texas and it was very cold.
I wish I could help but it sounds like you cover all of the bases & I'm curious what the experts have to say.

 

I'm just thinking out loud but, If your oil temp sensor (top right of the hpop reservoir) goes it will give you hard star issues. I cracked mine once when leaning over the rad to work on something and it had a serious cold start issue.
It did throw a SES light when if finally fell apart, but i wonder it its just bad it would give similar issues??

 

well i'm far from being one of the experts mentioned above but, the only time my truck ever romped like that in the 12 yrs i've owned it, "and done it for about 2 yrs" was when a few of my sticks got clogged from bad fuel. after replacing all of them to upgraded 180/100's the truck now runs great and never romps. good luck with your issue.

 

Mine also used to romp every so often in temps 60F-70F. In my thorough searching in this forum I couldn't find anything that pointed to a certain cause. Being a loyal Delo 400 user, I reluctantly changed to Rotella T6 and it has never romped since.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.

Frank, good info on your truck. I checked that sensor just now and it looks undamaged. I also monitor EOT on the SGII and the sensor seems to be reading correctly including GP on below 130F and GP off above 130F when starting.

Chris, this is the first time I'd heard of a correlation between romps and fouled injectors. Honestly I've been suspecting the injectors and did fall off the wagon a couple years ago and run neighborhood backyard rotgut biodiesel of low quality for a while. That stuff did foul up the fuel system and had water in it. The timing does roughly coincide with the onset of romp issues.

binuya, interesting, I should have made that switch at the last change, struggling with the idea of dumping fresh oil to do that test but I'm also sick of these romps.

The truck is at 175K miles, other than OASIS I have no history for the truck prior to 140K.

 

Mine does pretty much the same as yours with the romps, Doesn't do it all the time but sometimes when it 70-80 degrees it really makes me shake my head. The only thing that cured it completely was the Rev-X oil additive or running Syn 5w40 oil.

I was told WalMart has a good price on the Mobil 1 & that's probably what I'm going to start using year round

 

Travis, don't be scared of Rotella T6. I've used it for the past 70k miles with lots of heavy hauling. I go 8000-10,000 between changes. If anything the heat here would warrent the use of synthetic oil.
And yes it does help cure the romps. It's more of a band aid than a fix for your issue.

 

That Rotella T6 is what I use in the wife's TDI, definitely believe it to be a great oil.

Though I can afford new injectors it would be very prudent for me to wait on that at least for a couple months.

Given that the current fill of Delo has about 100 miles on it would it be a good idea to try one of the additives (AR9100, Rev-X) rather than dumping the fresh fill? Never thought I'd be considering running an oil additive...

Running an OCI like you do Frank would certainly offset the additional cost over the 15W, currently change at 5K miles.

 

I run the T6 in my bike as well. It's a popular oil in the motorcycle community.
As for injectors, I had Jim @ Rosewood diesel rebuild mine and couldn't be happier. It's much cheaper than new.

 

Mine romps here in Texas, too. 105* outside and mine romps for 3-4 seconds before it evens out to a smooth idle. I use Rotella Dino. Only does it on the first start of the day. The other day, I started the truck with the A/C already on....romped so bad I thought it was going to stall. Gave it a little accelerator, and the romp smoothed out. Next day, I turned the A/C off before starting and it was back to the subtle romp I usually get for 3-4 seconds. Haven't figured this one out yet, either, but the A/C load on the engine obviously played a part.

 

Did a quick observation just now. First start of the day and 103 outside. Checked HPOP reservoir before attempting start. Oil was exactly 1 inch below the fill plug. I turned off the A/C, and I started it. Got the very subtle romp I am used to. Immediately turned off. Turned A/C on, and I restarted. Got the severe romp with an almost stall....it evened out within 5 sec without me pushing accelerator. SO....having the A/C compressor engaged is making a significant difference. Might be loading the engine too much?

Checked HPOP oil level after letting it idle for 30 seconds (after above observations), and it was exactly 1/2" below the plug.

 

I have the same result with the A/C on also.

 

My a/c is always on max & its never started differently.

 

Travis, besides the A/C making mine worse the only thing left between the two of us is the injectors. Frank says his A/C being on doesn't affect his starts. I just put a new IPR in mine and it did not affect the romps. I am thinking of running a 10W-30 before I go to a 5w-40. Ford recommends (or used to) a 10W-30 in the 7.3 in colder climates when a thinner oil is needed. Aside from that, my injectors have 226K on them. Yours? I would rather run a thinner oil in my tired injectors than raid the kids' piggy banks for injector money right now.

Has anyone had the romps (that sounds funny) and solved it with new injectors?