On a cold day when I crank my truck and leave it has no power at all but when it warms up it's fine. I was curious if this is common or something I need to look into. It's a 97 1500 5.9

 

Bad seals? That expand when truck warms?

 

If its cold enough your oil can get thicker when its cold thats why its sometimes harder to crank over and get going, here in Alberta most people have block heaters and change there oil over to a thinner type. I'm talking about -30c to -40c not sure how cold it gets where your from. I know here it gets so cold the oil can get so thick that the crank arms have a hard time pushing through the oil in the crank case.

 

if its cold enough the transmission will have a hard time too. and it won't shift into overdrive until it warms up.

 

It doesn't get that cold here in TN but it seems extremely sluggish. The transmission will shift into overdrive but the torque converter won't lock up until it gets warm. I just didn't know of there was something I needed to look into or not. I'll change the oil and swith to a thinner oil and give that a shot. I run 10 30 what weight should I try.

 

if you are running 10/30 in TN then the oil is not your problem. i wouldnt go any thinner.

most vehicles arent going to be at their peak until they warm up. fuel atomizes much better at warm to high temps. when the intake/heads are 35F the fuel wants to stay in liquid form and not fully transform into a gas. try warming the truck up before you leave. its a good idea to let the oil circulate thru the engine anyway.

 

you might be a little low on transmission fluid. check it after your next trip (so it'll be hot).

 

I've never had a car that was fuel injected that didn't run better cold that's why I was asking

 

darn dodges...lol

 

I'll check it here in a bit I know it leaks a little bit from the pan gasket but it's never been low.