I'm having a slight problem when hot starting my truck. When i cold start it (first start of the day), it start's like it's brand new. After I drive for a bit, shut down, and go to start it for the second time, it cranks about 3 times longer, catches but then quickly stalls out. Upon trying another start, it cranks about the same amount of time and then starts. All seems good, until I start driving. When I get into about second gear, it loses power, and sometimes it even pop's at me. If i release the accelerator, it will clear, and then all is normal. After this, for teh rest of the day, the truck will start and run normally. Very frustrated! Any ideas?!?!
Thanks,
E20

 

Failing TPS?

Are you getting a service engine light?

 

Are you getting any Check Engine lights? I had a similar problem with mine and all i had to do was replace the upstream O2 sensor. Mine would take a while to start (hot or cold) and when i got it running and took it for a drive it would just randomly lose power and nearly stall out.

 

My light was on, and I had my friend check the light. Error code 0421, or something along those lines...had to do with the Cat converter....is the o2 sensor an easy/cheap fix to troubleshoot with?

 

If it is saying the cat is inefficient, might be one of the o2 sensors going bad. Don't know about cheap, as I haven't bought one yet..... but, it is right on top of the exhaust, and easy to find. Might come out easy, might be a pain in the keester, just depends on the day.

 

Upstream sensor is the harder one to get at, its at a weird angle....i just ended up dropping the exhaust to get a better angle at it. Mine was so rusted in i had to heat it up with a blow torch to get it loose enough to remove it.......but it might come out easy for you.......the sensor costs about 60 bucks and if you have the cash ya might want to think about just changing both the up and downstream sensors. best of luck to ya let me know if ya need any tips on getting those buggers out.

 

If its a code related to the cat, its most likely either a bad cat or bad rear (downstream) O2 sensor. I'd leave the front (upstream) sensor alone for now, it has its own code unrelated to the converter.

 

Hey guys, thanks all for the reply's. I think I'll pull the rear sensor out and have a look. Is there any big tells whether it's shot or not? I think I can get a replacement from Napa for 50$ or so.
Thanks

E20

 

Ok, i got the sensor unscrewed....not sure if its bad or not by looking at it. It's blacker than the ace of spades which i assume is normal being mounted in the exhaust and all. Do I basically just need to buy a new one and hope that's the problem?

 

Yup just buy a new one an pop it on there and see if that fixes your problem. If it still runs crappy, put the new one in the other o2 sensor position and try that. And if that still doesnt fix the problem then, hey you can either hang on the 02 sensor or clean it up and return it and get your money back. Its all about troubleshooting ........And yes if your O2 sensor is black it probably fouled with carbon and should probably be replaced any way!