Newbi here with question....

Recently I've noticed that my 07 Ram is hesitant to crank after being parked over night. I go out in the morning to crank my truck and it hesitates a little just before firing up. It doesn't do this at any other time. I can park it at work and get in it for lunch after sitting for 4 hours and if fires right up without any hesitation.

Any thoughts to what causes this?

 

Start with a tune up if you havent. The cheap plugs Dodge uses arent meant to last as long as others. If you do change plugs keep the same Champion Coppers.

 

Plugs where changed by the dealer <15k miles ago and those plugs had about 50k on them and I never had any hesitation. They probably had more because I bought the truck with 46k on it and didn't get them changed until 95k. I doubt the previous owner changed them.

What all is involved in tuning the engine up? I'm quite a novice here.

 

Well air filter, plugs, oil/ oil filter, o2 sensor (if your over 100k which looks like you are) Throttle body cleaning, EGR replace or clean, PCV check and clean, thats more of the stuff that has a truck running rough not all nesscary in a normal tune up under 100k. This could help but im doubting it since plugs are new, but try it and if nothing else you will have a good running truck with some hesitation starting

 

Whats the battery situation? How old is it? Has it been checked recently? If it hasn't that would be were I would start.

 

battery is true...

I've also seen a slight leak in the fuel systems do this.. it bleeds pressure off and has to be re-established..

the next time you start your truck cold, turn the key ignition on but don't hit the starter.. allow it to sit there for a second or two, then hit the starter.. this isn't a definitive way to isolate a evap or fuel leak, but it can certainly prompt you to start looking that direction..

the concept is that a slight leak in the evap allows air to seep in and break the established vacuum of the system, which means the pump has to regenerate the pressure before it can run.. a gas cap could be responsible, but not leaking so bad it trips a light.. the canisters can be to blame with slight cracks that compromise their ability to hold air overnight, but they do just fine for a few hours..

 

Idk how i didnt think about the battrey could be it, and Drew has a good idea to find out a problem without chasing lines a doing 100 different test

 

The battery is probably factory. I know I've never changed it. The way it hesitates doesn't suggest a battery problem to me tho because there no grunting form starter motor. It's when you let off the key where it hesitates. (Oh and I've tried it both ways, having the computer start the truck by just bumping the ignition and the old fashion way of just tuning till it fires. The result is the same both ways.) It kinda stumbles for a second then catches itself and fires right up. I've never had it not catch.

My first thought was there wasn't enough fuel pressure because I was just getting in and turning the key so I did try Drew's idea of letting the fuel pump build the pressure back up. You can hear the fuel pump come on and after a few seconds I'll turn the key and it still hesitates.

 

Could it be an injector not getting the fuel in at the right time?

 

Does the Hemi have an IAC valve? I'm doubting it because it's a computer controlled throttle. But along the lines of what everyone else is saying, clean your throttle body. It's possible that when it cools down, all the gunk is just a little extra sticky.