Your therapy is not working Lost Lake!!!

 

It's in the owners manual. The idle change is not slight, it's the same as when one engages the high idle feature. Same with the light dimming. It's all normal.
If someone has one of these vehicles and it's not not doing these things under identical conditions as a vehicle that is then that vehicle is the one with the issue.
Maybe I'm completely misunderstanding the symptoms being discussed though.

 

Well, I've been around for a long time and I have had several CTD trucks. All of the ones with the high idle feature would do the things described but never to the extent that my current one does. Just imagine your slight idle fluctuation being multiplied by 3 or 4 times. That's what I am experiencing. All the other symptoms, like the lights flickering and the amp gauge going up and down, are normal...

 

Dang Lost Lake,
I didn't realize how normal my truck was....I'm getting ready for my 2d and 3rd pinion seal in the past three months too....

 

I have a hard time believing this is a injector issue that makes these trucks idle like this in cold weather. If so then why do they idle perfectely find in warm weather (injectors don't magically become good in warm weather)...

I am sure you had carboned up injectors, but what did you compare them to??? I bet if you pulled the injectors out of any truck it would have some sort of carbon build up. Sure some will be more then others, but where is the line, and what do you think your current injectors will look like if you pulled them out right now? Not trying to bust your chops in anyway I just find it difficult to believe that bad injectors are the cause of rough idle when it's only in cold weather conditions.

 

here is a test. I intend to do this on the 05 here in the near future. it has the same lope that you guys are talking about.

Injector return flow test.

60 ml in 30 seconds is optimum.
150ml in 30 seconds is passable
250ml and over in 30 seconds. time for injectors.

This is one of the tests that a competent dealer will do when trying to diagnose the loping problem.

These are done with the FCA unplugged.

 

AH HA!!!

You don't understand the problem! (But somehow you know it's normal )

A lope is a high / low / high / low revving. Like every second it goes faster - slower - faster - slower..... Not the jump to high idle then back to normal idle that cycles every 20 or 30 seconds. A lope is like a wobble.

And thanks for noticing Dodgezilla.... Sorry everyone. I'm really a nice guy once you get to know me

 

The dealer "cutout test" showed good, the "return flow test" showed good, replaced all 6 injectors, been almost 2 yrs now with no "lope" or even a hint of a "normal lope"?

I also run a smarty, been running since the time I changed out injectors, been there and done it!

 

It makes my truck "Special" just like my Mom says I am.......

 

I just ran my truck 20 miles and let it sit while I brushed some of the snow off it before bringing it in the garage.

The high idle kicked in when the EGT's fell below 300. It DID NOT lope.

Can anyone tell me why it didn't lope? Can you recommend a shop that could get it to lope?

Sorry again.... This resolution isn't working.....

 

Here's an interesting thought on this issue. I recently replaced the stock lift pump (in the tank) with an Airdog. Since this is my first winter with it, I noticed that when the engine is cold, my fuel pressure would go from 12 to 16psi. When usually it is always at 16psi.

Since I have the pump tied to the voltage line from the original lift pump, it may be a low fuel pressure issue to the injection pump. Or a combination of this with computer trying to trying to compinsate for the change in rail pressure causing the surging.

I forgot to add that the stock in tank pump is a variospeed fuel pump controlled by the computer.

 

I did not know that!

 

I am thinking if it is an injector problem I should be seeing other performance issues. I was idling yesterday morning in 19 degree F ambient temps and after two minutes of idle the high idle kicked in. The loping started. All I did to get it to kick down was applied the break. I am begining to wonder about the voltage thing. Both of my batteries are circa 2006 so they are likley due to be changed. If it where injectors I think I would be noticing sluggish performance, truck still runs like new with exeption of the high idle lope.

 

Here is what I think.

Most of these trucks only have the "lope" when they go into high idle AUTOMATICALLY. When they are MANUALLY set to idle high, they do not lope. Go try it, bet yours won't lope when you manually do it. Not suppose to. So, I think, and this is just a guess.... that when you set the truck to high idle manually, the ECM doesn't really think much of it. Just does what you want.

When the truck goes into high idle automatically, the ECM recognizes that the intake air temperature is low (of course) and that, well basically, its cold out and we need to change a few parameters here to stay warm. Now what parameters (if I'm using that word correctly) it's changing... I don't know. But it is intentionally doing this change (the reason the sound changes) internally to keep its self a little warmer. Don’t know if its injecting fuel with a different timing, longer, more fuel, less fuel, grid heater is back on cause it knows its cold out…. Even though truck is at 210 degree temp. cam….????

For those that think its injectors... really? Ask Don M. how many he's heard with the lope that have perfect injectors. That should clear up that theory, the injectors decide to momentarily foul or go bad just when idled high, then return to normal when you press the brake pedal. My 04.5 that had 45k when I sold it had the lope since she was taken off the lot new. Sold to a Hot Shot friend. Now has 230k miles and no injector issues whatsoever. Still lopes. My 06 I bough new off the lot, loped from day one. 56k miles. Still does it. I posted this in another section. My friend is the owner of a Dodge ***********. I helped him last February move all of his Diesel’s across town from his lot to a better location for a big sale they were having. It was around 0 or 5 degrees out. We started all the vehicles up and went in to warm up. Came back out after about 15 min and almost all of the Cummins were loping. Not all, but most. They ranged from Brand Spanken New to 3 or 4 years old. Something is changing internally to these truck and it is intentional. What ever that may be, I don’t know. Why some do it and other don’t, not sure on that either. I am on a mission to find out why they lope now.

 

Completely agree with this post. I also believe it is the ECM programming doing this and completely unrelated to failing injectors. My 05 and my buddies 07 both low miles and both completely stock with stock programming do this and have had no injector related issues whatsoever. Seems a lot of you guys whos trucks don't do it are running a programmer, just an observation don't know if there is really any relation.