poskwally

It's coming up on a year that I've had my truck (3/28) and ever since day one, it seems to take forever to come down to normal idle speed after startup. I only have about 8500 miles on it and was wondering if it's got something to do with a beak in period or something. I don't like to roll until it's at its normal idle and sometimes it seems like I'm waiting 5+ minutes for that to happen. This is my first new truck so I've never had to deal with break in periods. I'm used to my old truck idling high for about 15-30 seconds before coming down to normal speed. Any insight to why this is would be helpful. Is this normal for Fords? Should I expect this to get quicker with more miles?

Edit: I guess I should specify this is on cold startup

Ford850

Mine might take awhile if I didn't drive away as soon as I do. I don't wait for it. I start it, wait 10 - 15 seconds (which is enough for pressures to come up etc), and I take off. I think it's harder on the engine to sit there idling than it is to drive off, which gets it up to temp within seconds.

zimmer0

iTrader: (1)

I'm in Louisiana as well and mine does take a good 30sec for it idle down to the 550-600rpm mark. Longer when we had those cold spells not long ago. Nature of the beast IMO. Bringing it to the dealer won't do you any good. I'm coming up on 13k miles btw.

Azuri

Normal operation my truck is exactly the same age. After running to 20 or so seconds give the gas pedal a quick snap and watch the idle come down. The best way to describe it is a electronic choke similar to how the old carburetor chokes worked back in the day.

poskwally

Yeah those days in February when we were in the mid 20s is really when it felt like a 5 minute wait (I could listen to 2 full songs before it idled down). Still seems to take forever now that we're in the 70s, obviously not that long though.

I'll give that a try in the morning. I was hoping it would gradually get quicker with age but I guess 8500mi is nothing.

TheRangerOfDanger

It will never gradually get quicker, its programmed in (probably dependent on engine sensor inputs like temps to the computer). If I feel I have let it sufficiently warm up and am ready to go but it hasn't left high idle, simply depress the throttle (any amount) as Azuri said and the idle will drop. Agreed, I don't want to shift into Drive at 1500 RPM. It would probably try to go to normal idle if you took it out of park but I prefer to give it a second to drop before shifting.

RLXXI

There might be a later calibration available that sorts out some issues, I know on my truck and my wife's 14 Escape run a lot better since I flashed the new calibration, my truck seemed to have an odd trans shift pattern that was corrected and her truck got a boost in power.

Where bout's are ye in La.? I can check it to see if there is an updated calibration and program it for you.

.

ANamer

Mine does it too, especially with the cold weather we've been having here in Jersey. I always assumed it was ok. Figured its the same as needing to hold the throttle above idle on boats I've had even though they were fuel injected, just to get them started and to stay running. My father's Audi does it for atleast a half a minute even in the summer. If that does it as well, it's worth waiting in my books.

Also, if you want make life quicker, just start it up before you have to leave in the morning. By the time I get it, its idling normally and the motor is already warmed up.

poskwally

It's kind of funny. The day after I posted this, it seemed to idle down fairly quickly, well quick for this truck, and it did so all week. Then it dawned on me, I don't drive this truck all the time. I rather the old GMC get full of cooling tower fallout at work. This truck might sit idle for a week or two before I drive it the next time. I know, I'm a dumbass, even the old 190,000 mile GMC has a fast idle after its been sitting an extended period. After driving the Ford all this week, it seems to be doing a lot better. I should have thought of this before wasting a thread on the internet. Oh well....

Damn near right in the middle of N.O. and BR. What's this shift problem you speak of? Sometimes, when accelerating from a stop, mine seems to not know whether it wants to shift to third or stay in second. I drive by the dealership every day going to work. I'm planning on stopping by for some minor maintenance soon. I can ask them about the shifting and any updated calibrations then.