Okay guys bear with me because I am trying to explain this from my wife's perspective to me. I am out of town for a few weeks and because it's in the negatives in Alaska I asked her to start and run my truck while I'm away. Yesterday everything was fine. Today, it wouldn't start. She had a neighbor look over it and he thinks it's a fuel filter/pump issue.

They got it to turn over but it wouldn't stay running unless he had the gas pressed. He said that it was idling real low and that was the only way it would stay running.

From my searching the forum it sounds like a it could be the IAC valve. Any past experiences/opinions would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

 

Possible IAC. Maybe a freezing fuel line? Are you up here in Alaska? IF so, where? You don't list much about your truck, but I'm assuming it is a 4.6 or 5.4, not the 4.2 v6. Each has their own quirks.

Everything is cold up here right now. It's been below zero at night and with the wind chills in the valley, as much as -40 wind chill. It's cold.

Did I read it right that it will stay running if you hold the gas down some? You might have a dirty throttle body that when cold doesn't let the air flow thru the ports or possibly a dirty MAF sensor. That's where I would start. If you have a code reader, that might show up the problem too. Good luck.

 

Sorry about the details it was late last night. It is the 5.4L and has about 118000. I live in Anchorage. Right now I'm down on Florida for work. I had plans on cleaning the MAF when I got back. I'll check the fuel lines as well. Thanks for your help.

 

I had an IAC go bad and it was doing the exact same thing. It would start but would not idle unless you were keeping the rpms up. You could drive it as long as you kept one foot on the gas and one on the brake when you needed to stop. Easy fix just a little hard to get to best I remember two bolts to remove it. Good luck.

 

Often you can remove the IAC, inspect it and clean off excess carbon deposits to fix your problem. It could also be a fuel problem. The country boy test of this is to remove the plug on the fuel manifold and get your buddy to turn on the key in your truck. If you see a gush of fuel, the fuel system is probably ok. If not, listen for fuel pump when you first turn the key on (listen at the fuel filler with the cap off). If you hear the fuel pump, I would replace the fuel filter.

The country boy test can be dangerous because of the risk of fire so don't do it in a garage or anywhere close to a flame. Stand by with fire extinguisher and BE CAREFUL and don't leave the key on for more than a couple of seconds and don't have a friend like my buddy Eric who came over to visit smoking a cigarette when I was changing my fuel filter.

 

HaHa. Thanks for your inputs guys. I'll check it out as soon as I get back and let you know the outcome. Thank you again.

 

Finally got back in to town and was able to look at the truck. I put a new IAC valve in today and viola...the truck idles and runs great. Thanks to you all again for your inputs, it's greatly appreciated.

 

Glad to hear it man!

 

Glad you got it fixed. I was fairly sure of it being the IAC, but it's better to give you a couple ideas. Up here, the IAC's get so cold and the aluminum housing makes for a poor heat/cooling cycle. They tend to bind up quite a bit when the aluminum sort of shrinks and tweeks in the cold weather.