Cold running issues.

[larryt]

My 88 Ford Ranger 4x4 is in real nice shape, no rust etc...pale blue with a 2.9 V6 and 183,000 kilometers on it. I just got it and it is a great little truck.It has some cold running issues. When it is cold it sputters and hesitates and runs roughly. It does not want to run smoothly when cold.Once it warms up it runs great with no hesitations at all.The only thing I can notice when it is warm is a slightly rough idle of about 1000 rpm. If the truck sits long enough to cool down only partially from full operating temperature the hesitation returns.

I want to get this ironed out and get it running right. Can anyone offer any insight into this ?

 

[Creager]

Are you actually getting the tempature off the cooling system via remote reading? or are you using the factory gauge?

first i would check the thermostat, they are designed to fail open... so you would run cold, instead of closed where you would overheat.