Having bought my truck last March, I have never driven it in very cold weather yet. The seasons are changing here in southern Ontario and I have noticed that it takes my truck (85 K35, 454, stock Rochester 4-barrel) a long time to warm up. Even after a while when it drops down to low idle, it feels quite sluggish and I have to rev up higher than normal to shift.
On the first few stoplights I hit, if I have to sit for more than half a minute or so, the idle becomes a little shakey. It usually sits around 750rpm in slow idle, but at these lights it gets down around 600 and below. If I give it some steady gas and hold it between 700 and 1000 it is fine. I have never let it go to see if it stalls or not (bad idea in traffic).
Once it warms up (I do not know what normal operating temperature is...I've just got the old idiot lights - irritating) it runs as good at it ever has. My brother has had 90 and a 91 K-1500s and says they never liked the cold weather.
Is this an issue for anyone else? What do you do in winter? It is going to get a whole lot colder here before spring and a blockheater is not an option for me. What can I do about this? I should mention that it is still starting well, even on cold mornings, and my thermostatic air cleaner was not working, so it is unplugged right now (I think this could be part of my problem - missing out on warm air from the heatstove).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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