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03' Avy Stalling at low idle

RabidLab

New Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2015
Messages
7
I have a 2003 Avalanche. We have been dealing with weather in the -25 C (-13 F) to -40 C (-40 F) range, going almost two weeks now. Today, I started the truck about 15 minutes before moving (no plug in at work for the block heater). The truck felt more sluggish then I would expect, even for this weather. It stalls when at a low idle  (which made for a very intresting drive home) but starts up again. I got my fingers crossed that it is just the three year old battery but....after doing some research and seeing all the potetial issues I think it might be the flux capacitor. But going to start with a thawed out battery first..  :E:
 
How is your coolant? Your getting close to the range a substandard coolant could start freezing. Which could cause your water pump to work hard thus making your engine idle hard until it gets warmed up. At work our HVAC system really has a hard time if the coolant gets close to its freezing point as the viscosity of the coolant gets thicker.

Not saying this is what is going on but it can certainly turn slushy before it fully freezes. I had that happen on an engine that eventually froze and cracked due to an improper coolant mixture. It was slushy and wouldn't circulate and the vehicle was not runable at the time. I had an electric water pump and tried to get the coolant circulating.

Rodney
 
The battery should be fine. Once the engine starts it runs off the alternator. Since it repeatedly started the truck I would feel the battery is in good shape. One long shot, check the air filter maybe it got plugged or got wet then froze. Good luck.
 
Take a look at the fuel pressure also.
 
When have you last cleaned your throttle body/intake valve? I?d start with that, followed by intake gasket and PCV valve.  Could also be one of the O2 sensors crapping out but not quite coming up as a CEL issue yet.
 
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