Sluggish and Poor Performance around 1500rpm

My truck, Dodge ram 2013 sport, has poor performance and is sluggish around 1500 rpm when in gear.
It seems to be only or worse when the engine is cold. I live in a northern climate and can get really cold so is worse in the winter months, but seems ok once the engine has reached operating temperature and the block has stabilized in temperature.
Have tried reving up the engine and holding it at 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 and 3000 rpm and it doesn't happen when the engine is cold and in park.
I have turned on the "ECO" light on the dash and it doesn't seem to be related to when the truck is in ECO mode. I dont have any codes that states it is miss firing , no codes of any kind at all.
Although maybe the "ECO" mode is not working properly and is going into "ECO" mode and when its not suppose to. Not sure.
I have put the truck in 3rd and 4th gear and drove around and it still will do it, but still only when the engine is cold.
When I watch the fuel economy is goes up a lot (can hit 60-80 L/100km) when in the 1500 rpm zone.
This is way above what it normally does.
When I say cold, I even park in a heated garage set at 20C for 12 hours and leave in the morning and the engine is cold (not up to operating temperature) and compared to outside temperature and it still does it until the engine is up to temperature and the block has stabilized in temperature.
It only started since it got cold outside (below freezing) so not sure how it would behave in summer months.
If I shift down and force the rpm up to above 2000rpm the fuel economy will drop down to an expected range of ~ 15-20L/100km) or so, due to the engine being cold and for the condition I am driving in.
Once everything is up to temperature it appears to run normal without it being sluggish and bad fuel economy. Have tried setting the cruise to hold at a constant speed and the fuel economy and sluggishness (can hear the engine working harder then it should and seems like lower power then it should in similar running conditions) will remain until the truck engine has stabilized in temperature and up to operating temperature.
I thought it might be the transmission not shifting down when driving and turning corners, as this seemed to be when it occurred the most, but have ruled that out and it happens when taking off from a dead stop as well.

I dont feel as if I am worried I will be stranded because of this, but concerned and would like to figure out what it going on.
I have cleaned the throttle body a few times, so dont think that is it, but might be contributing.
Due to the fuel economy reading, I almost think it is flooding.
I work with guys who have similar vehicles at work and no one there seems to have the same issue with similar km's and truck.

Maybe a sensor that is not working properly until the radiant heat of the engine compartment heats it up to work properly? Not sure.

I am out of ideas.

Try unhooking your battery over night. So the ecu will relearn. I've also had a similar issue on other vehicles and it was the CAT on my 18 malibu only had 1800 mi at the time. Try going up a grade in gas you may just have a crap winter blend.

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Try running a couple bottles of Gumout Regane through it.

How many miles?

Do you have a scan tool w live data?

Check your ambient air temp coolant temp and maybe trans temp compare they should all be close first thing in the morning cold start.


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OCDTech said:

Do you have a scan tool w live data?

Check your ambient air temp coolant temp and maybe trans temp compare they should all be close first thing in the morning cold start.


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Click to expand...

^^^listen to this guy[emoji106]

Map sensor also, with live you could see if vacuum looks good too.
Engine codes stored even though light isn't on. All information that could help, symptoms don't indicate fuel starvation as far as fuel flow, could be from leaning out which may be the reason the fuel mileage shoots up, Probably not spark related either.

I do realize everyone doesn't have a scan tool, but these days even cheaper ones can do this.

This is a known issue if you live where it gets really cold.There's a couple threads about it over on RamforumZ if you go digging.The truck is programmed to not shift properly once the outside air temp drops below -26C if I remember the temp right.Find your outdoor temp sensor on the drivers side mirror,it's the little cut-out,and put your finger or hand over it,when the truck is acting weird and warm it up with your body heat,and see if that makes a difference.Apparently FCA programmed the 6 speeds to save the convertor when it gets cold.If you go looking on RamforumZ I think there's a couple threads in either the 2013 or 2014 sections.It was discussed at length a few years ago,so you might have to do some digging to find the thread,and there might be more then one thread by now,lol

You have sport so a large cam would make it sluggish at low 1500 rpm due to low vacuum. Either you have a vacuum leak or something wrong with cam advance on heads. My guess. Take it to a good mechanic. Might just need a tune.



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Thanks for the replies.
Truck has ~ 80,000 miles.
Have not changed plugs yet. Plan on doing plugs and trans fluid changes this spring.
Behaves this way even when -5 to 10 C out.
Any recommendations on a scan tool with the correct tools to scan for these items? I have an OBD2 bluetooth connector, so maybe a particular app that would work?
I have also ran a 2 ounce to 1 gallon ratio of seafoam through the tank a few times as well, 2 full tanks of fuel.
Thanks again

Jenkins124 said:

Thanks for the replies.
Truck has ~ 80,000 miles.
Have not changed plugs yet. Plan on doing plugs and trans fluid changes this spring.
Behaves this way even when -5 to 10 C out.
Any recommendations on a scan tool with the correct tools to scan for these items? I have an OBD2 bluetooth connector, so maybe a particular app that would work?
I have also ran a 2 ounce to 1 gallon ratio of seafoam through the tank a few times as well, 2 full tanks of fuel.
Thanks again

Click to expand...

I'm going to start you with Torque, its FREE and only for android though, any android device will work, phone, tablet what ever. If you don't have one probably some good ones for ios. Not to familiar with those. Once connected you will have to look through the available supported pids for your vehicle. Grey not available, green ones are available to you. Click on a green one you want to monitor, then select the type of graph you would like to use. Takes a little bit, but worth it. Fuel trim is another one i would watch. Torque also pulls diagnostic check engine light codes.

There is one called Dash Command, its great but fairly complicated to set up the gauges, highly customizable.
there is a pro version,Its only 5 dollars, supports more sensors,i would get that one.

Hope all this helps.

@Jenkins124 Heres a video, not the best but gives you the basics.

Thanks for the suggestion for APP.
All I have are android systems, so looks like I will give it a try and see what I find out.
Thank again for the help.