Delay in throttle response.

[Glaze]

Left my house today at 4200 feet elevation towing a small two horse trailer (with horses) and climbing to an elevation of 6500 feet. Each time I stopped, or even slowed down, then gave the truck a little throttle to get going, the engine would actually decrease in RPM for an instant, almost like it was about to stall, then it would finally catch up and accelerate normally. Did not have this problem once I returned home. Any ideas?

 

[SEwing]

I had mine at elevations up to 9000 ft and never had a problem like that, sorry bud, no idea on why its doing that. fuel filter?

 

[Dieselnerd]

I had mine over 10,000 feet out west last week. No change in throttle response. For some reason you are not getting fuel quick enough. Like SEwing said, start with the filter. If it was pretty cold when you started and got warm later you might have had a slight waxing of the fuel, that combined with a dirty filter could easily slow down the fuel flow.

 

[Glaze]

I had just replaced the fuel filter two weeks ago when the oil was changed. I've been using NAPA filters without any problems, even on my old 97 CTD. Thought I might purchase and install a filter from the dealership (Mopar?) and see if the problem persists. But I definitely agree that the fuel supply is being restricted at some point. Thanks.

 

[Glaze]

Problem solved! Turned out to be the fuel control actuator. It also cleared up one of the symptoms that I hadn't associated with the throttle delay. In the last six months I noticed the engine temperature increasing past the 210 deg mark on the gauge when on a moderate uphill climb, around a 16 degree slope, and not hauling any cargo. I would have to turn on "tow-haul mode" to cool the engine back down. After the fuel control actuator was replaced the temp doesn't exceed 210 deg on the gauge. Another symptom fixed was an excessive amount of black smoke whenever excelerating to on-ramp speed (30 mph to 65 mph). The only complaint I have is that the dealership installed the horn mod TSB. Almost had a runaway mule when I backed up to horse trailer. You'd think they would give a waiver for farm/ranch trucks.