High Cold idle on '96 SR5

[Matt_Ledbetter]

I know that all cars bump the idle up when cold, but my recently acquired '96 SR5 4x4 v6 seems a little extreme. With the A/C off, the idle jumps to about 1900 when cold. 2100 with A/C on. It's enough to pull the car along in 2nd gear (manual tranny). It drops to 1500 after 30 secs and then takes 3+ minutes to drop to about 700.

In addition, when I first start the thing, the temp gauge drops a bit and looks like it "pegs" to the cold side of the gauge. When at operating temp, it's a bit below 9:00 on the gauge.

Does this sound like it could be the temp sensor causing problems.

I've searched the forums before asking, but couldn't find anyone with a idle up around the 2k range.

Thanks,
Matt

 

[pat161]

My 2000 does the same thing on cold days, though I would think closer to 1500, but I'll have to check next time it gets cold here. Also until it warms up it jumps a bit on takeoff unless I give it a bit of extra gas. I have been told that the truck advances the timing in an attempt to warm up faster, not sure if that's true but it sounds good to me.