Hi, first real post here; please forgive me if this has been asked before (I briefly searched with no real answers.) I've very new to the POV diesels (this is the first one) and rusty with commercial ones (we owned a few Freightliners and Petes, when we had our hay farm, hauling hay from Hagerman, NM to Lamar, CO.)
I've got a '95 2500 Ram Cummins, automatic. Mods are only in the exhaust, being that it's turned down/open right after the cat. Everything else is stock/OE.

Here are my current issues:

1. Hard Starting when it's been sitting a few hours, especially if it's cold
2. Seems low on power; doesn't pull very strong at all, taking a good 10-15 seconds to get to 50mph from a stop
3. Block heater seems to do nothing for aiding starts on cold mornings

- #1: I haven't tested the grid heater, but it appears to be cycling, because once it's started, the battery gauge will cycle between 14 and 12vdc in roughly 5 second intervals, for about 2-3 minutes after I finally get it to start (which requires depressing the throttle pedal 1/2-3/4 way down.)

- #2: from about 40mph, you can floor it, and it barely increases speed. maintaining 70mph is a little bit of a chore, as well (~18-1900rpm cruise) 65 is more comfortable for it. 70, IMO takes way more pedal pressure/travel than it should.
From a stoplight, it's 0-20 is ok, 20-50/60 is weak, at best. Around town, it feels fine, for the most part.

- #3: given the issue with it being a total bear to start in 40*F, I can only imagine what this winter will bring to it.. I plugged the block heater in, and within a minute or so, I could 'hear' the block heater getting warm, sounding as though the coolant is warming up around the element. I left it plugged in all day sunday evening, and through the night. Monday morning, 38*F, it took me 5 minutes to get it started..


Any assistance is greatly appreciated.