[Mickey_D]

One thing to look at is to run the engine warm, shut it down, let it cool completely.

Take the air cleaner assembly off so you can see the choke vanes. Have an assistant get in and push the loud pedal down while you're watching the choke (without the ignition on). It should drop closed initially, pull open a bit as the throttle goes to full, then when the pedal is released, drop closed again. This won't be a "slight" movement. The choke will pivot almost 90 degrees from open to closed, so there's a definite "flop" action to watch for.




If the choke does not close by itself (like mine, in the pic I had to give it a tap to close), it will make the truck EXTREMELY hard to start when it's cold. If it doesn't close, or at least doesn't close a significant amount, then your choke linkage may be binding, stuck, bent, or broken. But at least you know what the problem is at that point. If it does close, there's something else wrong, but it's a starting point to eliminating the obvious.