'99 Ford 5.4 missing, kind of long

Mike(NEOhio)

Well-known Member
Location
Newbury, Ohio
My F250 has been misfiring under load for a while. I only put 2-3000 miles a year since I retired and I admit I've been lax about maintaining it. I replaced a coil three years ago and it acted the way it is now but this time it's worse. The last few weeks since the weather is in the low 30s the first start of the day takes a lot of cranking. Yesterday I took a half wagon load of hay about five miles away and it was really bad. When I got back to the barn the exhaust smelled kind of sulphery. First time for that. Does this sound like an ignition or a fuel problem? I'm thinking ignition, bad smell=unburned gas in the converter.
 
It sounds like
wait
wait wait here it comes
a true diagnostician
one with experience wisdom and the proper test equipment to set it free
ythere may be a number of issues that have caused the problems you describe in the past 20 years on that model
it could be 2 or 3 items to be expected
and on top of that perhaps 1 or 2 that only properly experienced and equipped individuals might get right

throw some plugs in it
clean the throttle body
and the egr valve or replace that

check fuel pressures
purge valves
vacuum leaks
compression
cam profiles
timing chain if equipped
grounds injectors

around here in the northeast rust belt there aren't any left
 
Could be either one. I dont know how you can drive it that way? LOL When My 5.4s lost a cylinder they had power loss like it dropped 5 and shook like crazy. Back to your question. A scan tool will tell you which cylinder(s) it is. If it has been missing off and on you might have to clear old codes,drive it a bit then rescan. My experience is it will be ignition the vast bulk of the time. The scanner will not tell you why the cylinder is missing. That you must diagnose and there are two routes, the fast and more expensive way, and the slow but cheaper route which involves moving parts around to see if the miss moves. In my opinion the best compromise involves first installing a new set of plugs. if the miss remains, scan it t find the cylinder and switch the col pack from that cylinder to another, if the miss moves replace the coil pack, if the miss stays at that cylinder you check the injector circuit with a noid light and if the pulse is there you replace the injector,,, just the way I have done it. Only once have I had a bad fuel injector in 600,00 miles in 4 different 5.4 F-250 trucks.
 
More information might be helpful.
First thing, how many miles on it? Next, when was the last maintenance done? Spark Plugs replaced?

Some things to be warned about. Plugs in the 3-valve heads are a special plug that break about half the time when you go to take them out. They then need a set of special tools to extract the old plugs and install new.

Second thing is DO NOT clean the throttle body - unless you want to buy a new one to the tune of $300 to $400. Ford throttle bodies are designed to not require any maintenance. They also have stickers on them warning you that they are not to be cleaned.

Given your symptoms, my first guess would be spark plugs or ignition problem. Getting a sulfur smell from the exhaust would indicate excess fuel or fuel not being burned. That points to ignition problems. Injectors are delivering the fuel but the ignition is not burning it. Over all, I have found injectors to be VERY reliable.

A scan for trouble codes would be in order. That will at least tell you which cylinder or cylinders are causing the problem. Above all, do not just start throwing parts at it. Do some REAL diagnosis and act accordingly. You will save money in the long run.
 
Extended cranking sounds like fuel issue, but most common issue with those is probably coil pack.

Did you pull the codes?
 
OK, more info. 238,000 miles, not a 3-valve so regular platinum plugs. No engine light or codes (checked at A-Z store so that's not saying much) and the cover on the fuse/relay block has been missing for several years. Don't know if it was stolen, left off by me or fell off while driving. Yeah, I'm guilty of letting it go so please dispense with any more scolding. I used to clean the TB and the EGR pipe about every year and it always made a noticeable difference but the pipe broke at the lower fitting and I couldn't get it out. Annual new fuel filter, too, but not lately. I have put two sets of plugs since I got it with 93,000 and never had a problem getting them in or out. Last time was when I replaced the manifold gaskets to correct a coolant leak so probably well under 100,000 miles on them. Thanks to all of you for the comments. They reminded me of some items I'd been ignoring. I'm gonna hafta get busy checking things out.
 
His truck,is a 99, the break off plugs were introduced in 2004 and lasted until about 08 when they finally got it right 08 and newer
 

I doubt you are few DIY guys have a way to diagnosis it... A guess would be to throw a 8 pack of ignition coils on it go for the kill get them all... Either way you go they are going to start going out one by one its the nature of the beast...
 
(quoted from post at 16:09:50 11/20/18) Corn ???? gas ??? My four wheeler acts like that when I try to burn ethanol in it

Yeah, got to be that evil ethanol.

Like the people bitching when they took the lead out of gasoline.
Some bitched for years, so still do.
 
(quoted from post at 16:09:50 11/20/18) Corn ???? gas ??? My four wheeler acts like that when I try to burn ethanol in it

Yeah, got to be that evil ethanol.

Like the people bit ching when they took the lead out of gasoline.
Some bit ched for years, some still do.
 
(quoted from post at 16:09:50 11/20/18) Corn ???? gas ??? My four wheeler acts like that when I try to burn ethanol in it

Yeah, got to be that evil ethanol.

Like the people complaining when they took the lead out of gasoline.
Some complained for years, some still do.
 
Mike, if you don't already have one, get a cheapie OBDII code reader. These can be had from Amazon or similar places for ~$20. No, it's not for a professional mechanic, but it will tell you which cylinder has a problem. On those 5.4 engines, you typically have problems with plugged fuel injectors, defective coils/cheap replacement coils, coil boots that deteriorate (and they are usually replaceable), spark plugs that need a replacement, leaking coolant into the plug area or a valve cover that leaks oil into the spark plug area.
 
I recommend your local Ford dealership. I have found in many cases it is less expensive to have them diagnose and fix it than keep guessing and spending for parts not needed. Some things are simple and easy to diagnose. Small independent shops can save expense in that case. Not when they do not have the equipment or access to company bulletins. I once spent over $500 replacing parts that the " one size fits all " diagnostic systems indicated. Finally took it to dealership and cost $125 to fix it.
 
The first thing I would do is run a can of 44K injector cleaner through it. Put it in about a half tank of gas. We used to have a 99 F250 that would get to running so bad you'd think it was going to have to go to the shop. One treatment and it would run like new for about a year then would need another can. If it doesn't work you're only out 15-20 dollars. Tony
 
"around here in the northeast rust belt there aren't any left"....
"a true diagnostician, one with experience wisdom..."

I am not in the northeast, I am in Northwest and I did retire about 4 months ago from a hostile shop. In another 8 months, I might go looking again, but I doubt it. Good luck to one and all, buying whiz-bang vehicles. My wife bought a whiz-bang. I am waiting for it to go bang and then she can have another one.
 
gas is how old? Ethanol will not do much damage. Methanaol will eat anything rubber. Such as the hose inside the tank between the pump and steel fuel line. Sulpher smell is either bad gas or perhaps typically not enough spark.
 
Hi Mike,

My dad's expedition did this occasionally. It was a combination of things shorting out the coil packs on several cylinders over time.

It had suffered coolant and oil leakage that would seep into the coil pack "Wells" and eventually short them out one or 2 at a time.

This is a 97 expedition with approx 365,000 miles on the original drive train. Ultimately replaced the intake and valve cover gaskets and 4 or 5 of the coils to solve it completely. This was last year, still running strong.

My advice would be check the codes and spark plug wells out.

The smell could very well be the guts of one or both catalytic converters burning out. If that is the case you may have a semi-permanent check engine light afterwards.

I use this scanner with an app called "torque" on my phone (and tablet) I wish I knew how to make that a live link with a realistic title but I do not.

https://www.amazon.com/BAFX-Products-Bluetooth-Diagnostic-Scanner/dp/B005NLQAHS/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542784482&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=bafx+obd2&dpPl=1&dpID=416SaTHOpkL&ref=plSrch

Good luck troubleshooting.

Carl
 

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