I just had all my coils done on my 2000 F150 5.4 4v4. Now every morning I get a really rough start, very high idle, and a huge puff of white smoke. Any Ideas? It kinda smells like coolant. I just cant see anything leaking any ideas? It runs fine and everything its just the start. thanks guys I searched and didn't really find any similar problems.

 

Check the oil for signs of water in there, or vice versa. Sounds like a bad head gasket. Alot of times too, rough cold weather starts are IAC related as well. How did the plugs look after taking them out? or did you just do coils? I'm thinking if you had a water leak due to head gaskets, a) you'd lose a noticeable amount of coolant pretty quick and b) you'd smell burning coolant all the time. Not sure, never had to deal with this directly.

 

You know I just did the coils. yes the coolant is very low and I just filled it a week ago maybe and now that I think about it I smell coolant pretty much everytime I get out of my truck.

 

Anyone else? I heard it could be the intake manifold? I heard drain your radiator put bar's block seal head gasket fix? I heard clean your throttle body IAC and EGR ports? All of the above. I got a road trip i'm trying to head out on i want to cover all basis. Im changing the fuel filter today.

 

I wouldn't go road tripping with this amount of doubt. I'd nail where the leak is, probably the rad or a hose if you can smell it that noticeably. Have the system pressure checked which most likely will show where the leak is. All the other stuff to clean, T body etc might be coincidental having nothing to do with the coolant leak. If it's a leak in the rad, check the dealers price on a new one because for some reason they were way less $$ than anyone else.

 

White exhaust emissions is usually either coolant or transmission fluid passing thru the motor from some point.
Certinaly the motor will run rough intil it gets cleared out but may still pass coolant even if the leak slows down with motor heat.
Spark plug tip check just after cold starting may tell you the cylinder that has the issue.
This goes on long enough it can contaminate the cats and OX sensor on the bank the issue is on.
Good luck.

 

Bluegrass would you suggest Bar's block seal or radiator stop leak something like that?

 

sounds like your headgaskets or intake gaskets are leaking coolant into the heads

 

If the leak is not blowing combustion gas back into the cooling system, you may be able to stop it but it's not really the proper fix.
Question is is the problem a crack, head gasket, intake gasket etc as to what may be done except a teardown.
Until you get that answer, seal is just a gamble.
Good luck.

 

Im just going to start replacing some of the easy parts I can do myself today. Going to pull the throttle body give that a good cleaning and see if i cant find something leaking from there.

 

Also on this pic I circled on the bottom right there is a pool of oil in the bottom right circled part what is it?

 

black is valve cover, below the valve cover is the cyl head. centered of that is known as the intake valley.

 

So right under the 10 in Jan 10 2004 is the intake valley? Ok mine is filled with oil cause for concern maybe?

 

The area right where the "10" is, is one of the bolts to the valve cover, the harness attaches to that. If that little area is full of oil, there is a leak in the valve cover gasket. Not to hard to replace, but also not the cause of your problem. Its also a common place for oil to leak to when filling. Could just be that.

 

Cleaning your TB is always a good thing, but it will have nothing to do with your hard starts, white smoke and low coolant. I would focus your time on that right now, that's where the serious issue is. Unless, once you have the TB off, you pull the intake plenum and check for your leak there. If it is not there, then a compression check is probably next. I would definitely keep it parked until it is figured out.