I just bought a 03 Ford F-150 with the 5.4. in it. It has almost 170,000 miles on it but looking at it.. still in good shape. Engine runs fairly good. The problem Im having right now is (and its only happened a few times so far) after say I drive it for several miles... or even more, and I stop and kill the engine. After I come out of the store and try to restart the truck... it wont start. It turns over... but almost acting like its not getting gas. I let it sit for a few minutes or so and BOOM! It starts right up like nothing is wrong. No hesitation or anything. I've been a chevy man for years and this is the first ford i've owned since the early 80s. Needless to say im not even close to being a mechanic... so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. If you have any idea... feel free to email me at ram26064@yahoo.com

 

Bad spot on the starter possibly?

 

Welcome! I moved your post to a forum where you hopefully will get more responses.

Do you know when the fuel filter was changed? There are several general maintenance items that can be done that don't cost a lot. If they haven't been done, I would clean the MAF, clean the throttle body, clean the IAC and change the plugs. If that does not fix it, then I would have the injectors checked out.

 

You could have leaky injectors, which are flooding it after shutdown. To test this theory, hit the pedal all the way to the floor when you try to start it - that brings in max air *AND* shuts the injectors off.

Leaky injectors SOMETIMES can be fixed with fuel additive - try a bottle of Techron.

 

Sorry... I have no idea what MAF or the IAC is. Please let me know what you're talking about. Sorry for my ignorance but I've never been much of a mechanic. Change the brakes.. starter.. water pump.. maybe the plugs.. plus oil, oil filter and air filter.. after that.. you're way over my head. @bluejay

 

MAF is the mass air flow sensor and the IAC is the idle air control. Check out the Engine articles in the Articles and How To section.

Here are a couple of articles.
https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...ml#post4193148

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ar...ttle-body.html

Also, use the Advanced search to find some posts concerning cleaning the IAC. Lots of info out there and you will learn a lot. Hope this helps.

 

Put your hand on the FP relay when it's acting up. If warm, it's bad and needs to be replaced.

Also, a hint that it's a delivery issue would be not hearing the pump charge the lines when keyed to run.

 

Also, key to run. If you DO NOT hear the fuel pump prime the line, -(you should hear this with the window down/door open), then using a hammer, hit the bottom center of the fuel tank. If the fuel pump activates then charges the line, the pump is failing.