Okay, so here is the deal. I own a 2002 F150 4.6L V8 Triton 4x4. Friday afternoon I started the truck with no problem, went to the gas station and heard a slight engine knock... and I stress the word slight, maybe I should say it sounded like a consistent tap. Regardless, I thought to myself that I should run inside and grab a quart of oil just in case, but I was running close to being late for a meeting so I decided to get to it that afternoon. Long story short, about two miles later down the road a red light appeared in the upper left which displayed an oil/ temp light. I glanced over at my temp gauge and it looked perfectly fine, about 3 seconds later the truck shut off and I had to throw it in neutral and coast off to the side of the road. I opened the hood and I had a small stream of smoke pushing out of a melted hose which connects to the PCV valve. I checked the oil and there was nothing on the dip stick. Also, even with the keys out of the ignition, the PCM relay continued to click repeatively, and when I tried to crank it back up, I got absolutely nothing. I had it towed home where I checked the oil again now that it was cooled down, and only a sliver of oil was on the stick. I tried reading the trouble codes but the reader wouldnt turn on. So I found a thread on this site which helped me fix the reader (cig fuse bad), and the reader tells me P1000 and P1635. So this tells me that the Cylinder Head Temp sensor is bad, but the problem remains that I can't even attempt to start the truck. When I do the truck acts like it has a bad starter and the dash lights and cabin light start acting possessed., flickering violently while the PCM relay flips back and forth... what in the world is going on...

 

This is the third thread like this in the past couple of days - you ran it out of oil and now the engine is essentially toast.

 

I understand thats what it looks like... but it baffles me, I checked the oil just over a month ago, and it was good, and there has been no leaks under the truck. I realize that the truck can burn through the oil and it can leak into other areas... but really?! Can it really burn through that much oil that fast without giving me smoke in the exhaust or something? Also, if there is oil on the stick, even just a lil, doesnt that mean there is still about two quarts of oil in there? Also, all this happened within 15 minutes of the truck starting in the morning, and I don't drive it hard... is that enough time to get it hot and blow it?

 

All I know is I'm going over all the fluid levels and anything else on my truck with a fine tooth comb in the morning

 

Add oil one quart at a time, waiting 10 minutes between quarts, till the oil is in the safe range on the stick. How many quarts did it take?

The tapping you heard was the lifters starving for oil.

 

It's a gonner meng

 

Its 1 A.M. here, so I will check how many quarts it needs in the morning, but for now... lets entertain the notion that the engine is "a gonner". Lets say I drop $3-4k on a new engine... that doesn't seem to explain the electrical issue. What is making the PCM relay continue to flip and all the lights and gauges flicker on and off?

 

There is most likely and oil level safety switch. It won't start because it's too low.

 

The P1000 is the weird thing when you read the codes. Have you reciently disconnected the battery or erased the codes? If not then the PCM is loosing it's power supply. With the relay clicking after the key was off/out and the cig lighter fuse being blown, says to me you have some electrical issues going on.

The oil is a different story. Sounds like your PCV has sucked the oil down.

Put some oil in it and switch the realy with a good one and see what happens.......I hope you are lucky.

glc is right, the ticking was most likely the lifters screaming for mercy.

A friend of mine's Dad told him, when he was starting to drive, "you can drive the car as much as you want without gasoline.......but I better not catch you using it if the water and oil aren't full"

 

Ok, so update: I added oil and went and bought new PCM relays. The engine took just over two quarts (I added three and it put the oil just slightly under the Max line). Also I put in the new relay, and I get the same result as before. On a side note, I am not seeing water on the dip stick, so a warped or cracked head seems out of question.

It seems to be acting like there is a bad ground somewhere.

 

Actually yes, I followed some advice which was to disconnect the battery for thirty minutes and let the PCM clear, then reconnect and see what happens. When I did that, things seemed better (dash and lights did not flicker like crazy), until I tried turning the engine... then everything went back (lights/ dash flickering and relay flipping)

Again, the flickering and relay jumping reminds me of a grounding issue. Any thoughts?

 

I'm not the go to guy for electrical. From what I have read in other threads it might point to a GEM module.

Is or has the floor been wet after it rained on the driver side? A windshield leak seems to be what causes the death of the GEM. Type GEM module in the search and see if anything there fits what you got.

There are plenty of guys here that are very good with electrical stuff, maybe they will chime in shortly.

Good luck

 

Try this one for starters https://www.f150online.com/forums/el...ght=GEM+module

 

Thanks jgger, I really appreciate the help! I did check fuse 15 and it looks good, also I don't have any issues with water getting in. BUTTTT, I was sprawled out under the hood (with the hood lamp flickering like crazy) trying to twist myself to get a good angle for replacing the Cylinder Head Temp (CHT) sensor, and low and behold, my foot bumped the battery and the light stopped flickering. So realizing what an idiot I was for never checking the battery, I went and inspected it and realized that not only does the positive connection need replaced, but the battery is date stamped 09/07... so I'm on the way to the store now to have the battery checked, and I'll probably replace it anyways along with the connector... fingers crossed!

 

EUREKA!!! So the engine runs... its running pretty rough, but it is running!

So I took the battery to a part shop and the guy took about 10 seconds to tell me it was bad... so I walked it across the street to the other part shop, and he told me it was good and gave me a print out of the amps and such... so connectors. I replaced the connectors and I no longer have an electrical problem! I can't believe it was that simple... blows my mind.
So I got to thinking, my A/C went out (stopped blowing cold air) about a week ago and now this with the battery connectors building up corrosion (all the powdery stuff looks fresh), so I checked the belt tensioner... the gap was at the "needs replaced" mark, so I replaced the belt, but it still is on the same mark.
So next I went and put on the new PCV valve along with a new line since the old one melted off, and then I started the truck up. It was a bit rough, and finally it idled, but now I hear that slight knock that I heard at the gas station before all this happened. It sounds like its coming from the passenger side of the engine in the front... tensioner or idler maybe? I cant tell if its under the valve cover or if outside of it.

Any thoughts y'all?... The best news is.... ITS NOT BLOWN!!!!!