sup fellas, in desperate need of your amazing wealth of knowledge here.

Truck: 2002 f150 5.4 xlt/fx4/ 117,xxx miles

ok here is the story, i was mudding with a buddy today and he got stuck, while unsuccessfully trying to pull him out after several hard attempts i decided to call a buddy to help and in the mean time while he showed up, head down to the local convenience store.

this is when things start to go wrong...

I soon notice that the idle when in drive and at a stop, it has a very noticeable vibration, definitely abnormal to a person who has never been in the truck before, if i put it in park, the rumble seems to go away, put it in drive, it starts right back up and through the gears, if i let off the gas it seems to also go away if I'm idling down to speed. it also is lacking "*****" when accelerating from a dead stop or from any certain speed.

I call my friend and tell him I will not be coming back out there due to the truck acting up, i fore-go the store and head immediately to the car wash a few minutes away from my house. On my way there, the "service engine soon" light is flashing on and off, panic sets in. When I get to the wash, I spray her down real good, under carriage and all, and let her sit turned off for about 4-5 mins. Fingers are crossed as i turn her back on, and to no avail, the rough idle is still on, but the light was off. About 2 mins down the road on a 5 min drive to my house and the "service engine soon" light came back on but was solid, and not flashing this time.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, anywhere to look, immediate guesses on what might have to be fixed, or anything!

my first thought is the tranny bless her soul. any one else agree?

 

Pull the codes and post back. Most likely a misfire

 

just got the codes, they are...

P0303

P0171

P0316

the guy at auto zone said i could probably get away with cleaning the stuff out and pulling apart the stuff and letting it dry, should pull the plug boots/plugs/ and coil packs?

its in the number 3 cylinder

 

The cylinder 3 is most likely a cop considering how it came about. The 171 is bank one lean and 316 is misfire detected on start up.

I would inspect cylinder 3's cop. Blow it out with a compressor if your going to remove the plug also. Maybe there is water in there, mud or what not, and sometimes you can dry them out. Check all the connections as well as the injector connection.

 

ok, i will try and pull the third cop, it should be just the single bolt holding it on correct? and slide it out and clean out the well?

 

First the bottom line.
You do not car wash/ pressure wash etc these engines.
It's all hand cleaning and/or removing all the coils to dry out the plug wells with air pressure etc.
303 is cylinder three on bank one.
The 171 code is also bank one.
The CEL flash was telling you that the cats for bank one might overheat because the missing cylinder is passing raw gas that is buring in the cats and may melt them if you persist in force driving the truck.
If that should happen it's big bucks to replace them.
Next, the 316 code was telling that a missfire was detected at startup.
.
Clean up the #3 plug well first then see if that solves the miss.
If yes, the 316 is ignored and the 171 may be also.
If miss is gone but still low on power, it may be the melted cats on bank one.
Nice to go mudding but you sometimes have to pay the 'piper' for doing so.
If you do this, always be ready to accept the end results while you out in the mud or later.
Good luck..

 

alright, well i didn't power wash any part of the engine, i know thats a big no no.

I took out the cop on 3, and I'm trying to figure out, since its way back there, should i just use a can of compressed air and try to blow anything out that might be there? whats the best way to do this?

thanks for all the help guys, its really appreciated.

 

That will work if you don't have a compressor.

 

You explain it better in your other thread. First your CEL flashed, then it went solid, - full illumination. That means you have a dead hole (cyl 3). The coil is most likely garbage and shorted. The 316 is a miss within the first 1000 rpms ? I thought ? Maybe I got it mixed up, - doesn't matter. -

I would pull the coil,- as you have and as others have said. -No air compressor ? If that little can runs dry, - Iduno, -you have a big *** leaf bower by chance ? Yep, dry that chamber out, - disconnect #1 coil, -install that one in # 3. Install #3 coil in the #1 chamber AFTER you take the coil apart and dry it out completely.

Still running like crap ? - Still have a CEL after you fire it back up ? Head back up to the store and have it scanned once more. If the scanner produces DTC PO301, - it's definitely the coil. Being that the coil that WAS in #3's chamber is now over #1, - you can purchase a new coil and replace #1 in a couple minutes time, -right there in the stores parking lot. Don't forget to bring a few 7mm sockets with you, - 1/4 d ratchet w/1.5" ext.

I said sockets because those 7mm 's can grow legs and get away from you. I'd swear I seen one grow wings once. I found a congregation under my lower intake once. - surrounding the knock sensor. That's true! So yea, - it's may be good idea to have more than one on hand before you take off.. It definitely is for me anyway- damn communist sockets .

BTW, - If your missing your wheel well skirts on either side (they can just fall off, at anytime), - you can soak the back half of the engine unknowingly and at high tide. A hard rain on paved roads might even foul her out. So check those skirts, - keep it dry inside.

Don't worry about the other fault codes, - fix the misfire and those will go away.

Good Luck

 

Good call

 

thanks fellas, new COP is being delivered, should be here friday.

as far as the dielectric grease is concerned, do i take the rubber boot off the pack, and put a tad bit of grease on the inside of the boot on the top and bottom?

 

Don't put it on the top inside..a little with a q-tip for the bottom inside and liberal but not dripping around the top outside

 

the new COP was placed back on, on friday. the problem is fixed!

I owe everyone here a beer. cheers mate!

 

Ok guys.. so im kinda having the same issue.. I just had a new tranny seals put in and pump.. spark plugs and lubricant changed. But today driving my truck it had a weird vibration that didnt last long.. at first I thought with the amount of snow we got I had snow in my rims. Got out on the highway and she purred like a dream until I slowed down again. It started the vibration again. Made my turn and started to accelerate but I had no go and theres that vibration again. So I pulled over and checked it out. It definitely sounds like its missing. Did my once over everything. Found out the little hose to the preasure regulator was not put on properly. Took it for a quick cruise around the near by town but it's still idling rough but not as bad. Also noticed a hose above the engine made of plastic leaking.. with antifreeze leaking on the plug below it.. kinda worried guys..

please help

Xoxo jess

 

Well ya that 'ain't' good.
Fix the leak and pull the coil out.
Blow out the hole with compressed air and check over the boot for pin holes condition and accumulation of antifreeze.
If you fail to get it solved then a Scanner to look at the live data on mode 6 test 53 ---- the cylinder monitors for misfire counts
Address those that have high counts and all should be good.
Good luck.