Hey Guys,

So I have been having some troubles with my 2003 F150 4.6L lately and I'm really hoping someone can help me.

Truck has been running rough and seems to have a harder time when it's warmed up and drops down to 600rpm. The check engine llight was on so I decided to get the codes read and I got back P0302 and P0304, which from what I understand is a misfire on cylinders 2 & 4. At the same time I got Ford to do a little diagnostic and this is what they wrote for me:

"The connector for the number 2 coil is broken and will not stay plugged on to the coil and the number 2 coil is not working / replaced the wire for the coil still running rough removed the coil and plug. the plug was very badly fuel soaked started the vehicle to see if there was spark at the plug. OK. Suspect either a injector issue or a compression issue cleaned the plug seems better. "

So they quoted me for the works. They say I should replace the coils, plugs, and injectors???

Can anyone help me solve this issue. I am pretty mechanically inclined and think I could change these things myself since I am on a budget. One tech told me is that the plugs can seize in these engines often and could scrap the whole thing??? Seems a little weird. If that happens though what could I do?

Any help as to what I should do would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for any input on this issue.

 

I don't know if you need to replace ALL the plugs, injectors, and coils - but it wouldn't be a bad idea. Paying a dealer to do it is going to be very costly. You can do it all yourself.

Plugs - Motorcraft SP479, about $4.00 each at Autozone/O'Reilly.

Coils - Visteon DG508, $160 a set on Ebay.

Injectors - various brands remanufactured, about $30 each at rockauto.com. I don't know if the remans come with o-rings, but those are available at parts stores. You will need 2 per injector. Note that the o-ring on top of the injector will probably stick in the fuel rail when you pull it.

Plugs don't seize in that engine, the ones that do are the 04+ 5.4 3 valve. When you install the plugs, do NOT use antiseize, and torque them to 28 ft/lb. Use dielectric grease in the coil boots. Rent/borrow a compression gauge and do a compression test when you pull the plugs.

I don't know if you necessarily need injectors - I'd do the plugs and coils first and see how it goes. Throw some Techron in the gas to help clean them.

 

Thanks glc! So I was thinking then of just replacing all the plugs since they are probably due to be replaced anyways and then just replacing the coils on 2 & 4. Does that make sense or is it something that should be replaced uniformly?

Thanks for your help....

 

Seize issue, -BS Stay away from that dealer with techs like that, those types haven't a clue... Seriously. Idiots,- I can't believe a Ford Tech would say that to you unless he thought you had 3 valve engine for some reason. You don't, I mean you so far from it, I can't believe the tech said that to you.

Your better off doing this yourself. No, it's not that difficult. We can can help you thru it if you get stuck somewhere.

How has your coolant level been ? How often do you have to add to it , if at all ? Look down into the block cavity/valley of the engine behind the alternator. Is it wet or holding water or coolant ?

Wait! What ford wrote to you, you quoted above, suggests they have worked on your vehicle. Did they? They use the word "replaced" which suggests work performed. If fact the way I read it, -they fixed #2, but didn't do diddly for you with #4. They even said the plug was fuel soaked, -which makes sense if #2 wasn't firing for a period of time. So which is it, did they just diagnose or did they work on it?

How many miles do you have on engine ?

 

Hey jbrew,

So as written above they did a diagnostic on the truck and then called me to say the connector was bad and they would have to replace it. In my hurry and less than informed state I said yes to a $195 repair for the wiring clip. They told me I would have to come back in for a further "deep" diagnostic where they would start taking things apart to figure this problem out and that's when I started to get a little pissed as I thought the whole point that I stopped in was for this problem to be diagnosed. The vehicle has 187500 miles on it. I just moved to a new city and bought in haste for a real good deal as there is nothing else wrong with it.

What I am wondering is where to start? I was thinking of doing all the plugs, replacing the cops on 2 & 4 and maybe buy a compression tool to do a dry compression test.

I haven't done anything of this scope on a truck but I am very mechanically inclined and it really doesn't look all that hard. What else should I be doing? Should I change the injectors on 2 & 4 as well? Thats the only thing that might look a bit more complicated for me.... any tips?

Thanks

 

With 187k, I think I'd do ALL the plugs and cops. You don't have to buy a compression tester, most parts stores have them in their loan-a-tool kits.

I would hold off on the injectors for now. Change the plugs and cops and clear the codes and see how it runs.

Note that it *IS* easier to get the cops out if you lift the fuel rail anyway. Once you lift the rail, the injectors simply pull out, very simple. O-ring at each end, lube them with a little ATF. Cops have one bolt holding them down, undo it and pull them out.

OEM cops at the dealer are about 80 bucks each, the Visteons are OEM and $160 a set - that's why I suggest you change them all. Once one goes, the others probably aren't too far behind.

 

I know Benny isn't going to like to hear this but reality has to set in sometime.
He does not know anything about the truck and working on it AND he does not want to spend any money.
He will spend money guessing I can assure, with comments like 'should I replace fuel injectors'.
By the time he's through all this, the dealer would have done it cheaper and been done with it.
Anytime one goes to a dealer for diagnostics and not continue with the job, they go into a shutdown mode because they don't know what it will 'all' take to get a final repair, so the owner gets pissed because of that.
He has no right to do so under those condition.
Ben, I replied to you on another board about this in shorter nicer terms.
Good luck, I hope you make out well with it..

 

Thanks everyone for the advice. I hit up rockauto for my coils and plugs and got a great deal for all eight. Just finished changing them and I am still getting a error code.

I also picked up a ELM327 Bluetooth OBDII reader and paired it up with an app on my phone so I cleared the codes and went for a drive. During the drive I was running the app and pending P0302 came up and finally after about 25min it registered as an error code. This is what it produced. Hopefully this means something to one of you geniuses.

BTW it is running a little better and the misfire in cylinder 4 never came back. It seems to still be running rich.

Brand: Ford
Model: f150
Year: 2003
Displacement: 4.6
Comments:

P0302 - Cylinder 2 Misfire Detected
PIDs supported [01 - 20] 01111111100110000000000000000000
Freeze DTC P0302
Fuel system status (FSS) Closed loop: using O2 sensor for fuel mix
Calculated engine load value (EngineLoad) 39.21 %
Engine coolant temperature (EGT) 46 °F
Short term fuel % trim Bank 1 (STFT1) 32.03 %
Long term fuel % trim Bank 1 (LTFT1) 0.78 %
Short term fuel % trim Bank 2 (STFT2) 10.93 %
Long term fuel % trim Bank 2 (LTFT2) 2.34 %
Engine RPM (RPM) 1023 rpm
Vehicle speed (Speed) 0 mi/h

 

Thanks Bluegrass for the very positive help. What I was doing is trying to solve and eliminate any currents problems that I can fix. Why pay $300 per coil and $500 for the plugs for a total of $2900 to the dealer when I was able to do the job myself for $350. These things already needed to be done.

And really what is wrong with actually trying to learn a few things about my own vehicle rather than being the joe-schmo that pays top dollar at a dealership to get the same work that I enjoy doing. I thought these forums were supposed to be helpful?

Have a good one!

 

Why in the world did you get your coils from RA ? What a waste, - it's your money I guess. Smartest thing would be to ask. You are a schmo, - but that's okay , if your proud of it.

To be helpful, - the very least you need to do, is ask.

 

Could have used the search as well. Here are the coils without any failures (so far) across the different sites.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FORD-E250-E350-E450-E550-VISTEON-IGNITION-COIL-DG508-ALL-8-BRAND-NEW-/181107124114?rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222002%26algo%3DSIC.FIT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D163%26meid%3D7313448217986380945%26pid%3D100005%26prg%3D1088%26rk%3D1%26sd%3D170998096349%26
You need to listen to be helped as well.

 

Thanks for the help Jbrew. I actually had this posted on a few different forums looking for input. Turns out bluegrass is very helpful on the other one and got back to me right away. Great guy!

As for the coils I had a few people tell me Visteons were now made in China so I went with an Ohio based company. I had a few different recommendations so I went with what I thought was best. It's too late now as the job is done. If they fail then yes I am the schmo and if they don't then I don't care about the $40 difference that I paid.

But enough of this banter and getting back to freeze frame data that I pulled about the error code was there any helpful suggestions you could make off of that?

Thank you.

 

No no, they are made in eastern Central Europe, - Hungary to be exact, - No way could china use that name , absolutely no way. It's not banter, just foolish. But like you said, you don't care. Just don't go around saying these are China coils, - the ones you purchased might be. Actually I've heard Rock Auto coils are good, - just double priced.

 

BTW- They're $159 for a set of 8 / $199 for a set of 10. 100% reliable, - they don't need a warranty, they just work.

 

I just somehow knew you would feel insulted.
Good luck.