Hello. I had some strange events occur today. I have a 2004 F150 FX4 with 205,500 miles.


I replaced the rear shocks, rear brake pads, fuel pump module, front rotors, front calipers, and front brake pads.


I bleed the front calipers two different times and went thru 3 bottles of brake fluid and the brake pedal is still spongy. Should I take it to a mechanic to power bleed it? Or bleed all 4 calipers?


My main issue is that when I went to start the truck from bleeding the calipers, I noticed my dome light has extremely dim. I put the key in and turned it on. NOTHING! no lights, no instrument panel lights, and the engine wouldn't turn over or make any noise.


When I took the key out, I heard a "clicking" in the middle/rear of the truck (basically when the cab and bed of the truck meet) I would saw about 2-3 feet towards the rear of the vehicle going away from the fuel filter.


I put a battery charger on the battery. I tried to immediately start the truck. It attempted to turn over and the instrument panels went crazy.


I let it charge for about 5-10 minutes. The truck started right up (Battery instrument panel didn't move or show that it was decreasing in amps as it started). However, now the fuel gauge reads "E" and it has a full tank of gas. Literally I full tank, I just filled it up yesterday and only drove about 10 miles since.


Does anyone know what that clicking noise could be and why the fuel gauge is misreading? Is it bad timing or are they connected issues?


I will get a new battery tomorrow but could it be the alternator as well?


Any help or suggestions is appreciated.


Dom

 

for the brake issue if the pedal still feels spongy i would bleed all 4 wheels starting at the right rear then left rear then right front and end with the left front.
for the electrical issue start by getting your battery tested, if you had the door open a while or the key on you could have just drained your battery. these trucks can do weird things with a dead battery. take your truck to autozone, advance or oreillys and have them check the alternator output. after you get the battery and charging system fixed and the fuel gauge is still messed up, check the connections on your fpdm above the spare tire, did you use oem or aftermarket?

 

I will try all 4 brakes...what a pain!!


I will hit up advance in the morning. I bought an aftermarket fpdm. This is my 3rd one. Used oem previous times (I live in upstate NY and the snow/salt eat through it like a hot knife on butter). oem wasn't on hand and I needed it replaced that day. do you think that is an issue?

 

did your fuel gauge work before changing the fpdm? make sure the new fpdm is mounted on the spacers to keep it off the steel frame. ford motorcraft parts are the best for these trucks. i'm currently running a dorman on my truck with no issues, but have heard other people have had issues.

 

yes, the fuel gauge worked as normal before changing the fpdm. it is mounted on the spacers but I will doubled check as I cranked down on them pretty good before realizing they were being smashed. fuel gauge also indicates "Low fuel" on the dash were miles are displayed. thank you for your help and suggestions.

 

i would say you have a bad fpdm then if your fuel gauge worked before you replaced it.

 

I bought it from napa. I will double check the connection, if that's good, I will return it to napa and get an oem

 

look at all of the terminals real good, make sure none are pushed out of the connector or spread open

 

Let us know the outcome. Battery should be at about 12.8v with the vehicle off and the alternator should be putting out 14-14.5v depending on the temp.

I'd also swap that fpdm to OE.

Third fpdm? I can understand the first one going out, but did you mount the second two spaced off the frame? Were they all oem? Have you tried painting them with something like por 15 or hitting them with fluid film? I know you have a decent amount of miles, but the updated style fpdm should be lasting longer. Mine shows so signs of corrosion on the rear and I drive in an area where lots of salt is used.

 

I replaced the battery. It was reading around 9V when it started then around 4 V when you turned on the radio, fan, lights. New battery drops to 11V when starting and dropped a little when turning on accessories. Im thinking a cell is bad in it?!?


The fuel gauge went back to normal after replacing the battery. I still replaced the fpdm with the oem one. I sprayed some undercoating on the back of it to avoid corrosion again. yes, my third one. The first one was replaced around 130,000 miles and this one at 205500. Both having holes in the back of it from the corrosion. The North Country has been rough the last few years!!




Now for the brakes..it is embarrassing for me to type this but its a great lesson learned. I have worked on my own vehicle since I was 16. So for 20 years. I have replaced brakes, calipers, etc a dozen times. The problem was that I had two "left side" calipers. So the bleed valve on the right side was on the bottom. I noticed it was the same one when putting it on but didn't want to lower the vehicle, put everything back together etc to get the right one. I thought it would be fine if I just flipped it over. Not knowing that I could have bled it all day and wouldn't have fixed it. I took it back and got the "right" one. I got on the salesman too for selling me the same side one but I know its my fault as well for not paying attention and thinking it would still work.

 

How many volts is your charging system putting out when the truck is running?

 

14v