I have a 2008 F150XLT with the 5.4L V8.Have been having a lot of trouble with it stalling and backfiring. Have recently changed spark plugs,mass air flow sensor,and cleaned out throttle body and changed air filter. Ran good for about 2 weeks but now it's doing the same. Engine light has come on so took it to get checked and computer says it's the oxygen sensors. Now I've got two questions on this, one,how do you know if it's the back or front sensors and also can these sensors be taken out and cleaned like you would do to spark plugs????

 

There are no codes that say "it's the oxygen sensors".

Oxygen sensors cannot cause the driveability symptoms you have described. However, other faults can cause those symptoms and the oxygen sensors are there to read the fault condition. Inexperienced guys often misinterpret the fault codes to implicate the messengers instead of understanding how the system works.

Post the EXACT fault codes (Pxxxx) for troubleshooting assistance.

 

The fronts. Good rule of thumb is change them every 25-30 thousand miles although I have seen them bad directly from the factory. Replace them, do not clean them. Bosch are a good replacement choice. Oxygen sensors can be the cause of some tuning and driveability issues.

 

That's excessive. I have 185k on my originals, still working fine. 100k should be plenty often if you want to be proactive.

Motorcraft is a better choice.

 

Thanks for your help guys, turns out it wasn't the O2 sensors after all!! Was a defective air filter!!! DAMN thing was torn ,cone on top came off and that was the reason for the stalling and bogging out!!! Went out and got a Spectre performance air filter and truck is running like a champ!!!

 

Countless hours spent tuning Ford modular motors, and equally as many dyno pulls have proven to me that 02's certainly should be changed more often as mentioned. You be proactive your way, and I will be proactive my way.


'If all me were created equal, there certainly would be no need for the passing lane"

 

In the 80's and early 90's, 50K was the standard, today, the design is significantly different...100K is recommended by every mfg.

 

Of course, if you are tuning for all you can get, the fresher the sensor, the better it will be. For the average driver 100k is fine. As I said, mine are still fine to me at 185k.

 

Was this a Fram air filter?


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