Well, if there ever was a damsel in distress, here I am. My True Blue 02 with 16K tough Northeast miles has just developed a hitching, hard idle with occasional stalling, both in park and in drive at a stop. My mechanic checked the gas (all clear), all filters (ditto), all belts (seem to be intact) and found no obvious problems or blockages or leaks. We are both flummoxed. Maintenance has been done religiously and the truck has been performing flawlessly to date. It's going into the shop on Monday and I am not driving it between now and then, but I am wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what I may be dealing with here? I don't race (OK, not on a track, anyway!), basically limit my supercharger use to highway merges, and I have tried to baby this truck through a harsh winter. Any insight will be much appreciated - thank you!

 

Dude mines doing the same thing right now too!!!

I thought it was bad gas or something with sensors but I couldn't find a damn thing.

I'm lost and I can't figure it out for the life of me, I hope to god your ford dealer can tell you cause I'm lost and yours sounds the same as mine.

when you just go to hit the gas it kinda chugs along and almost wants to die out and sometimes does right? but at WOT when I just lay on it, my truck gets up and goes as normal. I'm lost.

 

Eng. 'lopes' while idling or idles erratically:

1. Vacuum leaks. Check mounting bolts on the intake manifold for tightness. Make sure all vacuum hoses are connected and in good condition. The tech should be able to hear a hissing sound with a stethoscope.

2. Leaking EGR valve or plugged PCV valve.

3. Air filter clogged.

4. Weak fuel pump.

5. Leaking head gasket (I hope not.).

6. Timing chains worn.

7. Burned valves.

8. Ignition system not working properly.

9. Fuel injection or eng. control systems malfunctioning.

Dan

 

Thanks, gentlemen - RTkilla, I suspected bad gas immediately too but no such luck. The engine seems to run well enough at 40 mph plus but it is coughing and hitching as soon as you slow down, so there is something definitely wrong there. Lightninrod, thanks so much for the list - I will take it to the dealer and keep my fingers crossed that there isn't going to be major surgery in the future (I do have the top warranty, but who needs this trouble!) I have had to deal with head gasket problems in the past with an Olds 98 and that was no joyful time, either. I certainly don't pretend to know much about engines, but there seems to be something amiss with timing - the engine over-revs at the idle like a winded horse and then cuts out...not at all encouraging. I am thinking that items 1, 2, 8 or 9 might be the culprit. There should be a tearing-your-hair-out-with-frustration icon! I will let you know what gets diagnosed after Monday, and thanks again for your kind help.

 

I hope you find out what it is, cause its exactly whats wrong with mine and my warrenty is a little out of date and denied, HAHAHHA.

 

"the engine over-revs at the idle like a winded horse and then cuts out...not at all encouraging."

Now, this sounds more like a dirty IAC valve to me??? You slightly changed the symptom............ A dirty IAC can cause the idle to surge and die out but once you're above idle rpms, the eng. will run fine???

Dan

 

Just to let you know I recently had my truck in the shop because it died while I was driving on a road at about 45mph. I took it into the shop and they said it had a defective fuel pump. After they replaced that no more problems and I had a lot more power and throttle response. Who knows how long that thing had been hampering my performance. Might be your fuel pump is going.

 

If your just cruising slow, does it feel like it is surging??

I had that happen to me and it turned out to be a EGR Selinoid
The dealer couldn't even figure it out, I called Jim at JDM and he knew just what it was.

Here is a pic of what I am talking about


There are a few other things to look for

1) there is a vacuum line that has melted on a few trucks, it goes from under the intake tube to the boost actuator.

2) bad coil pac

3)Bad spark plug


Where in Massachusetts do you live, and have you had it scanned yet??

I would be happy to take a look at your truck for you, and hook up my scan tool for you. I can also look for the vacuum line that might be melted. If your not familiar with these trucks it can be missed.

give me a call at 781-983-6677

Good luck

Don

Also you should come up to the track this spring and meet all the other Lightning owners, from our area.

 

Thank you all for the helpful information, and yes, the truck is being examined this morning. I didn't dare run it above 40 mph on Saturday when the problem developed but it didn't feel quite right even then ( it was running, but it sure wasn't singing the way it usually does) The engine didn't seem to surge while at 30-40 mph, but you could hear that it wasn't running "comfortably", either, especially as you slowed down. And of course, at all stops and in park it was just revving between 1K and 2K and hitching and pitching and stalling. We'll certainly look at the fuel pump (for you, Blk02), and all those potentially damaged hoses as well as the IAC valve as Lightninrod suggested. Don, thank you so much for the advice and the picture - we'll look at those coil assemblies as well. RTKilla, the minute I get the diagnosis, I will post again! I am hopeful that it is something relatively mechanically simple, like a damaged hose...Right now, I am driving a rental, a Jeep Liberty, and that gives real meaning to the phrase drivin' and cryin'!
Thanks again, everyone,
Susan

 

Thanks man I appreciate it cause I'm lost with mine. I sure hope its a vaccum line thats screwed up and nothing to serious.

 

I had some symtom's similar to what you guy's are talking and they changed plugs, did complete tranny diagnostics, and finally whalla, they found the problem, and replaced the in-tank fuel pumps. I was unmodded and under warranty at the time and glad as it would have been a grand to fix! Hope your problem is something simpler.....

 

I just picked it up and she's on the road and singing again. What was reported to me was that there was no dramatic Big Problem, but rather there were several little things that needed tweaking, but taken together, they added up to cause real trouble. Seems as though there were a couple of items in the electrical system that needed refitting/tightening (I will find out exactly where they were located and report back). All clamps and connections were checked and tightened, especially in the vacuum hoses. No apparent melting of any hoses anywhere and no leaking seals, thank heaven. The IAC valve was in fact taken out and cleaned thoroughly (it was dirty) and the coil packs checked out OK. I ran it up to 80, which is as fast as you can go locally and not kill anyone, and did some stop & go travel as well - no apparent problem now, no hitching or roughness in deceleration or in idle and just that sweet purring at rest and great throaty growling at 40. I'm still wary and will be watching for any redevelopment of problems but so far so good. I appreciate everyone's help here and thanks so much to all of you!
Susan

 

The IAC valve was in fact taken out and cleaned thoroughly (it was dirty)

Dan

 

you might just need to replace it

 

sounds interesting to me, find out what they did if you can. I just put my truck back together and its still doing the same thing so I'm going to autotap it tommorrow and if that doesn't do it I'm going to have to have the dealer look at it.