My truck would not start this morning no matter what.
The weirdest thing was what finally got it started was with one of the cylinders unplugged and my dad checking for spark with a screw driver, after that cylinder was plugged back in it ran rough, really rough, but I played with the throttle till it got warmed up I guess and then it ran fine. CEL solid this whole time.
Went out and drove it after getting the intake on again and it ran fine, nothing out of the ordinary. Let it cool off and went out again later, this time it wouldn't warm up just sitting there. I ended up throwing the truck in reverse and goin for a run to see if that did anything. Everytime there after it would die if the clutch was depressed. For maybe half a mile then it warmed up and I got back to normal again.
Later I left somewhere and attempted to take my girlfriend home, this time it ran like pure crap for quite some time, actually until I had made it into town which took a good 15 minutes, shut the truck off, got gas and turned it back on. Ran fine from there. But while i was running it in 'limp mode' I had a solid CEL, couldn't go past maybe a 1/4 throttle or it cut out and every hill was first gear and easing into the throttle slowly or it died. Every stop sign was either hold the gas or it died. There was also a good bit of smoke pouring off of the new muffler which led me to believe the truck was running hot, even though the gauge never went up further than usual, (And this muffler wasn't new enough that it would just now be burning off, it was already almost all black.)
I tried to pull the CEL using the paper clip method and test light method, no luck. Solid CEL all the time and my indicator lights for battery and engine never turned off like shown in the videos.
Truck has 250k miles, plugs wires rotor and cap only have about 35k on em if that.
I need help and I need it bad. I move into college tomorrow so I'm gunna have to baby the truck in its current condition until sunday, maybe longer.
I'm just looking for suggestions as to what it could be, how to check the CEL, how to fix it. I just won't be able to fix it, unless really simple of course, until at least sunday.
Thanks for reading my crap

 

could be a cloged cat but prob with these old fords is they got 2 in series and if you dont want to get into fabricating your own exhaust like i did you have to buy the whole y pipe with the cats.

a little help if it is your cats and you try and take them out heat up the bolts holding the exhaust to the manifold or youll never get them out without breaking them

 

No cat, its gutted out.
Truck wouldn't start today, my dad tried all day doing different things, I was busy moving into college. I went home later on with one new relay (couldn't afford 2 with just cash since I just bought books) plugged it into the computer relay (the brown one?) and the truck started up, but was still running like ****, hunting between 200 and 1200 rpm, spitting sputtering and maybe a slight miss. I shut it off, put the old relay back in and it fired up again even though this wouldn't work all day. Truck ran like crap so I tried to road test it some, heard the worse backfire in the world, sounded like an m80 under my truck, but then as soon as it warmed up some it ran fine. Went home shut it off and immediately started it again only for it to run like garbage again.
So lost at this point, my dad thinks the computer itself is shot. He's gunna get another new relay tomorrow and try with replacing both relays.
Checked the vacuum and it pulled good and no leaks. Plenty of spark, don't have a gauge for fuel pressure at the rail, but it smells like its burning mega rich when the CEL is on so I'm assuming it's okay on fuel pressure. Got a new filter to put on anyway, just need the tool for it now.
Also already checked the cap, rotor and wires. All good there.
And is the fuel pump supposed to prime then shut off if you just turn the key on? Mine stays running all the time and my dad said that is a sign of a bad computer.
So is there a way to test the computer? And where might I be able to find one online for cheap. All the JY's here have autos.
Sorry for another long post, hope someone can help.

 

Rock Auto sells reman ECU's for between $85 and $200 plus core charge, depending on which exact one you need.

 

im not sure if its the same but i got a computer out of my old 95 with an i6 and m5od trans truck ran perfect till an f650 tboned me.

ware do u live in pa. i live down in the jersey shore if u aint to far ill sell it to u $20 its just sittin on my shelf

and hey a long post with alot of info is better then hey my truck runs wierd lol

 

Have you pulled the codes yet?

http://fordfuelinjection.com/?p=13

Adrianspeeder

 

It wouldn't let me pull any codes. Tried with the paperclip method to make the cel blink and tried with a test light and it didn't do anything.
CEL has been solid the whole time.
Was that truck mass air flow lost?
Reading through that write up, it says to wait for the fuel pump to prime and then it will flash codes, my pump isn't priming, just running continuously. I guess that leads back to the computer no? This website adrian speeder posted also says the computer rarely goes bad. True? And aren't you supposed to be flying or something speeder.
Is there anything else you guys would suggest testing?

 

The computer does go bad on those - pull it and smell it, if it smells burnt you have found the problem.

 

Okay I will do that asap. Problem is I am stuck at college with no vehicle to go home to work on my truck

 

I'd say you have a bad ground. I haven't seen a computer fail yet. Check over by the battery area where the grounds come to the fender.

Adrianspeeder

 

Another thing I'll check when I make it back home again.
The only thing is, it starts when it wants basically, but runs like ****. As soon as I drive it for like half a mile it runs fine, cel off.

 

Well they most certainly are not self healing boxes like I have to work on in c17 avionics, so you have a wiring problem I'll stick with my ground guess.

Adrianspeeder

 

I'll check every ground I can see, and use a meter on the grounds that this link says to check http://fordfuelinjection.com/index.php?p=44
I also think maybe it could be delayed effects of too many swimming lessons..?

 

VERY possible!

 

I'm headed home here soon, gunna check grounds and pull the computer and write down numbers. Local guy has 3 computers so maybe he'll have the right one so I can swap em today.