Alright so recently between about ~2700 and ~3200 rpms my truck sputters and shakes, i can best describe it as someone driving a stick that doesnt know how to shift right

Im pretty sure i can hear air being sucked in around my intake manifold...would that cause this problem?

ive had the vaccuum leak engine code for over a year and ive never experienced any problems like this

 

Find the vacuum leak.

 

thats the problem..ive never actually been able to find the leak

i even broke down and put it in the shop twice last year

i could probably find and maybe even fix the larger one that just happened if i wasnt in college away from all my tools

 

The shake comes from the engine dieing out. When I had something like this happen to me, it got serious down the line. The truck would die the first time it was started that day, and at idle, it'd sputter and almost sound like a diesel engine, you know, the knocking sounds, and then it'd die out. But like you, while driving, it'd sputter. I took it to ford, and they ended up putting a new throttle body on it. Fixed it, and never had a problem since then. Im not sure what the throttle body had to do with it, but what ever it had, it stopped everything. It was probably plugged or something. It was a 2000 model after all. Been quite a few years.

 

FWIW, I had a Bosch spark plug go bad after about 20,000 miles and it did a similar thing (not including the sucking air sound). Went a few months before throwing a code, during which time I replaced the fuel filter, cleaned the MAF, replaced the O2 sensors, etc...

Since the plugs were pretty new, I guess I ruled them out. Just kept getting worse and worse until it finally threw a code. Bad plug on #6. Replaced it with Motorcraft and cured the problem. The following weekend, I pulled out all those POS Bosch plugs.

Basically, you could have a bad spark plug. It is amazing how crappy your truck will run with a bad plug and still not throw a code.

 

I'm going home this weekend so I guess I'll try and see what I can find out...if anything.

If it wasn't for damn Ike I'd be thirty mins from my house

 

I was getting a miss with no codes from a bad coil pack on mine last year.

 

yeah i have a bad feeling that it might be my coil packs or plugs.

it really sucks cus i know i could find the problem and fix it i just dont have the time

 

There's only one coil pack on a V6.

 

Around when my truck was at 60k miles, It started doing shaking when I would try to accelerate a little bit and it wasn't very responsive to kicking it to the floor either. I checked the plugs and found that one had actually broken in half just below the porcelain piece. Upon further inspection, one plug also had a carbon "dome" building on it. Changed the whole set of plugs an wires and it solved the problem.

 

I have the same sputter and shake at 1500rpms with no codes thrown. I have a Jasper replacement motor and that came with Autolight plugs (I think). I pulled the plugs and they looked normal. Think I will have to replace them. Replaced the coil pack a few weeks ago with no help. I have about 20k miles on the Jasper.

 

Dennis, what about the plug wires? Autolites aren't as bad in the V-6 as they are in the modular V-8's.

 

I thought about the wires also. I was considering the plugs because they would be cheaper. Any suggestions foe wires? I think I installed Motocraft when I had the original motor that went South.

 

Motorcrafts are the recommended wires. Don't forget to use dielectric grease.

 

under the air intake through the throttle body is a little elbow house that run to the passenger side of the motor them elbows are bad for rotting out check that.