Ok, I've had the truck (2001 supercrew, 5.4, 4wd) in 3 times for the same problem over 1 year. Ford dealer can't seem to figure it out ie. no errors on the computer.

So here's the deal:

Rough starts in the morning last Nov., by rough I mean it would crank and crank then finally kick over. The colder it was, the longer it took. Now, as the summer came, it was better......except when it was rainy or very humid, then it cranked and cranked then finally turning over with a puff of white smoke.
Now that the colder weather has started, it's right back to it.

Any suggestions PLEASE!!!

Dealer says it "may" be the fuel pump. They'd love to charge me $500.00.

I may just change the fuel pump myself.....can anyone give me a heads up on doing it myself and/or had this problem before!!

Thanks,
Dave

 

How cold does it get? Below freezing?

Maybe you should see if your truck has the heater that you plug into when it gets cold (you just plug a regular extension cord into it, on my '97 its inside the front bumper). Dont know if thats your problem...worth a try though.

 

Basically, any time it's under 50 degrees it has a hard time AND even on those humid, rainy Michigan summers it would crank and crank.

I've decided to replace the fuel pump myself (maybe tomorrow), I'm so sick of this problem.

I'll post how it goes.

Thanks

 

In those temps my suggestion would be useless

Good luck with it though.

 

Well, i dont know about the cold, but in the humid and rain, is it possible that your distributor is getting humidity in it??

 

Cold starts use a rich mixture. Rich mixture needs a good spark to get going. High humidity can cause high resistance wires to ground to the engine block instead of going to the plugs where you need it to go. I would also investigate the power going to the coil in the crank position.. The good old days of distributors used to have a bypass on the starter selinoid that put full battery voltage to the coil when cranking.

 

I thought of all those things........

The plugs have been changed, maybe 30K ago.

And, wouldn't the low voltage caused by faulty wiring be picked up by the computer?

That's what's so frustrating, even the dealer got it to hard start in the morning (the other day). No error or fault on computer!

 

you might want to check if your battery has enoughp cold cranking amps for your truck, it should say what you need in the manual. if its less it could just be the battery