I need help. I have resently relocated to Las Vegas from San Diego. My 2000 F150 (5.4l) struggles in the heat. When I take off from a start, it feels as if I am dragging a house behind me. Whether the A/C is on or off. I have the following upgrades: Hyperchip, K&N intake and flowmaster. Any ideas what is causing this? Due I need to have my fuel/air mixture adjusted for the temp difference? Please help...

 

There was a Ford TSB out about detonation occuring at high temperatures. It sounds like your problem may be similar. I think the Ford solution was to upgrade their software.

 

My '01 that I just traded in had the same problem for the last two years. I believe that my problem was the fan. I think on hot days it was almost completely locked up at low RPM's and then started to loosen around 35 mph. I never was able to get it tracked down and didn't bother replacing the fan to find out for sure if that was the problem but you could hear the air rushing when you were starting from a dead stop so I suspect that was the problem.

 

According to Alldata, the TSB # is 02-12-03 for "Engine - Lacks power in high temperatures".

 

Thanks DougS!

 

I am in the same boat with the same problem. I took it to the dealer up where i live and they said i would probably be needing a new transmission. Says the transmission is binding. I laughed at the guy and walked out. I'm glad this was posted. This is the exact problem. Thank you.

 

My 5.4L draggs azz badly too in hot humid weather. I'm thinking it has something to do with the fan too, inasmuch as there's a loud roaring noise as I'm trying to go.

Electric fans anybody?

 

First, I want to thank everyone for their responses. Second, the fan issue sounds like it may be the issue. It seems that whenever the fan kicks on, the problem starts. Anybody know anything about the fans? I was also told that my after market K&N filter system (full intake system that leaves filter exposed) could be causing the problem. I was told that the due to the filter being open, it is sucking in the 200+ degree air which is too hot for the engine. Any thoughts?

 

What the heck is a TSB? And what do I do with that information?

 

Technical Service Bulletin. It's issued to the dealers so they know what to expect when they get a bunch of vehicles with matching symptoms coming in.

Two reasons your fan clutch will kick in. It's defective, or your engine is running hotter then normal.....

Don't just think your engne is running at a nice 190* when you look at that stock temp gauge either...... It's just an idiot light with a needle on it....... It'll never move until the engine is over 220* or so...

I've got a real water temp gauge and mine has been up to 210* and the stock gauge was where it always is........

My fan clutch kicked in and since I was at a stop light, I gave it some gas to get the rpms up to 1000 rpms and it started to cool down and so did the trans temp..

Oh, I was towing a #4500 travel trailer and it was around 90* outside. I had the A/C on and everything....

Under hood temps are hotter when there is not much airflow and the open element is just sucking in that hot air. I notice a bit of a loss when it's hot out too. I have the stock filter setup, so air temp does seem to have an effect on it.....

Good luck!

Mitch

 

I was curious on this also. I run the K&N FIPK, and noticed today that my truck seemed sluggish. Any of ya know if the electric fan mod might help get some air circulating? When my truck is idling at the store and I step outside of it, I can actually feel the heat coming out from under the body of the truck. I know its producing a lot of heat, just dont know how to combat it.

 

This is an ongoing problem and the K&N will make it worse. I have a 2000 F150 4x4 and I have the same problem. When I first bought the truck I loved it, (and still do) then it got HOT and I noticed a big decrease in power... So I dropped a FIPK in it.. At first it made a nice little difference, until I got into stop and go traffic.. What happens is that the temperature under the hood increases and instead of taking air from the fender where the stock intake takes it... it takes it from under the hood where the temperature is significantly higher. Then on top of that my truck was diagnosed with the TSB's

15431 - LACK OF POWER IN HIGH AMBIENT TEMPERATURES
Some 1999-2002 Expedition and F-150 vehicles equipped with 5.4L 2V engine may exhibit a lack of power condition when the
vehicle is operated in ambient temperatures above 100 degrees F, particularly during stop-and-go driving. By design, the
PCM calibration retards the ignition timing to prevent detonation when the inlet air temperature (IAT) reaches temperatures
above 140 degrees F. If the lack of power condition occurs only when the IAT is above 140 degrees F, do not replace parts
in an attempt to service. Engineering has developed a new calibration which will be available early in the first quarter
of 2002. If the condition exists in other temperature ranges, proceed with normal diagnostics.
AND
15630 - LACKS POWER IN HIGH TEMPERATURES - REPROGRAM PCM
Some 2000-2002 Expeditions equipped with a 5.4L 2V engine may exhibit a lack of power condition when operated in ambient
temperatures above 100 degrees F, particularly during stop-and-go driving. This may be due to PCM calibration, which
retards the ignition timing to prevent detonation when the inlet air temperature (IAT) reaches above 140 degrees F. A new
calibration is available to service this condition. If the condition occurs only when the IAT is above 140 degrees F,
reprogram the PCM to the latest level via the just-in-time process if your WDS communicates w/Fordstar. Also obtain
calibrations on the Ford Professional Technician Society (PTS) website - select 'WDS' then 'PCM reprogramming' and
click 'Instructions' for downloading. Calibrations are scheduled to be included in WDS release B17.10.

There are fixes to this, you can go spend the hundred bucks to have your PCM reprogrammed or you can spend the 250-300 bucks on a superchips programmer, which fixed my problems and gives you a nice increase in power. This is just my 2 cents worth but I got these solutions from previous posts and I went with the superchips programmer and it really did work.
__________________
2000 F150 XLT 4X4 Offroad 5.4L
K&N Intake
Magnaflow 11386 True Duel Exhaust
American Racing Nitro Rims
305/70/R16 BFG MUD's

 

LooseCannon5.4,

Thanks for that info. It is a huge help. I already own the Superchip programmer. Does it automatically reset the PCM or do you have to do it manually? I actually just reset the chip back to factory settings to see if that would help and it didn't. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again...

 

My investment in E-Fans help mine out a lot. Also trans cooler fan installed. Both TSB's refer to high ambient temp. Keeping the cooling system clean and the additional air flow I get from 2 "16 fans going really keeps thing cool.

 

Pestco1,
Where did you purchase your 2 fans from? Were they difficult to install?