Took another chance. Bought another Ford, this one a '04 F150 XLT 4x4 with the 5.4 engine. Less than 4000miles and the engine was blowing out black smoke. Dealer replaced the fuel press sensor(s), injectors and PCM modules(repeatedly). Problem fixed. Now the truck "shudders or stutters" while on a steady speed (any speed). It is much more pronouced while towing. Dealer cannot find the problem, but they collected flight recorder data. The dealer says that they know of several other trucks that exhibit the same problem. So they(the dealer) sent the data off to the fine Ford engineers to evaluate. Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

O.K. is it the new 04 or the heritage?

is the shudder in the driveline/engine or the the suspension/wheels?

my truck when it was brand new 8 miles on it it had a shudder that the stealer couldn't fix. turns out it had nothing to do with ford. it was crappy firestone tires which I tried everything including having them road force balanced several times which cost the stealer big bucks because a road force balance is about $120.00 around here I told them to give me new tires and they wouldn't so I said later, put up with the slight studder and then when it came time for new tires I bought some nice BFG long trails and my truck has been smooth as glass for the last 2.5 years!

good luck-

 

This truck is new model '04 screw. I did not like the tires that the dealer proposed so I had them install some BFG All-terrain TA's of the same size as the OEM. After doing some more research, I think this may be "transmission shudder" as described by many other posted messages. However, with the previous engine problem, I am uncertain still. I am thinking of taking the truck to a tranny shop for an inspection.