Well where do I start?
I have a 2000 F150 4.6. I noticed a small miss while driveing this winter. At 1st i thought maybe I had some bad gas. Well now that spring is here it's getting worse. basically When it's cold she runs good, then as it warms up (About half way) she starts missing bad. then when it hits full temp the problem is gone.
The check eng light has never came on so theres no code to read.
However I've noticed my oil sending gauge has been acting up and not reading every once and a while. (always when it's cold outside)
The truck has just reached 74,000 miles, any help you folks can steer me would be great.

 

Mine was doing the same thing and after $150.00 worth of plugs and wires it runs like a champ.

 

After careful reviewing and scatching my head, i've come to think I'll need to replace the plugs & wires.

Now before I started working on this I thought i knew something about trucks. BUT for some reason I cant find the plugs or wires.
The only think I see is 4 round objects on each side of the motor with wires coming from them, all the wires seem to be neatly bundled up next to the fuel rail. I'm assuming the round objects I see are the coils?
Now where would ford have placed the plugs?
Any help somebody can give me finding these would help a bunch

 

They're under the cop's (coil on plugs) about 4-5" or so down inside the head! That's what I said to after working on my 91 Mustang for fourteen years.

Sean

 

The 4.6 has plugs & wires. The 5.4 has the cop's. HINT: If you don't have the proper tools to do the job, take it to a reputable mechanic. I destroyed several wires trying to get them off.

Tool List;
1. 3/8 drive wratchet
2. 5/8 SPARK PLUG socket with "rubber" still in place
3. 3/8 drive extensions (at least 15" worth)
4. spark plug wire pliers
( Go Buy Them) Trust Me
5. Patience ( It is a virtue)

If you drop a piece of the rubber off of the old wires in one of the spark plug wells, straighten out a sharp fish hook and tape it to a small screwdriver then "gig" the little BAS*%#%.

Yes that happened to me!

 

Sorry, I stand corrected. I didn't even notice that it said 4.6. I got caught up in what was said "BUT for some reason I cant find the plugs or wires. The only think I see is 4 round objects on each side of the motor with wires coming from them, all the wires seem to be neatly bundled up next to the fuel rail. I'm assuming the round objects I see are the coils?

Sean

 

Didn't the 4.6 go COP in 2000? Or was it 01, 02?,,,,98

 

my 2000 has cop i think 98 was the first year but im guessing at that

 

I think it was 00 and up, I have packs and wires on mine. I like it better that way, after hearing all the coil problems people seem to be having.,,,,98

 

where those prund things are next to the fuel rail remove them and the plug is in there. If you are unsure look inside with a flashlight. They are very close to the fuel rail. The plug on the passenger side all the way to the rear is a real b&$*h to get out. Take your time and have a few beers. Be careful when tightening new plugs because of it being so deep you can snap a plug if you do not stay straight.

I had this problem that you are having so I bought a package of wire seperaters and seperated the wires a little more than what ford does. I had this problem about two years ago. The first time I did it, it only lasted about a year and started again. Took the wires back to ford (still under warranty) got a new set and did it again paying much attention and time to do it in a way that the wires can never touch.

It is kinda weird but the way they are ran from factory, they all seem to cross each other somewhere.

Good luck

 

Cal,

Your 2000 does in fact have coil over plugs. I had a 2000 before my current 2004 that I put 134, 000 mi on before trading. At about 120,000 I had the same symptoms that you had, turned out that I had a short in one of the coils, #8 cylinder if I recall correctly. Replacing one is the easy part, finding out which one it is can be the tricky part. Part from Ford is about $125, which I'm sure you could get cheaper online.

Whyknyt

 

$125 for one coil on a COP engine? OUCH! My Accel coil packs were less than that for both of them?,,,,98

 

All 5.4's have coil-on-plug, the 2000 and up 4.6's also went to the COP set-up which has an individual coil ("round objects") for each spark plug. Remove the 7mm bolt that holds the coil in place and the spark plug is down inside the hole. The plugs towards the rear of the motor are a PITA but for what shops are charging, you should try and do it yourself. Aside from the normal - ratchets, various length extensions etc, you'll need to get a 1/4" drive-7mm flex socket (Sears) to remove the 2 rear coil bolts under the fuel rail on the driver's side.

Remove the coil bolt and pull out the coil, it's a good idea to blow air down into the hole to remove any debris that accumulates down in the hole before removing the old spark plug.
Apply a little anti-seize on the new plug threads and torque to 10lb/ft (do not overtighten as it may cause plug blow-out from weakening threads!!)
Apply die-electric grease inside the coil boot and install the coil.

After much cussing, skin scrapes etc. you'll get it done one by one!! Then pat yourself on the back and have a few beers.

$125 is pretty steep for the coil. They can be found on ebay much cheaper, just stick with "new" ones and stay away from "used" as alot of times they aren't good.