I am new to this forum and want to say thanks and advance for any advise.

I just bought a 2001 f150 5.4 ltr w/168,000 miles on it. Had pre-purchase inspection at Pepboys and they only thing they found was a a need for a lower control arm and that the timing was slighly off. I was told that this truck has been running Amsoil since it had 20K miles on it. Oils is really black right now

I am guessing that I should do oil, plugs and wires to see if I can smooth the engine out. They wanted $238.00 at Pep Boys to do the plugs.

Any advice before I proceed?

Is there a manual that anyone can recomened?

Thanks

 

Timing is off? I think they are blowing smoke.

Your engine does not use plug wires, it uses coil-on-plug. Take it over to Autozone and get the computer scanned, it's a free service. Report back with any codes found. Get an oil change with the 5W20 semi-synthetic or full synthetic oil of your choice and a quality filter such as a Motorcraft or Wix. Stay away from Fram, STP, and Pennzoil filters, they are crap.

 

I'll change the oil and check the code/s. I noticed that the 2 gallons of amsoil that came with the truck is 10w 30. I guess I'll sell them on Craigs List and go with the 5w20 semi as suggested.

I'll get the codes checked,forgive my ignorance, but would't I have a check engine light on if I had engine codes?

Thanks

 

If you already have 2 gallons of Amsoil, use it. Just use a quality filter, for premium filters that are designed for synthetics that are available in parts stores I like Mobil 1.

If the CEL is off, there shouldn't be any stored codes but it wouldn't hurt to check. I just want to know how they determined "the timing is off".

 

I had it checked for codes at Autozone yesterday and there were none.

Actually PepBoys siad that it has a slight miss - I just assmued that this was timing. You can actually hear that the engine is not running totally smooth. It could be my hopefull imagination, but last night cooler temperture seemed to lessen the "miss".

I went ahead and bought Motorcraft semi synthetic 5/20 and a Puralator filter. I'm thinking that if I am going to use the amsiol 10/30, summer would be best here in Colorado.

I'll reply with perfromance after the oil change.

thanks

 

if it were me... I would replace the plugs and coils take off the throttle body clean it replace the IAC get a new pvc and make sure the plumbing for it is clear/clean. I would also clean the maf sensor and replace the 2 upstream o2 sensors. That would make it run the best it could and you would be set for many thousands of miles.

 

Timing is a thing of the past. It's all controlled electronically. You have a COP system - each plug has a coil sitting on top of it.

 

Thanks for the info. Obviously I am new to these engines.

A coupe questions if I may:

I priced the coils and they were $50.00 a piece x8 = $400. I also noticed that there is a part on of the coil (lead?) tat is $6.00 - are you saying to go ahead and do the $400.00 job or the $48.00 job?
(I do have a repair bill that shows a "tune-up was done at 104K" for $228.00

What is the IAC ?

What is the MAF ?

Thanks again

 

You can get cops for much less on e-bay Global is the seller. IAC= Idle air control valve located in the back of the throttle body 50 bucks at auto zone. MAF=mas air flow sensor located between the throttle body and the air cleaner use a MAF cleaner to clean it dont touch the wire and don't break it. you could probably get away with just cleaning the IAC but its only 50 bucks and it plays a big role in how your truck runs. I think global sells the COPS for about $100 a set.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-I...mZ160175539565

Idle Air Control.

Mass Air Flow sensor.

 

For the record, and anyone can disagree if they care to; timing can be looked at with a timing light on a COP motor. There are timing marks on the front near the pulley if you know what your looking for and use a good clamp on timing light around the coil feed, for light trigger off #1 cylinder..
A Spout plug is used to check that the PCM is controlling the timing.
A missing spout signal will retard the timing as much as 3 degrees. If the PCM control is absent the motor will be down on power and fuel mileage.
I have looked at this on my 02 4.6.
Otherwise, any mention of timing without a reference is NA.

 

I changed the oil and it seems to run the same - as expected. FYI - Hwy/Cty mileage was 14mpg, not so bad.

Once I get through the Holiday Financial crunch, I'll start the Tune-up recomendations suggested above.

Thanks

 

that motors timing is computer controled and yes you can check it but it canot be changed...i would only replaced a bad coil and really if you do not have a miss fire cde for a cylinder it is gint to be hard to find which one has a miss, you could stress test the coils but you would have to have access to dealer tools to preform some of the tests. if this is your first newer f150 what you are feeling may be normal the do at times feel like they have a miss at idle but that is because of the new motor design