I'm having issues. On my last trip I was reasonably loaded, but not towing, and pulling 140km/hr up a steep hill. I started to get some pinging and then the engine went into safe mode i assume with the wrench light on. It seems to be a regular occuance now and will happen also when it kicks into O/D at low speeds. I really have to tap the pedal to get it to kickout of O/D when it starts pinging. Any Ideas? It sound like most of the pinging is coming from the left side (passanger side) of the engine.

 

Until you find the cause, I'd recommend you use high octane premium gas. This will do 2 things - validate that it is in fact spark knock, and prevent damage and/or going into safe mode.

Which engine, how many miles/km on it, and have you ever changed the spark plugs? Has the CEL ever come on, and have you ever checked for trouble codes?

 

Be careful because when the wrench light is on it's in "limp mode". I'm not sure if this is true for 04's but in my '07, when the wrench light is on it means it's running on 4 cylinders, alternating between the two sets of 4.

Like glc said, try some high octane gas to start off with.

 

I have the 5.4 with 110,00 km so about 60,000 miles. I had ford change the plugs at 104,000 km. No check engine light and no codes. On the trip back I put in 94 octane and I could still get it to ping under a good load.

I have read a few posts about issues with cam phasing and problems with the cam on the right side of the engine, but from what I read, it may be the issue, but did really jive with my problem. I really do want to go to Ford and dump 500-800 buck's to figure out what the issues is then have a lofty bill for a cam gear/assembly change. I'd rather go in knowing the problem.

 

It may be combustion chamber deposits - might be worth the 75 to 100 bucks to get a Motorvac or BG intake cleaning. The dealer should have one or the other machine. It could also be EGR issues or even a small vacuum leak.