I have 1998 5.4L with the rough idle. I brought it in while under warrenty and the service dept. said that it was my aftermarket exhaust, last time I went there again. At about 55,000 mi it was so bad that it started to feel like it would stall. Shortly after that the check engine light came on and I brought it in to a local shop. They said it started to run to lean and the TB was gunked up. They cleaned it out and it ran great. At the same time I replaced the intake with a K&N FIPK. It now has 68,000 miles and has just started to idle rough again. I plan to take the intake off soon and see if there has been any build up on the TB.

Neal, (if you visit this post)
I read on another post that you clean your TB regularly. Do you notice that it starts to run rough before you clean it?

 

I have the 4.2 eng. and have had some of the problems that others have had. I also had the intake gasket replaced as it was cracked and leaking into no.6 cyl. But still hav rough idle and when at constant speed it runs rough also. Is this present in all the rough idles too?The mechanic I went to also said my O2 sensors after the cat. were showing rich and on all the time.Said may be bad O2 or cats blocking up. Is this another problem? thx

 

I, to have been to the DSB once with a rough idle concern. Results? I actually thought I had a victory, till my area rep (in Central Missouri) decides once more, I don't hava a problem at all!!
The DSB agreed with me and said the dealers should be allowed to fix my truck by using their (the man on the DSB actually pointed to his head here) head and not just their computers. They said the dealer was to RESOLVE the problem under the supervision of the area rep. I thought -- great they will fix the truck even if it took a new (and I mean NEW) engine. Of course I thought they would try a few things like the injection system or the O2 sensors, before the resorted to a engine swap. I could not believe it They had the truck for two days -- said they put a newer diag. tool on it and
some sort of a exaust damper thing? Gave it back to me -- said it has no problem. I was so HOT -- I inmmediatly called the DSB board and said this area rep did not follow your orders.(you would think this guy is spending his own money on my truck!!) The DSB people agreed and immediately reopened my case. I think they ought to fire this arrogant renegade area rep. SOO! here we go again!! I will let this board know what happens.

 

MARK,
I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU ARE STILL AROUND AND THAT YOU GOT EVEN FURTHER THAT I DID WITH MY TRUCK. HOPEFULLY ONE OF US WILL EVENTUALLY GET THEIR TRUCK FIXED. PLEASE KEEP US INFORMED ON YOUR STATUS.

TODD

 

Good grief this is absolute BS. The techs out there that cannot fix this or isolate this should be ashamed of themselves. This is one of the problems with "scan the code" technology. A mechanic can hide behind the technology and fix 95% of the cars and trucks. Maybe Ford is making it so they can't get paid for the 3 to 5 hours of diagnosis that might be required (I wounldn't work for free either)? It sounds like most of these guys are just doing the "pull the codes and/or try a part" diagnosis. If the computer won't tell them what to do they either try the part they think is the problem (or a TSB tells them to use) or they give up. I guess I can hardly blame them. Ford may struggle with the dealer to pay when a guy goes off on his own for many hours. In addition the "pull the codes and try a part" method will fix 95% + of the problems. The guy can make plenty of money without getting tied up in a REAL problem where you have to figure something out.

If it is a cylinder specific miss, the comuter can do a power contribution test. Don't tell me it can't on a modern truck, I've used the Rotunda tool myself to do it (it can also still be done by hand, but its a pain) on a 2001 5.4l. The test should be done a hand ful of times to insure its really on one specific cylinder. If it is cylinder specific miss then it has to be cylinder specific problem. So somethign like a fuel injector, spark plug, coil on plug, vacuum leak at one specific port, valve or sylinder sealing problem. It could even be the computer controling one cylinder diffrently because of a computer defect. The tech could use an oscope to look at the injector input and coil input to see this.

If the problem is not cylinder specific then the thing should be checked for an overall mechanical engine condition that is causing the problem. The computer cannot detect all of them. This is unlikely with these low mileage trucks. A cylinder leakdown, compression and the above mentioned powercontribution test would do it. After that the thing should be hooked to an EGA (exhaust gas analyzer) to look at the air fuel ratios. Even it if is a bad calibration and the computer is doing this on purpose, you can see it in the EGA. If there is a lean or rich problem then all the usual suspects should be checked before assuming its a bad calibration. Is the coolant temp sensor realliy reading close to the actual coolant temp? Sure the computer will catch it if it reads -10 all the time, but what about if it reads 245 when its really at 195? I'm betting there is no check engine light in this case. What about fuel pressure? It should be checked too. You get the idea

I guess my point of all this is that a good tech CAN islolate the problem and tell with reasonable accuracy what is wrong. Even when what is wrong is out of their control (like a bad computer cal). An ograinzed, practiced, intelligent, motivated tech could get to the bottom of this in less than a work day. This assumes he is getting paid, he has the right tools and training to use them.

Good luck finding one. I worked as a mechanic for 8 years, and I currently teach automotive service classes in my spare time. I've only seen a few that could do it out of hundreds. Low pay, lack of proper equipment, and dealership politics make the rest fit into the "pull the codes and try a part" model. 95% of the time that works great. The rest of the time, it makes mad customers that consider litigation.

 

adaycj,
Thanks for the rundown on our problem. This is exactly what me and others have been trying to get ford to do to our trucks. Simply start from one system until the problem is corrected. I have had service managers tell me that if the computer says nothing is wrong then FORD demands nothing be done to the vehicle. And I do mean nothing but return the vehicle back to the spot they got it from in the parking lot... What they don't realize is that they are pushing away faithful customers. From all the bullsh_t I got with the local dealer, Ford rep, the independent technician, and the dispute settlement board I personally will never buy another Ford product!!!!! I just wish I would have been one of the 95% that get there problems fixed but unfortunately I am one of the 5%. You would think that Ford would sit up and listen but they don't. They hold DSB meeting many miles away from most peoples homes in hope of the complaintants never showing up. You can't see someones feeling over a phone line, you can't personally inspect someones vehicle if it's 4 or 5 hours away. They take independent techs word even though one may never have raised the hood, diagnosed or driven the vehicle he was sent to inspect. It's a joke what Ford does to us once very faithful customers. Hopefully one day they will wake up and smell the coffee.

 

I have the 2001 supercrew 5.4. I just had my 4th visit to the dealer for rough idle, extended crank and puff of smoke when it does start.
I have filed a lemon case with ford.
They have tried to fix it 4 times.
Mine started at 12000 miles.
I am tired of them telling me it is normal, F-150's have rough idle, and extended crank and the smoke is because my drive to to work is too short. (15 minutes)
I am so sorry that I don't live at least an hour from work or the nearest supermarket. What the hell was I thinking. After all they tell you before you hand them the money.
You want your new F-150 SMOKING OR NONE?
Well they better get there **** together, because there are lots of angry rough idling and smoking F-150's out there.
The firs and last FORD.

 

Mine is an 02 5.4L. Rough idle started at about 10,000 miles. Was in the dealer 4 times. Finally, they found the problem.
The 1st trip, they said the IAc was sticking and replaced it. This did not fix the problem. Next time, they toldme that it was bad gas. In fact the wording from the tech was " With this winter blend fuel and since this year was not a normal winter, no ones cars will run this year" ya right! Then they replaced the fuel pump. Still did not work. next they replaced the EGR valave and it actually seemed to run better..... for a couple of days. Broght it back in again and they finally did a compression test. Turns out there was poor compression in cylinders 3 and 6. The valve seats and guides were cracked on the intake valves on both cylinders. I was told it was a manufacturing defect. They replaced the engine and so far no idle problem on the new engine. Of course, that has only been 1,000 miles so far.

MJS

 

I hope you bought the extended warranty. Otherwise you have a few thousand more miles to go.
Ford needs to admit they have a problem with the triton engine design.

 

'98 5.4L----rough idle once in a while. sometimes hardly noticeable.

 

97 4.6L Bought used. Now with 62,000 Miles. Had rough idle for the last 5-10k mi. Ford better pull thear damn heads out soon!!!

CJ

 

Since the O2 sensor change the idle has been much better, I was in stop and go trafic in for about 30 minutes and no issues. This is were the truck had the most problems and would allways idle rough no matter what the weather or season, or type of gas. Does seem to be better but the real resolve would be how it runs after a few thousand miles. I have allready had the replace that and it run good for a few days thing before.

 

The mentality of fixing the easy, normal ones and then leaving the other ones out to dry is just not good. It is the down fall of a great many independent repair facilities (let alone dealers). They think they can fix 90% of the cars, refuse 5% by sending them away (almost none of which will return). The last 5% it is just easier to give up, make excuses, and generally leave them high and dry. It seems easier to do this because those last 5% are very difficult to take care of. It costs time and money to take care of them. You have to put your best people on them for extended periods of time. Even worse, because of the abnormal circumstances, you have to spend a huge amount of time communicating the situation to keep the customer happy. The communication is really where it falls apart. Since most mechanics, and service writers are not the best communicators, things start to fall apart as soon as the car becomes part of the 5%. They immediately start to think that fixing that 5% is not worth it because the customer is already mad. They see no hope to make the customer happy, so they just figure they shouldn't waste money and time trying to fix a hopeless problem. At face value it would seem to make sense to blow off the mad guy and not spend 10 times more than any repair profit they have ever made on you to make you happy. As a matter of a fact if I think about carpet cleaning services, general contractors, restaurants, banks, and insurance companies all have this problem too. They would rather just get rid of you when a problem arises then spend the time and money to help you.

The real problem lies in two places. Most businesses can never manage to correlate their poor service and lack of commitment when a problem arises to their bottom line. In the day to day running it looks cheaper at face value to just kick your problems out the door. If Ford spends $1000 to fix your truck they are $1000 poorer.

The second problem lies peoples abilities to pull off a successful rescue when they encounter the 5% of their business that is the problem. If you don't have skilled people to do the job, skilled communicators to keep the customer happy, and the equipment to do the job right, you are out of luck. Now they are faced with spending $1000 to fix your truck knowing they will spend the $ and fail anyway.

Of course if you really turn away 5% of your customers for some reason (most businesses turn away more), and you blow off another 5% when things go bad, and you loose endless more % to your competition, you are in trouble. In addition the 5% that you blow off do a great job of telling another % why they should visit your competition. You can compensate this with big $$$ in advertising though. Of course the advertising will only find new customers. The 5% and their friends are not coming back any time soon.

When I was a mechanic I was able to convince one of my bosses to convert 80% of his advertizing budget to helping with the problem cars. Our bottom line went up significantly.

Until Ford (and GM and DC) recognize that they have to deal with the 5% or less of cars that are problem children, they will continue to loose market share, and they will continue to have people "advertising" for them on forums, newspapers, magazines, and at the family birthday party. I think at this point they realize that their dealer network is setup to fail in these cases, so they just save the $ rather than paying to fail anyway.

Your only hope is to ask around and find the Ford dealer that everyone loves. They may have a plan in place (outside of Ford's stupidity) to help. Unfortunately, this will mean massive inconvenience and risk for you. You'll have to find such a place (if it exists) and then travel there and get your truck fixed. If they are even willing to adopt Ford's and your dealer's problems.

I wouldn't blame you for picking from the competition next time. I'd do the same. Although, under the same circumstances I'm betting the same thing would happen with a GM or Dodge.

 

2001 Expy w/a 5.4L @ 9k in mileage.

 

I have the rough idle also and I just got a new engine yesterday and it still idles rough. 1999 5.4