On my way to work on the highway at 40-50 MPH, my truck started flashing the yellow engine light and it didn't want to maintain a steady spped. I've since parked and started it 3 times and noticed on the highway it doesn't want to to over 45 but then will seem to run okay and pick up speed and feels normal, but the accelleration drops off within a few seconds. This happens at a steady throttle and it surged 3 times to the shop. I had it scanned and the following came up.

P0012 Intake (A) camshaft position timing
P0174 system too lean bank 2
P0302 cyclinder 2 misfire detected
P0303 cylinder 3 misfire detected
P0304 cylinder 4 misfire detected
PO316 misfire occured in the first 1000 engine revolutions
P2196 lack of heated oxygen sensor (bank 1 sensor1) switch, indicates rich.

The mechanic shop said it could be a plugged fuel fliter (and it does feel like it is not gettign enough fuel). Or that the fuel pump is going out or the cataletic convertor is plugged. My truck has 38,000 miles, manual trans and ran just fine until earlier this morning. Any ideas what could be causing it to run rough and not have the normal amount of power? They cleared the codes but as soon as I started it and drove out onto the highway the symptoms came back and the engine light started flashing again. It varies between flashing and glowing steady.

Any help would be greatly appricated!!! Thanks!

 

i just ran into a similar problem with mine and turned out to be a plugged cat. but i have 154k on my truck. a good way to test for it is to pull the o2 sensors in front of the cat. zip tie them off to the side out of the way. and then drive it and see if it clears up. other than that i would replace the fuel filter. my cat being plugged not only killed the power but was also causing a spark plug ping. are you getting any of that. well hope i was able to help. keep us posted.

 

Thanks for the response! I'm going to change the fuel filter tonight. I did notice I was getting some pinging (I assume caused by detonation?) while I was slowly accellerating through the gears. Good idea about the O2 sensors, I will try that if changing the fuel filter doesn't work. After thinking about things I'm wondering if I've got water in my gas? The truck ran fine yesterday, started up and drove fine this morning and only flashed the engine light after about 6 miles. It was really cold over the weekend and my truck sat outside for two days without driving it. I generally park it in a heated garage every night. I had a problem with my garage heater last night and when I got it fixed, I forgot to plug in its thermostat. The heater ran wide open all night and heated the garage to 76 degrees. I'm wondering if that melted any ice in my truck gas tank and it is now picking up the water? My truck runs like a fourwheeler or snowmachine with water in the gas. On the highway the engine will start running clean and then accellerate with my foot steady on the pedel and then flash the light and stumble again.

It is presently above freezing outside right now and I've got a 1/4 tank of gas. I just added a bottle of IsoHeat and will fill it up full tonight to see if that changes anything for my drive home.

 

Well switched out the fuel filter and took it for a test drive. It died when I tried pulling out on the highway. I restarted it and revved it out through the gears and it wouldn't do over 50. I could hear it pinging as I revved it but the engine seemed to run smoother at higher RPM's. I runs terrible at low rpm's, granny low first speed.

I disconnected the battery as part of the R&R of the filter procedure and I'm guessing that cleared the codes? What I found weird is during my 10 minute test drive the check engine light never came on except for once when it died pulling out onto the highway. I poured two bottles of Iso-Heet in the tank that is now 7/8ths full.

Any ideas what could be causing the drivability issues? I looked up the codes and the MAF could be a cause.

 

have you tried testing your fuel pressure. i picked a tester up for around 20 bucks at advance auto parts. hooked it up to the fuel rail and zip tied it to the windshield wiper. drove it around and had a friend watch from the passenger seat. should be running between 30 and 45 at idle. mine would go up to around 42 or so under load. other thing to check for the surging would be vacuum at the manifold.

 

Yep, testing the fuel pressure is my next step and my new gauge will come in tomorrow. Talking to the mechanics at my work, if the pump is bad, the easiest way to replace it is to unbolt the bed and move it out of the way. Since I don't have a lift, they said that is by far the easiest method.

Driving the truck today there were times that it didn't respond to throttle inputs on the highway. I played around with it and could feel & hear when it started to stumble and misfire. The light would start blinking and the truck wouldn't respond to the pedal. Take pressure off the pedal, kind of coast along at an even throttle and then you could feel the engine pick up and the speed would increase. I floored it and got it up to 70 but you could tell it still didn't have full power and wasn't running smooth.

The truck starts up fine but doesn't idle as high as it used to (now idles about 900 RPM) and the engine shakes my stick shift and you can feel the vibration like its not hitting on all 8 cylinders. I'm also going to order a scanner, just not sure which one. Our local Napa sells an AutoXray 700 that I was told works pretty well, but I think I want something a little higher end, maybe an AutoXray 2500? I don't know much about scan tools, I just want one that provides more than the generic codes.

 

mine did the exact thing that you have described an 06 expedition with a 5.4 first it was misfire on 3 and 4 replaced coil pack on 3 no help sent it to the ford mechanic at the dealership and it is the two camshaft phasers parts and labor will be sixteen hundred dollars who knew i thought it was the plugs or coil packs but i found out the hard way

 

mine did the exact thing that you have described an 06 expedition with a 5.4 first it was misfire on 3 and 4 replaced coil pack on 3 no help also fuel to lean or fuel to rich camshaft sensor retarded random misfire ten codes in all sent it to the ford mechanic at the dealership and it is the two camshaft phasers parts and labor will be sixteen hundred dollars who knew i thought it was the plugs or coil packs but i found out the hard way

 

I'm going to have it scanned again tomorrow. The truck only has 38,000 miles so I'm thinking the problem is likely to be sensor related rather than a mechanical failure. I sure am hoping so anyway! I did find out the '06 does not have a fuel pressure test point, instead it has a fuel pressure sensor on the fuel rail and a scanner is used for testing.

I'm not familiar with how the camshaft phaser acts when it is failing/failed, but my truck's drivability changes as it goes down the road depending on my speed and load on the engine. I'm thinking a mechanical problem would stay a constant?

 

If it's plugged cats, ask about the emission systems warranty. I've heard they might be covered by Ford.

 

Today I got to borrow a Snap On Modis scanner and used it on my truck. I've never used one before and I spent over an hour fumbling around through menus and trying to make the KOEO test work. I never did get that test to work but I did get the KOER test to go plus I tested the fuel pump, but I don't think I did that test correctly either.

In any case when I first hooked the scanner up and drove it home it ran like crap. The truck wouldn't accelerate at times, sounded like it had some minor backfires, cut out and then kinda clear itself up and run halfway decent but with reduced power.

I hooked the scanner back up after the truck sat for a few hours and I cleared snow from the driveway. That's where I couldn't get the KOEO test to work but I did run the fuel pump test. I then started the truck and it took a few more cranks than normal to start and then idled pretty high for 15 seconds or so. After a few minutes I noticed it was running pretty good and not shaking or vibrating so I went for a drive and the MIL light was still on. I got to the highway and accelerated hard through the gears and the engine hiccuped once, very briefly and flashed the MIL light. I then pulled over about a mile later, ran the KOER test, checked the codes which were reduced down to 4 and I then cleared them, revved it out through the gears on the way home and it ran perfect! No MIL light, no symptoms that it had previously.

I'm happy my truck is running correctly again, but I don't know why?

 

Update - after driving my truck that night I drove to work and the light came back on. I could feel the truck "hiccup", get a slight hesitation and the light would start blinking. This happened a few times but nothing like before. The truck ran just fine except for the occasional "hiccup". I then rescanned it and got code P0305 that said misfire on cylinder #5. Tonight I installed a new, Napa/Eichlin COP and my engine ran smoother than it ever has. I noticed it started off in 1st gear with less hesitation and ran smooth. The light stayed on the entire 14 mile test drive but it never blinked. I'm going to clear the codes tomorrow and see what happens. But, I think I cured the problem! Thank you guys for all the help and suggestions.

 

The P0012 is indicating that you may possible have a VCT control issue, first thing to check for would be your Cam Positioning sensor, VCT Solenoid. I would take those two parts out; inspect, test and clean. The P0012 is indicating problems from bank 1 - passenger side.

I am actually running into this same exact problem but on bank 2. I replaced the VCT solenoid, it allowed the truck to run, prior it was just choking right after starting it.

All the other codes you are getting are because of the P0012, clear that, most likely all the other codes will go away.

I am going to leave the bad news last, because of the P0012 code, you may have Cam Phaser issues also.

 

I am having the same problem with a customers van. I used Mitchel ondemand5 and alldata online. I cannot locate or find anything on the cam phaser sensor. Is it built into the hall effect cmp sensor or is it a seperate part. And where is it located. The issue i'm having is there is no fire on the bank1 (passenger side). I have ran the van for 2 hrs strait and can hold onto the exhaust manifold. I have also heard that these engines have the spark issue but not getting much info. I have both the modis and the brick (mt2500) scanners plus a snap on code reader. But not pulling up anything with a p0012 code. But the symtoms make sense with the phaser issue. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

The VCT solenoids are located on the top of the valve cover...well it actually goes through the valve cover. It's the only part that goes through the valve cover and have an electrical connection. It's also towards the front of the engine.

Each bank have one solenoid on its respective cover. Pop open the black seal and you will see the body of the solenoid. Its held in with one bolt (torx bit #25).