Hey all!!!!
First post but i love the site xD
I have an 2002 Ford Econoline Wagon with the v8 Triton...Now i straight up love this car and it only has 136000 miles... anyways I have an issue where the check engine light will come on and off every few days... the diagnosis being that two cylinders are reporting misfire during those stretches... the fact that it goes away and comes back randomally leads me to believe its an electrical issue..spark plugs were replaced under a year ago and the fuel injectors were just cleaned... it happens at all speeds and is rpm sensitive...meaning its worse at lower rpms/cruising... monroe has been pretty good to us with all of our cars.. and they replaced the ignition coils on the two cylinders... wouldnt charge us anything unless it worked... it didnt.. its about to go in again... any ideas... im only 18 and i try to learn as much as i can before going into any repairs... but hey... a lot of you guys have been doin this stuff for your lives... any help is greatlyyyyyyy appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Alex

P.S. this is the best car for any 18 year old... has a kick *** audio system too... no one expects an econline to have leather everything and such

 

It being isoloated to those cylinders makes me think it is something foreign getting in the spark plug wells, preventing good contact to the coil. Check for intake manifold gaskets leaking coolant in the area of the two cylinders that are misfiring. Also check to see if valve covers are leaking oil into those two areas.
Lots of things it could be.

I would debate whether or not an Econoline is the best vehicle for any 18 year old. Gas is too expensive and what if you end up getting some girl pregnant in that thing?

 

Either bad coil boots or weak coils.

 

Thank you fr your quick responses...
1. thank you for your concern about pregnancy in meh van xD
2. they replaced both the boot and coil in the test...define weak coil please
3. if i did have some sort of leak... would it not happen all the time... or wouldnt it become less noticable once the engine warms due to metals expanding...
Thank you again

 

Maybe check the vacuum lines as I recently had this same sort of condition, finally tracked it down to the large ducts leading from the air cleaner assembly to the throttle body. Due a bad PCV oil leaked into this duct and softened part of it where two other air flow lines fit, giving me MIL of multiple cylinder misfires and a lean bank 1, lean bank 2code. The PCV, its grommet through the valve cover as well as its hose assembly have also been known to simulate cylinder misfires.

Search under my name for "intermittant cylinder misfire" in the Van's forum---might be helpful to you too.

 

Thank you fro your response... was your issue happening at random times.. mine is coming and going... for a couple days it will be fine... then all of a sudden the car will start shaking because two cylinders are misfiring... to the point where then engine light will go off by itself for a while then reappear...

-Alex

P.S. just read your old posts... mine doesnt necesary stop if i just restart... once the engine warms is usually when it goes away... meaning as long as half an hour til it starts to get better

 

My misfire indication became predictable--whenever the outside temps dropped quickly overnight I could count on the rough running and CEL coming on. Same things over and over; re-start after engine was warmed and it was gone until next temp drops etc. Even on the warmest of summer days a drop of 30* (not uncommon here) would trigger it too-----winter is was a bit sporadic but the re-start would "cure" it.

Start the engine and direct short bursts of something like MAF cleaner spray at the various vacuum connections and observe if your shudder is affected. This process "plugs" a vacuum leak long enough to effect a difference---its been used a long long time for such things. If there is a bad connection or deteriorated hose/line the effect will be repeatable which helps isolate leaks etc. Its worth a try.

Once triggered then CEL will go out by itself only after 10 times of restarting the van after whatever triggered it originally has been corrected, whether by you or by itself otherwise a scanner can be used to clear the code. Its unusual it will go out in just a few days unless you start/restart that often?

 

honestly i probably only start the van 3-4 times max a day... doesnt sound like we have the same issue unfortuanately... its at monroe for the day before irene's wrath tomorrow/tonight... turns out the cylinders are 7 and 8.. they are still hoping it's an electric issue...luckily we go to them a lot and they are not charging us til they find an issue... they are throwin parts at it as we speak...

alex

 

So i went and spent about 6 or 7 hours at Monroe... figoured out the issue... we got the spark plugs replaced(supposadly) at sears about 1.5 years ago... 7 and 8 are rusted and burnt to the point were afraid to pull em out... is it normal for the 5.4L triton to blow plugs that quick... or is it posible that sears cheated us... if the latter... anyone know how to prove it... since we used ford recommended parts

-Alex

 

wouldn't think that plugs would be bad that fast..unless they stuck some el-cheep-o plug in there. Proving it would be difficult unless they are two different brand of plugs....that would be obvious ....and you still have the receipt from the last time the plugs were changed

 

Of course i have the receipt but we demanded motorcraft origianals... so i guess im screwed... but i mean... the two that are causing the misfires look ages older than the ones that are fine... that is in terms of rust and crap build up...

-Alex

 

Unfortunately...until you can get the plugs out and compare to the ones on more forward cylinders to the suspects. Then you'll have to document the whole process.

Even if you do get this documented and those plugs appear to be unchanged from a year-and -a half ago....the event was still a year and half ago. Don't mean to rain on your parade...but...just wouldn't hold out much hope for that.

 

Well... i'm assuming at this point nothing can be done... the other plugs only have about 24000 on em... should i just replace the two dead plugs.. or all at once...
-Alex

 

If this is something you're willing to tackle yourself there is plenty of great advice here about changing plugs in the modular motors. While its not the most difficult thing ever it does have a few considerations and steps important to doing it correctly.

If something you'll hire out try finding a good local independent shop, one that comes highly recommended by others who actually use their services. The larger chain operations aren't trustworthy in my mind. DIY or hired out might be best to start with all new plugs unless the budget says otherwise.

 

I would do it on my own... but until I hold the title to the car in my name... I can't... We trust our local Monroe... they have yet to screw us and I basically watch over shoulder all the work they have done ...I should get the title in a couple of weeks

- Alex