1997-2003 F150: Frequently Asked Questions....stop here first

[mwkatm]

Racerguy,

In my 98 F-150 4.6L, do I have to remove the MAF before cleaning, or is it possible to just open the airbox, move the filter, and zap it in the tube? Will the cleaner evaporate, or will it hang around in the intake tube? I just put a K&N filter in and I was going to clean my MAF after a thousand miles or so to make sure that some oil didn't get on it. I beleive that since putting my K&N filter in (and making a poor man's CAI), and installing a Flowmaster 40 series muffler with a single 3" out, my gas mileage actually did go up, I am excited about that. But, I have heard of some folks losing some milage and performance after dropping in oiled-type air filters due to gumming of the MAF.

Thanks for your time.

mwkatm

[Racerguy]

Hi and welcome to the forum
To clean the MAF you just open up the airbox and it's right there like in the picture above. The cleaner will evaporate but sometimes a bit gets into the intake tube. It's no big deal.

[Red 97]

racerguy
I own a 1997 f150w4.6 2wd extended cab ,auto ,lariet
It has the pinging problem that seems to be pretty common. Did the tune up ,maf ect.
no help , I was told of an octane bar (spout connector) under the hood,was told to unplug it & the timing should retard 2-3 degrees ,have you heard of this? & where is this thanks in advance.Guy

[Racerguy]

Hi and welcome to the forum

It should be near the starter solenoid etc, possibly under the black plastic cover, near the battery. It's a squarish plug that's plugged into a connector with Grey/Red and Dark Green wires going to it.

[ffin90]

First time testing the forum waters. This is great, I found the probable cause to my cold starting ( Idling problem ) I think. Would this IAC also cause any gas consumption problems?, since the starting problem started my truck has been sucking back gas like it's 10 cents a litre and it's never been this bad.

[Racerguy]

Welcome aboard

An IAC problem shouldn't cause the truck to burn too much gas usually.
How many miles on it? How old are your spark plugs? Fuel filter? Air filter?

[RMbros]

Hey all, just posted a new thread about this, but I figured that that would disappear pretty soon.

Here was the post:

I've just been searching for 7-lug wheels for my 99 F250 LD Screw and stumbled across another option - Jesse James Wheels.

http://www.jessejameswheels.com/

Look at the .50s they're the only ones that I saw lug patterns for.

To expensive for me, but some of y'all might not have the same handicap.

Also heard that Centerline might be able to drill out one model, but I can't find any evidence.

[RMbros]

One other 7-lug for F-250LD - Ultra Wheels Ultra 164s, but only in 16s

[peppermrj]

How to replace your DPFE sensor


Unplug the plug.



Mark the two vacuum lines front and rear.



Unbolt.



Remove.




Installation is the reverse.

Additions, deletions, corrections?

[Racerguy]

Looks good to me
Thanks

[rpogue]

I have a '98 5.4L - I've seen several comments in several places about the 'door ajar/wd40' issue. While I agree that there's an issue, I think your solution may be only partially correct. When we got the truck, about 3 years and 40,000 miles ago, the 'door ajar' light, the 'ding-ding', the dome light - all harassed us on a regular basis. Most of the time they’d stop before you’d gone too far, but my wife finally took the dome light out, to prevent draining the battery. We’d taken it back to the dealer, squirted wd40 in the door latch – tried ‘em all.
Then – about 18 months ago, preparing for a trip to Texas, she took it to the local “Rapid Lube”, and the guy offered to fix the problem. She laughed and told him to go ahead – knowing the history. He squirted wd40 into the Ignition Switch!! Issue resolved.

[triton54]

the tonneau cover theory, mythbusters busted that one. no drag is created actually the air swirls in the bed and lets passing air flow over the bad and tailgate as if there was an invisible cover. tonneau is a waste of money if u want to prevent drag. drag dont exist.

[Munky]

I've been reading a lot on these forums about the gears in the rear end, whether it's 3.55 or whatever. I'm wondering, how do I find out what gears my truck has in it?

[Racerguy]

Munky there is a tag on the rear end that will say what the ratio is or you can look at the Vehicle Certification Label on the door post. There's a code there under Axle. The common codes are 19 — 3.55 non-limited slip, 18 — 3.08 non-limited slip, H9 — 3.55 limited slip, B6 — 3.73 limited slip.

[Chris 97 F150]

I have a 1997 F-150, V8, 4.6L, 4x4, unknown milage

I was reading through the FAQs about the IAC valve... i bought my truck about 2 months ago with the motor locked up...My dad and I put in a rebuilt motor in it ourselves...everything seemed fine and all, but there was just one problem...sometimes I will have to make a stop at a stoplight, stopsign, or even sometimes making a slow turn, and my truck would stall (gets down to about 200-300 rpms...until it stalls) then I have to restart it and go on again...and sometimes it doesnt stall, it just seems like it will, but it idles back higher to keep it from stalling...but it just idles perfectly and dandy when in park or neutral (with about 600-700 rpms)......i practically have to have the pedal pushed in a little bit for it to keep a high enough idle for it not to stall...would this be a HIGH POSSIBILITY that the IAC valve is faulty?

over the past month of frustratingally working on my truck and tryin to figure out why my truck is stalling, weve tested my truck with a modis to look for codes, couldnt see anything with the IAC...but does that mean anything, maybe hard to diagnose? i have no idea what it could be, but another sensor that came to my mind was the camshaft position sensor...sounds more like the symptoms of IAC as ive read in previous posts

Im so confused and frustrated with this, so please, i need alotta help!