I have a 04 screw with 5.4 it feels like it is missing when going up hill.Said something to the dealer about it he said if check eng. light does not come on
they can not find it. Has anyone had this trouble or is this my imagination. I'am
a new user to this form if I'am not doing something right let me know? Great
site been reading a lot.

 

I used to have a 97 expy with the 5.4 that I swore was missing under the same conditions. I used to take it to the dealer all the time, and they could never find anything unless the light was on.
My expy also would miss on occasion at idle so I took matters into my own hands. I got the truck up to operating temp, and when it was missing while idling I would unplug each spark coil until I would NO LONGER notice a change. That was the cylinder that was missing. I went to autozone and bought a 39.00 spark coil and it solved the problem.
I would make the dealer check it out.
The miss has to be bad enough to trigger a sensor, and relay that info to the computer.
Good luck,
mk

 

Does it only do it when only driving up a steep hill in overdrive? If so It sounds like the "drive by wire" throttle control is slow to find the right gear selection or apply the right amount of power. It trys to hard to pull itself up the hill too long in the wrong gear. If that makes any sense. Bad or cheap gas might cause that too.

 

It only does it under a load.. probly. I am a mech and we do see this problem often on 4.6 f150's and 5.4s. It is usually the #8 cly spark plug coil. What happens is that the #8 spark plug hole fills up with water from condensation( haven't figured out why its only #8) and it causes the coil to arc out through the boot. most times it wont set a code until it has misfired for so many times. I would take the coil out and see if you can see any white or chaulky area around the boot of where it may have been mis-firing through. It is tough to get to the coil but you can get it out without removing the fuel rail.

 

Feels like its missing at any steady speed. You fill it more when your going up hill at
a steady speed. Yes it is in overdrive.

 

Could you get your dealership to drive it? It sound like bull that they can't fix the problem. Even if it doesn't throw a code somebody should be able to at least give you an idea. Sorry I can't can ya dude.

 

When going back to a dealer is the bigger dealer better or the smaller better? Thanks
for all the help.

 

I like going to a smaller dealer myself. In my town in Alabama we have a big dealership not far from my house and I hate to deal with them because they don't seem to care about any problem I have. There's a small dealership about 30 miles away that I always go to. They always seem to want to know what the problem is and want to fix it. If you have a warranty any Ford dealership should fix it. Just ask them to drive the thing and tell ya what's wrong with it. Good luck!

 

Thanks Ford-Man22

 

I agree with Ford-Man. The smaller dealers, generally speaking, just seem to go the extra mile to win your business. I guess the bigger dealers just figure they can afford to tick-off a few customers without the risk of going bankrupt.

A good dealer should do everything they can to find the problem. I learned that the "there isn't anything wrong because we didn't find a trouble code" reasoning doesn't work. I had a 99 Exploder with the 5spd auto. It periodically seemed to slip on the 2-3 shift. I took it to the dealer 2 times and they said they felt what I was talking about...but that the line pressures checked out and they got no error codes...so it was must be normal. So, I drove it like this for another year until I was changing oil one day and noticed that the electrical connector for the tranny seemed not to be fully seated together. I pushed it the rest of the way together, it made a "snap" sound, and it hasn't done it a single time since...that was 3 years ago. Bottom line...no trouble codes does not mean no trouble exists.

Good luck with finding the problem...hope the dealer hooks you up good and you can enjoy your truck!