My 2001 E150 which so far NEVER let me down starts to make serious trouble. Here is what happened:
- I made regular service (motor oil, oil filter) and torqued the RH valve cover since there seemed to be a small oil leak at the rear of the engine (hard to access the bolts). After that I cleaned the RH valve cover with detergent and water. I started the engine to build up oil pressure, had it shortly running and stopped it. So far nothing strange.
- When I tried to start the engine again to move the van it would not start at all. After some cranking some cylinders started to fire and after some backfiring the engine ran smoothly. Until then the van ALWAYS had started without any hesitation.
- I stopped the engine and started it again, this time without any problems.
- When I drove the vehicle I recognized that the engine as soon as it warmed up started to cut out and misfire, especially at low rpm, but not at idle.
- I disconnected/connected the battery but the conditions still exist: perfect start, engine runs OK when cold but starts to cut out when getting warm, usually 1-2 cylinders not firing at constant speed (low rpm), serious jerking at acceleration, idling mostly OK.
- When checking the intake manifold I realized the the insulation cover (a plastic part with fiber insulation at the inside) for the lower part of the manifold (even this one made of plastic) was broken into thousand pieces, the plastic material was very fragile, it broke when I touched it. I have no idea why or when it broke, I imported the van from Texas to Sweden, maybe it did not like the temperature change...
- The issue seems to be connected to engine temperature, I could think about a leak in the intake manifold or a timing problem. The strange thing is that the Check Engine light does not come on. I sprayed water on the intake manifold (rear side) to check for leaks, withour any result.
What are my next steps? Should I pull the intake manifold and replace the insulation cover? Since there is no Check Engine light: what should I look for?
UPDATE:
After searchinhg the forum I start to suspect that washing the oil off the valve cover may have caused the problem. Are the COP:s sensitive to water? Still, why is the engine running fine when cold?
I apologize for the long post...
Regards
Ekkehard
Last edited by Ekkehard : 01-27-2008 at 02:02 PM.
Reason: UPDATE
Yep water and COPs do not mix. You need to remove all of the cops, inspect the boots, reinstall dielectric grease on them, take compressed air and blow out all of the plug pockets to be sure no water is left in them, then reinstall the coils (replace any bad boots). It should be fine.
thanks a lot for your suggestions, I will follow your advice and report back. As I am working on the COPs: should I replace the spark plugs as well (the van has done a 65k miles, the maintenance schedule says 100k for the plugs. It does not seem to be that easy to access the plugs... I have no Check Engine light (yet).
Any suggestions about the lower intake manifold insulation cover, I am amazed that it could fall into pieces. What is the function, to protect the manifold from heat or to keep i warm? Sweden is not as warm as Texas ;-), is it needed over here?
I followed your advice, removed all the COPs, the boots were fine. BUT: moisture in two boots, spark plugs significantly worn open (@65K !!!). No wonder that the engine starts to misfire at load. Installed new plugs with dielectric grease, the engine runs like a dream, better than ever before.
WHY does Ford recommend to change the plugs @100K when they obviously do not last that long??? I guess there are lots of 4.6s / 5.4s out there running rough just because of worn plugs...
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