Here's the verdict, I went ahead and changed the 02 sensor and it was dirty and burnt looking. I started it but still hear the tailpipe a bit off beat. I Ran it around the block and i noticed it had alot more power. I was looking for the vibration I would get at cruise but didn't feel it. This gave me a bit of hope so i decided to put it on 84th at higher speed. As soon as I hit 84th, I floored it and it definitely felt better. But just as soon as i was about to smile i felt the shaking when I let off the gas. ...

The increase in power wasn't 100% but a much better acceleration then before. I did floor it a second time and it felt like it had hik-ups while trying to increse speed. The second you let off the gas it feels like a hammer-drill is in the hood. You give it a hair of gas and it goes away, until you let off the gas again.

How far are you from Weston? Are you back in Fl.?
I'd like you to see it. I can come to you...

 

809; I don't see anywhere that you put all new boots in. (You can also seal the tops with heavy grease even though it might soften them eventually). Boots can cause all of what you are talking about and they don't cost that much. You can't just brush the ends off and call it good, you should have put them in first. If they have hairline cracks or dirty they will cause all the problems you mentioned. Cops are usually not the problem and are either good or not good.

 

All the coils came with new boots... unless you are talking about some other type of boots...

Im gonna clean the MAF sensor in the morning....

 

did u only have one O2 Sensor? Mine was a V10, so they could be different but mine had 4 of them.

 

BTW that hammer-drill metaphor for the way it jerks is the best way of describing it I've heard yet. It's like the engine is rapidly changing it's mind or something.

 

Hey Jay, After installing the O2 sensor, did you reset the computer? (disconnect the negative lead and then turn on headlights. Let sit for 30 min or so) It may just need to relearn the new O2 sensor. Not sure, but worth a try.

 

Jay, just sent you PM.

 

Thanks bud...

This morning I was waken by my wife asking for my wallet to run to the local CVS to get my son some fever meds.. He's a bit under the weather... But she said that the service engine light came on when she started it. It's weired because it didn't come on last night after I installed the 02 sensor. I decided to run to advance and have my new friend connect the computer and see what she reads.. I picked up some carb cleaner and we went out to test... He loves the truck and is constantly telling me to sell it to him...lol.. I tell him to keep saving his checks...lol.. Anyways, After a bit of chatting while the computer reads back he looked at me and could help to mess with me... He shook his head as if he was gonna tell me some really bad news and I just told him to let me have it... He said "Dude, i'll give you $5000 cash and get it off your hands right now".....Joker. Code P0308 - Cylinder 8 Eight Misfire Detected...

 

OK.. so I went ahead and checked number 8 by disconnecting the plug to see if anything changes and it didn't. If the engine would of hesitated Then i would be sure it was working but the fact that it stayed the same tells me that the coils is bad. So I decided to switch it with number 4 and to my surprise when I took the plug out I noticed the canal where the sparkplug goes was full of water. Strange, shouldn't 4 be bad too? Just to clear my thoughts I went ahead and disconnected number 1 to see what the truck does and it got unstable. So I got 8 and switched it with 4. Im worried that since 4 was underwater that it may also be bad. Im gonna replace both to be safe. Im gonna see if I can get an exchange if not Im gonna have to buy one. Again..

What a headache..

 

Finally...............................

After
8 new spark plugs
8 new coils
8 new boots
2 valve cover seals
new belt
new oil
new oil filter
new fuel filter
new Oxygen sensor
new engine manifold

No sputtering...lol

The fix?... Hopefully this might help someone. Sorry if I repeat some of the stuff from previous posts but might be easier on the new readers.

My truck was sputtering and vibrating at cruising speed and it was not only annoying but very dangerous. Dangerous because the lost of power could potentially cause a serious accident.. In park i would accelerate and the motor would stutter and sputter. On the road I would smash the gas and it wanted to bottom out. No power, it would build up gradually. I would reach desired speed and it would vibrate the whole truck until I tap the gas and it would go away but would come back when I let off the gas. Initially i read that the sputtering may be caused by bad spark plugs of coils. So I bought the spark plugs and while changing number 3 and 4 I noticed alot of oil in the spark plugs and in the whole where they go. I was able to findout that the oil was coming from a bad valve cover gasket. I went ahead and replace them both. I finished the plugs and gaskets and still sputtering. Someone here mentioned the coils. I figure I could just clean them and they might work better. They did but only 1 day. I went on ebay and bought a set of 8 coils and boots for something like $68 for all 8.. advance had them for $48 each... I was lucky to have the seller in Miami so I went and picked them up. Got em, installed them, changed the oil, belt, oil filter and still sputtering. Somewhere between the spark plugs and the coils I must of stepped on the manifold and cracked it so antifreeze was getting in the plugs canals. Bought one online for $200, put it in and still sputtering.

I came on FTE again and a member mentioned that her husband had changed the Oxygen sensor and in her case that solved the lost of power and sputtering. So I went ahead and tried that and that night I felt a bit more power but still sputtering. A little more reading and someone mentioned cleaning the MAS (mass air sensor) might work. So I did that and changed the fuel filter and still sputtering.

The next morning my wife mentioned that she noticed that the service engine light came on when she was gonna use it to get meds for my son. I was sure I might have messed up the oxygen sensor by tighten it too much or not tighten it enough. So i ran it to advance and had the computer pluged to check for a code. I was sure it would be the oxygen sensor but to my surprise it came back Code P0308 - Cylinder 8 Eight Misfire Detected... To me it was strange as to why it didn't give me a code when I went the first time.

So with this new info I disconnected the plug from the 8th coil and waited to see if the engine vibrated more. It didn't, telling me that this coil was bad. I confirmed it by switching it with coil #5. I now had a good coil in chamber 8. I unplugged it and the engine shook violently telling me that that coil was good. Now I unplugged #5 (the suspect) and the motor didn't shake. Bad coil. But I wanted to be %100 sure so i unplugged #1 and the motor shook again. Now I was sure I had a good coil and bad coil. so i switched them and repeated the test and sure enough it was that coil. A new coil at that. I remembered that I still had my old coils in the garage so I found the cleanest one and replaced the spring and boot from the new damaged one and put it in, crossed my finger and started the truck. Smooth and quiet as a new truck. I never heard this truck so quiet. I knew it was fixed by looking at the steering wheel not shaking anymore. I put it in reverse out of the driveway and went around the block. No shaking and most importantly, no sputtering. I ran a few acceleration tests and it blew me away. I had never felt this much power out of this truck. I guess all the extra parts I bought made a difference.

So after:
8 new spark plugs
8 new coils
8 new boots
2 valve cover seals
new belt
new oil
new oil filter
new fuel filter
new Oxygen sensor
new engine manifold

It was a bad coil....

Hope this helps you.

 

Glad you figured it out! Will send you reps when I can.

 

Yay! I am so happy for ya.

 

It sounds like you needed most of those new parts but just wondering where, why, how, did you step on the intake manifold?

 

Perhaps we should not lay that creeper over top? Not sure if that was culprit.

 

I'm not sure. I'm jUst glad it over. I got a new task, getting the passenger window working.