1997 F-150 issues

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Feb 25, 2013 | 10:57 AM

Redneckryder

Thread Starter

Tuned

Joined: Jul 2009

Posts: 432

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From: Lowell, MI

1997 F-150 issues

I bought a truck last week, wasnt running right. Has a miss, and the longer you drive it, the worse it gets. I have changed out the coils, and it didnt help. I am trying not to spend too much, but I am not sure what is going on....any more ideas?

Feb 25, 2013 | 11:50 AM

dvlsmstr

Mountain Pass

Joined: May 2012

Posts: 117

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From: NC

Should have changed the plugs when you were changing the coils.

Feb 26, 2013 | 09:02 AM

KhanTyranitar

Postmaster

Joined: Oct 2009

Posts: 3,432

Likes: 7

Also replacing parts without diagnosing the problem is gonna burn through a lot of money very quickly.

Feb 26, 2013 | 08:39 PM

galaxie641

Postmaster

Joined: Nov 2006

Posts: 4,517

Likes: 3

From: SE Wyoming

Yeah, really need to know which cylinder is missing. #3 or #4 could be from a coolant leak for example.

Feb 27, 2013 | 06:19 AM

projectSHO89

Hotshot

Joined: Jan 2004

Posts: 19,760

Likes: 1,079

From: St Louis

The 97 4.6 uses plug wires. Wires and the plugs should have been looked at before the coils.

Feb 27, 2013 | 07:40 AM

Spotty

Laughing Gas

Joined: Jan 2006

Posts: 1,098

Likes: 11

From: Minnesota

Yeah....take a good look at wires. I have a 98 and wires always seem to be the problem. If it is missing that bad it will toss a code. Mine was doing the chug a lug one morning last week....hooked up my code reader....mis-fire on #2. Plug wire had popped off...even though it snaps on tight... Wires are not even a year old. As mentioned look at #1thru #4. Those are on the passenger side with #1 closest to the front. Water or coolent from hoses above, the squirter on the hood, or a cowl leak get into that area and then rolls back and forth and drips into those four spark plug wells. It takes a loooooooong time for a spark plug well to dry out with the boot still intact.

Feb 27, 2013 | 09:06 AM

MIKE 04 GT

Senior User

Joined: Jul 2008

Posts: 183

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From: south carolina

go to auto zone, are advance the have code readers and will check it for you free. or if the truck cant drive, they will rent you one.

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Feb 27, 2013 | 09:29 AM

Spotty

Laughing Gas

Joined: Jan 2006

Posts: 1,098

Likes: 11

From: Minnesota

Yeah...lots of places have them now you can use. I really think if you are going to self diagnose a vehicle these days, some type of code reader is must. Mine was like $95 bucks and it tells the code and the meaning....like code "whatever" then will say "mis-fire on #2". Then you can go right to the area in question. OBD 2 is really comprehensive to the old OBD 1. As a kid I owned a dwell meter and a timing light and a vacuum gauge. The vacuum gauge is still a valuable diagnostic tool, but my code reader has replaced the other two.