So today my 97 f150, 2wd 5.4L automatic has started giving me some troubles. The truck has 291k miles on it, i bought it with 260k miles on it. About a week ago the truck overheated due to a busted radiator side tank, it was promptly replaced the next day and i have had no problems with it since, till today. Sometimes when you start it it will stumble alive like its out of gas, give it a sec and it settles down. When you get going, its a little down on power, i know it has 291k miles on it but it pulled hard. Its OK till you get to about 35-40, when it just stops accelerating. I had my foot to the floor and it barely went above 40, if you ease into it slowly it will slowly accelerate till about 45, drop down to 40 and then go like normal.

When i changed the radiator i lost about a cup maybe a cup and a half of transmission fluid, i have gotten time to replace it but i didn't think that small amount of fluid would dramatically change performance, the fluid also looked almost new. The only other things i have done to the truck is some brake work and replace the alternator. I have no knowledge of what the previous over did or did not do.

It is not throwing any code, and the OD light/button is broken, i think on newer rangers the OD light would would brink indicating transmissions problems, not sure if its the same on these trucks.

Any help would be very appreciated.

 

Check fuel pressure with a gage on the rail test port.
Good luck.

 

I Would Double Check On The Transmission Fluid Level For Sure Though, I Recently Had A Minor Leak In My Line And The Loss Of Fluid And I'm Assuming Pressure Caused The Truck To Shift Very Hard And Hesitate A Little Bit. Line Was Spliced And Fixed And I Have Had No Problems Since

Hopefully This Helps You In Any Way

 

Tranny fluid is good.

Changed fuel filter, it had no improvement. Got out my fuel pressure tester. Hooked it up, with key on, key off, the max i could get it to was 22 psi. So i started it, still only 22 psi, revving it and it stayed at 22 psi. So to make sure the gauge wasn't bunk, i put it on my 87 Bronco ii. With Key on i instantly got 40 psi, and running i got 35 psi.