Hello everyone. I got a few issues with my 96 f150 4.9 300 that i cant seem to get resolved through my mechanic friends so i figured id consult the all knowing internet, lol. I guess lets start with stats.

Stats: 1996 Ford F-150, 4.9 300 I6 EFI, 2WD, 5speed Mazda MT, 8ft Bed(trim is unknown to me as it has both xl and xlt emblems). No fancy mods really, i upgraded the instrument cluster to include factory tach and i have a test pipe in currently as i couldn't really afford new cats at the time, so CEL is always on. Bought with 173k on it around 02-03, currently has 237k(roughly, can get exact if needed)

History: I'm pretty sure the previous owner was a roofer or home improvement guy of some sort as the bed was full of shingle particles and the front of the bed is so out of shape it rubs the cab, probably from bundles of shingles slamming into it, other then that observation any earlier history is unknown to me. its well used and abused i suppose some would say, others probably under used. Every system on it has or has had issues, i just cant keep chasing them and the body is starting to rot away.

More Recent History: Here in Toledo this past winter was rather rough, especially the few -30 days we had, she really didn't want to start. The problems began after we got above 32 days. refused to start in wet conditions. after about 20-30 min of cranking on it it would finally start. After going though that a couple times it was at work where it became an issue. spent almost an hr n half trying to get it to start, had to hook the forklift up to charge the battery for a bit too. after 3 days of failed attempts and wet conditions i finally got it started and it was running like complete crap. Rough enough it was undrivable, so i pulled it across to our garage and there it sat for about a week while i rounded up plugs, wires, rotor, cap, air filter, oil filter and oil. Upon arriving the day of the tuneup i got in and tried starting and low and behold fired right up, hardly a crank, idled fine for about 20-25 sec and then started getting rough. i turned it off and proceeded with the matter at hand. i discovered one of my spark plugs was about to fall out while changing them, three of the wire clips failed inside the boots, one of which looked like it failed long ago as it was severely burnt, cap n rotor looks fine but changed them anyway. Test fired it, started right up again, idled fine for about 20-25 sec and started coughing, stepped it a little, revs fine, held it at 1500rpm, ran great, back down to idle and it coughs, turned it off. pulled the oil dipstick expecting it to be low because it does have a minor leak and to my surprise it was a little above the full line and rather runny.....ohhhh crap. i opened the drain and woooooooooosh into the pan, black gas. I did not warm up the engine like you are supposed to, it ran maybe a total of 3 min, if that. after letting it drain which took a little while i changed the filter and put in the new 5w30. started it right up again and let it run, idle was a little better, not a sputter instead of a cough, but very much drivable.

April 15th: Been checking oil periodically, its about as clean as when i put it in, doesn't smell like gas and level seems to be holding steady. Idle is degrading slowly, somewhere between a sputter and a cough now. drove home from work fine, but had to run up to the store, got it and pushed clutch in to start it and pop straight to the floor, no return. look under and the line had popped out of the slave. 4000$ worth of trans work last year and now this.

Yesterday: after finally being able to get the line reconnected and enough peddle play to be able to get it started, i let it idle for a while and it seems to be getting worse, it almost sounds like cylinders are missing. but when it revs, it sounds fine. I need to bleed the clutch a little more before i take it out on the road but while idling i watched the tach. when it was running fine before winter it would sit at just under 1k rpm, ill call it 950rpm. it now sits at say 850 and struggles to get to 900, after about 10 min it started getting a little rougher more like 825, drop to 750 then up to 875-900 n back down again.

I'm out of ideas and money is extremely tight. My friend wants me to drain a bit of oil and put in 6 cyl restore in it and a bit of Lucas, but i don't know if i want to risk it after reading reviews on them.
Any ideas?
TIA, Wolf

 

Putting 'mouse milk' in the crankcase never cured anything, JMO.

Sounds like you have a real "project" truck. Before throwing a lot of money at it try 1. pulling the codes 2. Check for vacuum leaks 3. Do a compression check 4. Test the ECM and check for leaking capacitors, etc.

 

ok, i got a list of codes but the fordfuelinjector site seems to be broken, is there a different site i can match these up on? i went to O'Reilly's first and they only were able to pull one code, P0174. i went a block down to Autozone after running the scan he told me a simple tune up and o2 sensors were needed. told him tune up was already done and asked what code it was giving, thats when he told me the P0174 and then said something about cyl#3 so i asked again for the list of code he was able to pull. their scanner found 5 codes, P0136, P0141, P1409, P0303, and P0174.

 

Enter the codes in a Google search and something should show up.

 

You could try engine-codes.com. Looks like a few O2 sensors codes and a engine misfire (P0303) . But look them up to be sure.

 

from Ford OBD-II Trouble Codes

Generic Codes:
P0136 02 Sensor Circuit Malfunction (Bank I Sensor 2)
P0141 02 Sensor Heater Circuit Malfunction (Bank 1 Sensor 2)
P0174 System too Lean (Bank 2)
P0303 Cylinder 3 Misfire Detected

Ford Specific Codes:
P1409? EGR Vacuum Regulator circuit malfunction
P1409? Electronic Vacuum Regulator Control circuit fault