Greetings,

I apologize for the long post. I just want to get all of the information out there that I could think of.

I have a 1995 Ford F150 Flareside with a 5.0 that is completely stock with 160,000 miles.

When you first take off the truck feels like something is holding it back, kind of like you are pulling a trailer. When you get up to about 40 to 45 mph you slightly feel something like the feeling of going over rumble trips that they have in the road.

When you are going about 55 or 60 mph and come up on a little incline in the road the truck will down shift and then when you level back off it will gain speed again and be fine.

This truck wont even squeal the tires, not that I want to. In fact I haven't even had it spin the tires when the road has been wet.

Any ideas of what it might be? I didn't know if the timing could be off and causing the lack of power. Or if it needs a tune up, if that could cause this kind of lack of power.

Things that have been done in the past year or so.

1. Front brakes and rotors - about a 6 weeks ago
2. Passenger shock tower, spring and new shocks - about a month ago
3. Driver side shock tower and spring - about 10 months ago
4. Starter - about 5 months ago
5. New battery, alternator and solenoid on fender well - about a year ago
6. Rear brakes - about a year ago
7. Rear leaf spring mounts - about a year ago.
8. New tires - about a year and a half ago (they may have 5000 miles on them he said)

I'm not sure when the last time a tune-up was done. The guy I bought it from didn't really drive it more that 20 or 30 miles a week for the last year or so before I bought it.

Things I know it needs. Radius arm bushings and outer tie rod ends. I have bought them just haven't had them time to put them on. There is the play in the steering but I'm not sure what this is yet. The ABS light is on so I need to figure that out. They guy I bought it from said that wasn't on until his nephew did the rear brakes.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I think if I can figure out the lack of power issue then it will help out the gas mileage too.


Thanks,
Gary

 

Did this start after the brake work? Sounds like a caliper hanging up. I would check that first. Check the brakes

 

Are the rear brakes hanging up? I would bet part of the problem is being caused by whatever is triggering the ABS light.

I had a bad parking brake assembly paired with a bad u-joint that created a similar problem in mine.

 

It was like that before the brakes. The brakes that came off were wore pretty evenly and the calipers compressed back pretty easily so I'm thinking that isn't it. But could be.

Thanks for the reply,

Gary

 

I do plan/need to take the rear drums off and look at them since the ABS light is on. I first though it might have been the rear brakes but they don't seem to be real hot and you don't smell them. I sure hope and pray that it is as simple as the rear brakes needing adjusted or something that simple.

Thanks for the reply and info,

Gary

 

^ You're welcome, hope that helps.

What transmission and rear end gear do you have?

 

It could be the rear brakes but check the front too to make sure they are free. I am assuming you have rear wheel abs on your truck only. Best to get the code and diagnose from there. A quick google search will show you how to do it. The noise and the fact that it feels like it is hanging up along with the abs light leads to a possible rear issue or u joint. The rear abs sensor is in the top of the differential and the tone ring is bolted to the ring gear, if you have play or a bearing issue that could also cause an abs light and if it is bad enough could be dragging. Keep us posted but best to check the brakes to rule that out.

 

It's probably time to give it a "heavy" tune up / maintenance and also check compression.

 

I believe it is the E40D with 3.55

 

Also check fuel pressure and timing, these two things will have a hugh impact on performance if they aren't within spec.

 

Update:


I haven't got to check anything out yet but I did get to talk to the guy I bought the truck from. He said he done a tune up about a year ago. He said that he had a guy (daughters boyfriend at the time) replace the electronic pickup in the distributor. He said he noticed the lack of power afterward and mentioned it to the guy that replaced it. The fellow told him that he may have gotten the distributor off a tooth when he put it back in. He was suppose to come up and redo it but never did.


Gary

 

Think you might have found the issue right there. Set the truck to TDC compression on #1 and pull the cab of the distributor to see if its pointing at the #1 wire.

 

I'm going to try and check it tonight if I get home in time