Actually thought about that - rebuilt injectors and new coils anyway. Plugs are already new. My very first Ford (besides wife's Expedition) too - NOT a good start. I guess if I'm gonna keep it, I might as well know what I'm starting with! Thanks for the reply - I was hoping to hear from someone that has has a similar problem, but so far no dice. I'll keep plugging along at it until I get fed up, then I'll take it to a shop. I just like fixing stuff myself for the satisfaction. Hopefully this post and my problem/solution will help someone out

 

Yeah, it DOES seem that way since the injectors started working after moving the connectors and wires around. It just seems like there's something bigger at play here with the misfires jumping around like they are. Maybe the WHOLE harness is bad!? I might go ahead and drain the tank to eliminate the water possibility since I know nothing about the history of this truck. A little less than ¼ tank, so it shouldn't be too bad of a job.

 

with the p174 and p175 are indicators of a vacuum leak which would play into the erratic idle & misfires...I work towards getting that fixed/corrected.

do you have a plastic intake? if so there maybe a crack in it or just a bad gasket.

What was your compression test results?

 

sorry to hear of all of you misfortune with the truck. when i bought my 08 i knew it had problems. mainly the cam phasers and vct, the thing sounded like a powerstroke, it was bad!. but i got a screaming deal on the truck and decided to drop in a brand new 5.4. fast forward a couple months and all of the sudden i started getting tons of error codes. i wish i could remember them now. but the truck would run horribly and was down on power and pinged alot. after several trips to the shop and ford we still were coming up with no answers as to why it was running bad. and it was killing me because i also had my tunes from 5star waiting to be installed, but i wanted to make sure the truck was running right first.

finally the tech at ford ask me if i had tried running one of my tunes yet, and i said no because of the problems i was having. so we tried installing the tune, and whammo, all of the codes and the problems went away. Turns out somehow my truck had a corrupt factory tune. its has been 10,000 trouble free miles since then. maube its possible you have a similar problem? i hope this helps. good luck

 

Man, I'm falling down on the job! I totally missed the last 2 posts.

Vacuum leak - I checked the booster and the pcv and any hoses I could get to. I read about using propane and somebody said to use starting fluid, but I am kindof leery about using a highly flammable gas around the top of the engine for some reason. Any suggestions?

I DO have the plastic intake. Where do they commonly crack (I read that this is a common problem?)?

I attempted to do a compression test but my tester doesn't have the correct adapter - I will have to rent one from the parts store to do the test.

It's just weird how the misfires are jumping around and sometimes getting random other codes like the 174-175. Today I dropped the tank (BTW, it is a PITA doing it with one person, in the mud with only a floor jack!) and dumped all of the gas to eliminate that as a source of the misfire. I fired her up and she ran pretty good with no codes - until I drove up the driveway and got her warmed up. Then I got the 300, 303, 304 and 306. I thought it might still be bad gas in the fuel system, so I let it idle and ran it at 1500 or so rpm for a while. Let off the gas and had a pretty noticeable miss, cleared the codes, ran it again and checked the codes - the misfires changed to different cylinders (300, 301, 302, 304 and 306)! I gave up for the day! I guess there might still be bad gas in the system (if it WAS bad) since I really didn't run it but maybe 10 minutes total after refilling with about 8 gal of 93 octane.

 

Micah(?)

It could be TOTALLY possible that something is corrupt in this truck! I know absolutely nothing about the mechanical history of it - like you, I got a pretty good deal (I am STILL hoping I did anyway) on the truck. It's hard for me to believe that there is anything MAJOR wrong with it, because it runs very quiet and smooth for a short time. Then it will miss and start running/idleing rough and lose most of its power. I can't really drive it- up the driveway and back is about it so far. I guess the next thing is to rent a compression tester and also test for vacuum leaks. I am contemplating replacing all of the injectors with rebuilt ones (about $100) since I have seen that (at least) 1 of them was plugged - might be others too. At least that way I know what I have.

 

Could be bad gas, could be a bad ECM, or the mentioned vacuum leak. I use an unlit propane torch to check for vacuum leaks. the idle will raise/smooth out if it sucks propane into the leak. I would also check and clean the MAF sensor. just spray the filaments with brake cleaner or MAF cleaner. Do not touch them, they are delicate. a dirty maf wwill cause lean codes and possible misfires.

 

So there's no chance of something setting the propane off? The MAF sensor looks new - I'm guessing it was changed. Can you actually tell if they need cleaning (ie: dusty looking or something obvious)? I'll try the propane check first thing tomorrow. Might spray the MAF - just to check that off my list.

Thanks for the tips Jimmy! Fingers crossed

 

I THINK I made some progress today!

I tried the propane, but the fan was just blowing it away, so no dice on that. I spent a good 5 minutes going over all of the hoses and connections feeling for leaks. I checked the intake for obvious cracks - everywhere I could see anyway.

I fired it up (took 2 turns of the key to start), let it idle for a couple of minutes, then pulled the codes - 300, 302, 304 and 306. That led me to checking the coils (I have 3 gray boot coils). One of them was on cyl 2 and one on cyl 6! The last one is on cyl 7.

- I switched the coil from cyl 5 to cyl 6 - no change (still had misfire on #6). I am thinking it could be the injector at this point.
- I pulled the #2 and #4 coils, stretched the springs and replaced them.

I drove up my driveway and it was running pretty good - no new codes. So, I pulled out on the main road and eased on the gas. It changed to 2nd gear and I gave it a little more gas. Running good, so I gave it a little more and it sounded like it spark knocked or something rattled. I let off the gas and started to pull into a field - looked in the mirror and there was a cloud of smoke (was a light colored smoke, so I don't think it was unburnt gas unless it was light gray). The MIL was flashing, so I pulled the codes - 300, 301 and 302. I turned around to go back to the house, taking it easy - I didn't gun it again. It ran good. I got back to the house and cleared the codes.

I thought that since it was actually running better, that it might just need to be run, so I headed back out. I drove a little farther this time, maybe a couple of miles taking it easy. It ran good and quiet, changed into all gears. I turned onto a side road to turn around. As I headed back to the house, I gave it a little more gas (not as much as the first road trip). It started to rattle or spark knock again and a little smoke, so I let off and drove great back to the house. Got back to the house and pulled the codes - 300, 301 and 302 AGAIN.

I say that I think I made some progress because I was able to drive it on the road and I got 2 consistent codes, not the random crap that I have been getting. Of course, that could change the next time I work on it!

So, what would cause a spark knock when gassed? Would the VCT solenoid cause the timing to NOT advance and cause the knock?

 

What did you find out on your problem? I'm having (sort of) the same problems you were having. Missing on different cylinders - same bank. Hard acceleration causes a rattling or spark knock sound on that side, WHITE smoke and CEL. Let off throttle and rattling goes away as well as the smoke. During the first start up of the day, the truck takes 2 turns of the key to start and has white smoke (guessing coolant leak). Truck is pretty quiet at start up, idle and normal driving, so I am NOT thinking phasers or timing chain/tensioners.
- coils checked in spec
- injectors in spec and working
- plugs replaced with Motorcraft
- fuel filter replaced
- tank removed/dumped
- LOW (6#), STEADY vacuum indicating vacuum leak or timing
- Tried to do a compression test, but the 2 auto parts stores around here do not have a kit with the 12mm adapter.
- After running about 5 miles on the plugs I pulled them to inspect. #2 bank had decent looking color. The #1 bank were all black with #1 and 2 slightly wet.

Soooo, my guess is that I have an intake leak or crack causing coolant to get into the #1 and 2 cyls (the main misfires that are shown on the scanner) AND the vacuum leak? Other than that, a head gasket!

Maybe the #1 bank VCT solenoid causing the timing to stay advanced, causing the spark knock? Is there a way to check this with a scanner? I have seen the video on Youtube about unplugging them and taking a test drive.

The low vacuum explains my braking problem - 6# is not enough to work the booster!

 

Just heard from my mechanic yesterday - said it WAS the head gasket! Price? $1,500 + whatever the machine shop charges! WOW! He said he would have it torn down today and know for sure if there is any other damage. He said the head gasket replacement should cure the brake/low vacuum problem also.

I guess I'm just not lucky enough to have a CHEAP problem like an intake gasket or cracked intake - always has to be the more expensive fix! Well, I guess thats cheaper than replacing the engine!

 

And so it goes (my luck, that is)! I don't make hundred dollar mistakes - I make THOUSAND dollar mistakes!

My mechanic called this morning and said they took the valve cover off and had a surprise - one of the intake lifter rollers had seized and come apart and somehow caused the valve head to break off. Of course this caused the head to be eaten up along with the top of the piston and scored the cylinder up, not to mention the cam lobe was shot. Long story short - I need an engine now. He said he didn't even find the valve head either! How can an intake valve head go missing - too large to go out the exhaust valves.

It's hard for me to believe that some sorry sack of ***** took this truck to auction knowing damn good and well that it needed an engine, but only identified it as having a "miss". Really - I can't imagine the noise a valve head banging around in the cylinder would make, but this didn't seem to get mentioned in the sale.

So I found a used, supposedly 75,000 mile engine with a 6mo warranty for $2400 delivered locally. My mechanic is going to call around tomorrow to see if he can do any better and also going to check on rebuilt ones, but the core charge with the bad head is going to probably put that out of my range. Will know more in a couple of days.

 

wow matt im sorry that really sucks man.

 

Yeah, it sucks - bad experience from the start with this truck, but I love the styling. I thought about fixing it and trading it when he told me $1500 for the head gasket, but now that I am going to be in it for $3500-5000, I have no choice but to keep it or lose my *** on it. If I put a used engine in it, I will be looking at replacing the timing components and/or possibly lifter/rocker problems again in another 25000 miles or so. Maybe I'll just suck it up and run the cc up another 5000. Problem there is that I just booked a family cruise in December - can't disappoint the family. Problems, problems.

Thanks for letting me vent!

 

I would probably go for getting the used motor and maybe doing the timing chains/vvt parts & spark plugs and then installing that instead of rebuilding the current motor. You've got to do a full rebuild of the current motor, just to make sure the metal bits haven't been doing damage elsewhere in the motor, and the 5.43V's are pretty good long lasting motors, with their main problem being spark plugs and vvt parts.

But that's just my opinion, worth about what you pay for it.