I have a 2007 F150 SuperCrew 2wd with 5.4L V8 flex fuel engine.

I've had no end to driveability problems. I've replaced the spark plugs, ignition coils, cleaned the MAF, replaced the fuel filter, and the catalytic converters (one was damaged/plugged). I've had the truck into the Ford dealer for a diagnostic, found and replaced a cracked spark plug, but only helped slightly. The truck can accelerate well on 3/4 throttle, but at WOT it stumbles and even backfires.

Googling these issues finds many owners suffering similar problems, but unable to diagnose or solve them.

My question for Ford is "WHY WON'T YOUR TRUCKS THROW OBD II CODES?" I owned a 2003 Nissan Altima: Every time it acted up it would immediately throw a code telling me what was wrong, and I was able to fix the issue and restore drivability. Ford for some un-Godly reason set the threshold for codes so high the truck will have an obvious miss, stuttering, backfiring ... no code. Not even "random/multiple cylinder misfire". Even if the check engine light starts flashing, it goes out and there are no pending codes. NOTHING. I know damn well there's all kinds of readings that have to be out of spec, but not enough/often enough to throw the code.

I am reduced to doing what every other owner does: Checking in every forum I can find, discovering that in the end even the dealer ends up "throwing parts at it". I'm getting ready to get out the multimeter and check the position sensors for the throttle and camshaft, but I bet they'll be alright. Fuel injectors all have good continuity, maybe I'll replace them next.

Anyone else share this opinion/impression?

 

I recently started a thread where I end up using Torque Pro to see individual cylinder misfires even when I code wasn't thrown.
EDIT: Here is the thread https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-no-codes.html

 

The system is designed to only "throw codes" if there's a specific fault identified that falls within the parameters of the monitoring system which is focused on controlling emissions.

 

I'm not talking about a bad sensor; I'm talking about "which cylinder/cylinders are misfiring". I can feel it, and hear it, but the "Check Engine" light remains stubbornly off (or else blinks and then goes off, no pending codes).

Is it one cylinder only? Great - swap the ignition coil, plug, and injector to other cylinders and see if the problem moved. If it's the cylinder that received the plug (or ignition coil, or injector) now I know what the problem is! Or if it didn't move, it's either in the wire harness or something is mechanically wrong with that cylinder.

Is it random/multiple? Look at intake or fuel. Is it on one bank only? Might have a plugged cat there.

But it WON'T THROW THE CODE. Apparently Ford expects these engines to misfire A LOT, and set the threshold to trip the code really high so it has to be chronic and consistent for a long period of time before it will tell OBD II "we got a problem here, boss". Therefore it can't diagnose an intermittent problem, so I can't tell where the problem is, or diagnose it moving parts around.

I've been driving Fords for 20 years, this is my 4th, but it'll probably be the last.

 

I'll have to check that out. It's at the dealer right now for a diagnostic; I'll let you know what they find (if anything).

 

When it triggers the CEL too easy people get pissed at that too. All you need is a scanner that reads live data and you can see exactly how many times each cylinders misfires, if at all.

 

A reader capable of "mode 6" can tell you if any particular cylinder has any misfires way before a code is set.

I don't know if it's a fact, but I read somewhere that Ford has many vehicles set to where there has to be 10,000 misfires logged to set a code.

I bought a reader off Amazon that read mode 6 and found an intermittent misfire I had been chasing for months. Took less than 30 minutes to find the cylinder with a miss and change the coil pack. Probably been 4+ years and no miss since.

 

OK - just got a call from the dealer. He says virtually every cylinder is misfiring but #7 was by far the worst. Tech pulled the plug and found it is pretty much gone; electrode severely eroded, HUGE gap. He replaced that one and fixed #7. The others can't be doing well, either, but I'll replace them myself and save about $250.

These plugs only have about 50K miles on them.

The problem seems to be spark plugs aren't lasting nearly as long as they did before ethanol was added to gasoline. Anyone old enough to remember, when we used to burn leaded gasoline spark plugs were a 12000 mile replacement item; then when we switched to unleaded plugs would last 100K miles. Now that ethanol is being added to the gasoline plugs are getting eaten up much more quickly, they need to be a 50K-60K replacement.

 

Thanks, that's a great tip! I have a Bluetooth code reader, not sure it has mode 6 but I'll check.

 

That's because the rate of misfires does not exceed the program's parameters.

Use Mode 6, as already suggested, to isolate misfires.

 

No need to get surly about it. Ford's built-in parameters aren't very helpful, that's all. Hence the terabytes of owner complaints "what's going on with my engine, it runs like *^&%$^# but the puder says A-OK!"

Ford did a really s**tty job with this engine, IMHO.

 

Here is a good article. It's older, but is still right on about mode 6.

http://resources.aeswave.com/old/Art...00611mode6.pdf

 

My truck is a 2007, so this 2006 article is a perfect fit. Thanks!

 

No, that's not what the computer says, the computer isn't saying anything since the problem isn't severe enough to set the fault condition.

People expect too much from computers, sometimes the human brain actually has to be used...