5.4 Sputtering
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4wd High
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
5.4 Sputtering
Hello,
My '99 F250 has the ZF5 transmission, and since last Friday night (3 days ago) whenever I'm about halfway through my gear (1-5) it starts sputtering like it's starving for gas.
I've tried SeaFoam, was a little low on oil and was almost due so I just did a oil change about 30 minutes ago and she definitely liked that, but it's still sputtering.
I was running low on fuel on Friday when it happened, got fuel Saturday, nothing changed.
When it warns up it gets slightly better, but still noticeable.
Previous owner said there was an idle issue, so he did spark plugs and replaced the EGR about 6 months ago.
My buddies and I are stumped. Please help
My '99 F250 has the ZF5 transmission, and since last Friday night (3 days ago) whenever I'm about halfway through my gear (1-5) it starts sputtering like it's starving for gas.
I've tried SeaFoam, was a little low on oil and was almost due so I just did a oil change about 30 minutes ago and she definitely liked that, but it's still sputtering.
I was running low on fuel on Friday when it happened, got fuel Saturday, nothing changed.
When it warns up it gets slightly better, but still noticeable.
Previous owner said there was an idle issue, so he did spark plugs and replaced the EGR about 6 months ago.
My buddies and I are stumped. Please help
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 1,704
Likes: 164
From: Southwest Ohio
What do you mean by “it definitely liked that” after changing the oil? If you honestly felt a difference in how the engine was running after an oil change, then it was extremely low on oil or the oil was horrendously old.
It’s either a misfire or fuel delivery issue. If the previous owner knew about this problem and sold the truck, first thing I would do is check compression. It wouldn’t surprise me if you have a bad cylinder. It is easy to mask when you are trying to sell a vehicle. I hope in your case that it’s just a bad plug wire or something easy.
— Dave
It’s either a misfire or fuel delivery issue. If the previous owner knew about this problem and sold the truck, first thing I would do is check compression. It wouldn’t surprise me if you have a bad cylinder. It is easy to mask when you are trying to sell a vehicle. I hope in your case that it’s just a bad plug wire or something easy.
— Dave
Thread Starter
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4wd High
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 9
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I checked it a few weeks ago and it was about half full, checked it today and it was pretty low. So I gotta check for leaking or burning oil. It was definitely due though, color wasn't real pretty.
Would checking for compression tell me whether or not I have a bad wire plug?
Would checking for compression tell me whether or not I have a bad wire plug?
Tuned
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 377
Likes: 71
From: South Dakota
I have the 5.4L in my '06 and 2 months ago I had a similar problem. Anytime the truck was under a load..climbing a steep grade, pulling a trailer, excessive acceleration it would give the feeling as if it was starving for fuel . I ended up having to replace 3 coil packs. After that the problem was fixed.
Thread Starter
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4wd High
Joined: Jul 2018
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
I have the 5.4L in my '06 and 2 months ago I had a similar problem. Anytime the truck was under a load..climbing a steep grade, pulling a trailer, excessive acceleration it would give the feeling as if it was starving for fuel . I ended up having to replace 3 coil packs. After that the problem was fixed.
The coil packs could make your motor starve for fuel?
Any methods to figure out which ones are bad? Or just start pulling them and seeing what happens?
Tuned
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 377
Likes: 71
From: South Dakota
the coil packs were causing a misfire . which would cause it to feel like i was running out of fuel. I believe the shop I took it to just hooked a scanner to it and it showed them which ones weren't always firing.. hope this helps and you get your problem figured out
Lead Driver
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 8,450
Likes: 70
From: South Jersey
99-04 gas trucks dont have a really good CFL, so the truck could misfire multiple times and never throw a light. Like above a misfire will do the same as the truck running out of fuel, and it seems you should have gone over the truck better before buying it if the oil was half full and really dirty after you just picked it up
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