Stay out of trying to analyze those unless you actually know what you are doing.

You have a misfiring cylinder #2. Most of the time, a new COP and spark plug will fix it. Sometimes, only a plug a boot/spring is all that is needed.
Download the free OBDII manual from www.motorcraftservice.com for definitions of the tests. See page 11.
Yes.

 

Thanks for the link, this link goes straight to the Free Resources area> OBD System Operation Summary docs by model year:
https://www.motorcraftservice.com/freeresources/obd
in case anyone needs it.

I agree cylinder 2 is the offender, according to the 'guide' the CID $00 are total and highest rates of misfires of certain degree (like ones that would foul the CAT or effect emissions). I have read elsewhere about A or B misfires, perhaps the chart on page 11 doesn't use those descriptions (or I missed it!).

So I am over the threshold (upper limit) for total misfires and catalyst damaging misfires and total rate of misfires with just one cylinder causing the trouble if I am reading the chart correctly. Not sure how low the threshold is but the drive-ability of this van is not in question, it should not be driven.

I will dig into it today, thinking a compression test and if that checks out swapping the injector between cylinder 1 & 2, I don't expect the swap to have any effect since the van had this same symptom with a different set of injectors, COPs and plugs. Although if one cylinder can make it run like this it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that the other injectors,COPs and plugs didn't have a bad one among them as well!

 

Got good readings on 3 cylinders so I moved on to the plug, injector & coil on cylinder #2. put in a new plug moved the injector to cylinder #1 and swapped the coil with cylinder #4. Took it for an almost identical test drive and the misfires had moved to cylinder #4. So I will order one to replace that coil and report back.

ALSO: the plugs that I looked at were all the same (good sign for cylinder #2?) thin black coating mostly on the surfaces that face the cylinder and it was easily wiped off and did not flake or smear. is this acceptable or should I be diagnosing this further?

thanks

 

What brand are the coils and the plugs currently?

 

the coils were supposed to be bulk motorcraft, paid about $140 for a set of 8, I wonder if they are fakes... either on eBay or Amazon about 18mos ago. they are printed just like real motorcraft but came without any packaging (bulk). the plugs are motorcraft SP479.

 

If it didn't take me 18mos to get this van on it's feet I would have been able to return that bad coil, hehe. So the misfire moved with the coil pack, I put a spare one in there today and did a 1hr test drive with no misfires reported and only a hint of the van wanting to shudder but never developing (could have been paranoia). Will start driving this one to get a new baseline... Two sets of injectors, plugs & coils each had a failure that presented itself in the same way, if I went back and tested them I bet it was a coil(s) before as well, given how similar the feeling was driving the van with those 2 setups.

Torque converter ok! (says the backyard mechanic)

thank you, next thread.

One last question might be, if the previous owner drove the van with the misfire for a long time would that show up? how?

 

If you soon start getting a shudder, suspect the torque converter, and change the fluid. Ford's converters never 100% lock up. Driving for any length of time with an engine shudder will cause torque converter slippage and burn the fluid. I did exactly that while trying to chase down my shudder. I finally got the right scanner and fixed the engine shudder, but still had the exact same symptoms as before. Engine showed no misfires in mode 6 like it had before. Went to trans shop, they hooked up computer and we test drove, converter slippage showed up.

Engine shudder caused torque converter slippage, which then turned into torque converter shudder. Both shudders feel the same, so it's very hard to isolate.

 

That's good to know, thanks for adding that history. I have been meaning to check the trans fluid so I will put it on my to do list, I took the van up and down some steep hills today after trying to find that shudder on the freeway. Should the torque converter show issues on that kind of driving, slow speed and high load? The grade was so steep I was worrying about the brakes bringing the van to a full stop at the bottom and I had the trans in 1st gear. Going up the grade I was really expecting to have misfires but didn't get anything, before it would act up every time with that kind of driving.