Has this ever happened to you?

I was driving home from work in my new 2004 F-150 SuperCab (tonight 11-3-03) when suddenly and without any warning, the Electronic Throttle Control warning light lit up on the instrument cluster (little yellow wrench). At the time, I did not know what the gauge meant. But I was left coasting to a stop. There was no response from the gas peddle and the engine remained at a constant idle (about 1000 RPM) All the other gauges were normal and the engine seemed to be idling normally, but would not respond to throttle input. Although the manual calls this a “limp-home” mode, I was going nowhere. I was left in a dark place on a windy county road with a new truck that would not go anywhere. To make matters worse, there was no cell service where I was at and I could not make a call without getting out and walking about 2 or 3 miles in the dark.

I was immediately pissed. I had about 1150 miles on my new truck, and was driving at about 60 mph when all this happened. I commute about 80 miles to work (round trip) and was "taking it easy" because I am trying to get good gas mileage.

Being somewhat mechanically and electronically inclined, I hoped that whatever happened would reset itself if I turned the ignition off and on. Fortunately for me, it work. After turning off the truck and restarting it, everything operated normally for the rest of my drive home (about 20 miles).

My Question; has anyone heard of any problems with the 2004 f-150 Electronic Throttle Controls on the 5.4L Triton motors? This is the sixths new ford vehicle I have owned and I have never ever had anything like this happen to any of my vehicles. I've never had a brake down and I pride myself on caring for my vehicles. This incident has left some concerns in my mind about the quality of this new 5.4L engine.

 

I have not had a problem with the electronic throtle but
when i worked for Cadillac when this happened it would
set a code in the computer to tell what went wrong.You
need to ask service dealer to check it for you as it could
do it again.

Mike

 

I havent had a problem with that but i did have a problem with towing a small trailer to utah and doing about 70 or 75 and going uphill all of a sudden it kicked out of cruise control and the check engine light started blinking, it finally went away in about 2 minutes but it didnt run very well for a minute or so. I have a appointment to take it in and get it checked out.

 

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!!

The next day after driving to work without any problems, I called the dealer and scheduled to take it in three days from this posting to have them check the error codes. On my way home, while slowing for a stop sign, the dam Electronic Throttle Control warning light came on, and I once again had no throttle response. Luckily the stop sign was on a slight down hill grade, so I was able to role through the stop sign to the shoulder. This time when I turned the ignition off then back on again, the engine labored to a start and I still did not have any acceleration. And actually, any input on the accelerator had absolutely no effect on the engine which idled normally. After a couple of minutes of cursing and swearing and calling my wife to come pick me up, I was finally able to get the thing running again after stopping and restarting the engine. This time; and unlike the first time, the Check Engine Light came on as well and stayed on.

While driving home, I called the dealer where I purchased it (Folsom Lake Ford) and got a hold of the salesman who sold me the truck. I've got to hand it to him, I was not pleasant on the phone when I talked to him, but he expressed his concern and told me that he would contact the service manager and let them know that I was bringing the truck in for service. Luckily their service department was open till 9 PM.

Of course they had no idea what the problem was by simply looking at the pretty yellow warning lights on my instrument panel, so I left the truck with them and I'll hopefully have it back tomorrow.

For those of you who care, I'll keep you posted as to what the problem was, and what the fix is..

 

mhamFORD_FAN

Yes please kee us informed as this problem could affect
all of our trucks. I hope it is an easy fix.Like a simple
part replacement.
On another note if you get stuck call roadside assistance
and they will dispatch a tow truck and get you a ride home.
when it comes to the dealer on the hook and the foctory is
paying the bill you may get it fixed faster.

Mike

 

dropped mine off they said i may not get it back until tomorrow, if they find anything with mine i'll pass it on.

 

Let me know please. I've got 888 miles on my F-150 Lariat Scab and I hope its not a model wide problem

 

I am debating on one of these trucks, but still waiting for any problems to surface.

The more HI-Tech, the more problems, at least thats been the case with my Expedition, improperly shielded electronics causing electronics to go crazy.

If that happens with a computer controlling the throttle, thats spooky !

 

Picked my truck up from the dealer tonight after they fixed it. The problem was the throttle body. The dealer originally had no idea what the problem was and had to call the Ford Factory Hotline for input. The service manager explained (and I already knew) that the throttle system in the new 5.4L engines are completely computer controlled. Like aircraft, the throttle system is a “Fly by wire” system. There is nothing mechanically connecting the throttle to the engine. What was happening was the electronic throttle body in the engine was reporting an error code of some kind and the computer was refusing to communicate with it. That was why there was no response when I pressed the throttle, the computer was ignoring the input. The service manager said that according to the factory hotline, there have been “A few” reported problems with the throttle bodies going bad in these new engines.

Below is word for word what the tech wrote on the service order of my vehicle. (ignore if not interested. I only include this in the event others start having this problem and the dealers are not aware, this could be good info to take to them)

“C/S The check engine light is on and there is no power. The RPM dropped and there was no pedal response.
Check engine light on. Truck has no throttle response. Ran WDS KOED P0221, P2106, P2135 – Throttle body, Throttle Body response codes. Ran PID monitor test APP 0%, APP1 4.06v, APP2 1.44v, APP3 .89V, APP FLT no fault, APP mode no pedal, TP-PT, TP1 4.11V, TP2 2.06V, TPFM No fault. Ran TP sweep test, passed. Ran OASIS SSM 17272 does not apply. Called hotline, was told to check wire harness connectors and swoop throttle body with known good one and retest. Harness and connectors ok. Swooped with stock #400210. Throttle body swoop fixed truck. Ran self test KOED passed. Cleared codes. Reinstalled first throttle body KOED all codes, came back need to replace throttle body. ETA 5-10 days. For customers satisfaction, swooped throttle body with stock #400210. Ran KOED Passed. Road tested 10 miles, passed”.

Although I’m mad that my truck broke down, I understand that we live in a technological society, and anyone would be crazy to think that new technology should not be used in new cars and trucks. With anything mechanical or computer controlled, things are bound to go bad. As long as this does not happen to me again, I’ll be content and satisfied.

Remember too, even with this problem, I still love my truck, and I’m still a Ford Fan.

DUEMAN, I hope the dealer takes care of you too and the problem that you had with your cruise control shutting down. Please let us all know what the problem was. And thank you to everyone else who provided input.

 

I would guess the cruse control is not a problem.
As a safety measure cruse is always shut off when
the check engine light is activated.When the cause
for the light is found and codes are cleared cruse
control will work again.
Just useless info.

Mike

 

Exactly. I knew there were going to be problems with this new F-150. I wish I still had that post from almost a year ago.... Too much fancy junk. Come on Ford, just build a truck!

 

Thanks for the language the tech wrote. My 04 f-150 5.4 is at the dealership for the third time with the same problem you were having. My problems started at 3000 miles. They already replaced the camshaft positioning sensor. Is it too much to ask that my new Triton run on all 8 cylinders!

 

I am yet another who has been dealing with the same exact problems. Wrench light then service engine/emissions light. This is really an inconvenience as I live an hour away from me dealer and they have had it twice. I currently have it at home, with lights on, because they have said Ford doesn't know what to do, enginneers are working on a fix. I might print out the tech notes from the throttle body post and take em.

 

I have a new F-150 coming anyday now and I have started to place into a file all the things that people here are having troubles with. The good news is I'll know what is wrong "thanks all!" The bad news is I don't have time in my work to deal with a down truck. Guess I put the insurance back on and keep the old 86 chevy till I see if this new truck is going to work out

 

Yes, I had the exact same problem at 3700 miles. They did all that computer crap to mine too. It didn't work. After 3 weeks they figured it out. It was the throttle body. They changed it two weeks ago and no problems since. During the whole mess I was shown an internal product support memo from Ford to the service dept. ststing they knew of this issue but did not have a fix at that time.