I remember a thread on this forum about someone who had the same symptoms. It turned out that his harmonic balancer had slipped causing the crank angle sensor to send eroneous info to the pcm. Might be worth checking out.

 

I wasn't trying to sound rude I was asking a ? is all. I am sorry if someone took the ? wrong. I was trying to ask how would that happen is all not trying to be a smart but. I really do appreciate all the info that I get from everyone on here.

 

Is there anyway that you could tell me where or how I would know where and what the harmonic balancer looks like and maybe how to fix it???

 

Scrim,
sometimes it's hard to used the typed word without occasionally getting "misunderstood". It has happened before and it will happen again. That's where I come in - I get to moderate !!
You can use the SEARCH function on the top of the page to look for key words dealing with what you are looking for.
I did a search on "harmonic" and this is one of the threads that came up:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...ight=harmonic+
BIG thanks to fplorer for remembering. I had forgotten about that thread.

carry on.....

edit to add: I am going to change the title of this thread to more accurately reflect its content.

 

Ok I am not trying to sound rude when I say this so please don't take it wrong. I am starting to get really confused. That did say that the guy was having the same problem in a way but I don't remember seeing it say if he ever got it fixed and what it was. I appreciate the link and telling me how I can go about finding similar problems. Can you tell what is a harmonic balancer and what it does? Can you tell what a c o p is? I think that is what it is called.

 

On the second page it said that the problem ended up being the keyway was worn on the harmonic balancer. The harmonic balancer bolts to the front of the crankshaft and supresses harmonic vibrations in the crankshaft. The balancer also has a tone ring or series of lobes made into it. These lobes are read magnetically by a sensor. This lets the engine control computer know where the engine is in its cycle so the computer can control ignition timing. If you crawl under the front of your engine and look right behind the pulley at the bottom of the engine, you will see the balancer. If the balancer key is not tight, a false signal could be sent to the computer. This may not be what is wrong with your truck, I just thought it might be a place to look.

 

Hey I am up for any options and suggestions. I want to try and figure this out without paying some idiot that can't figure it out and being out all that money when I can do it myself.(that is if I can.lol) Is it a hard thing to replace or fix?

 

a cop is a coil over plug....basically you have 8 coils now,each one sitting on top of a spark plug, you no longer have spark plug wires on the 5.4 and v10 engines. a harmonic balancer is the bottom pulley, it balances the end of the crank shaft. hope this helps...

 

Brian, thanks for the edit. I know you'd do it, but I just couldn't help myself. You rule.

Harmonic Balancer...man I would have never thought of that.

 

Ok let me ask this ? Would a woman be able to find this part by going out and looking under the truck? And if so is it hard to fix? How do you know if it is messed up?

 

it all depends on the mechanical skills that a person has.....i know some guy's that can't even light a grill....let alone be trusted with a wrench..

 

Well considing it is a female trying to figure all this out for her fiance I find myself more mechanically inclined then most females. I don't see him being the one in front of this computer typing away trying to get it figured out. Ok I need to know someting ASAP. What is fuse 16 for under the hood????? I just looked at those and that fuse is blown.

 

Scrim,
Stop by and purchase a Haynes or Chiltons manual for your truck. It wil have pics and desrciptions for all you are asking about. There are sections for all sorts of different things that might be of help now, or in the future.
I'll bet if you could see a pic of the harmonic balancer, you'd not have any problem finding it in real life. Now, determining if that is the culprit might be a bit more difficult. You'll have to judge that for yourself. But, the manual will sure help you judge.
For the record, the 4.2 does not have COP (Coil On Plug) ignition. Ours is high voltage from the coil pac to the plugs, hence the conventional type spark plug wires.

 

It is very easy to find. Looking up from the bottom of the engine, locate the bottom pulley. Directly behind the pulley there is what looks like a crown. These are the teeth I was speaking of. All of this, the pulley, the balancer, and the tone ring are bolted to the front of the engine with one large bolt. It would be harder to see if it has slipped. Probably the only way would be to take it off. The accessory drive belt would have to be removed. The bolt would have to be removed and the balancer would have to be removed with a puller. Then the keyway would have to be checked visually for damage.

 

I edited that last thread after you guys replied. what is fuse 16 for under the hood?