Help - 6 Cyl Engine Question
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Help - 6 Cyl Engine Question
Hey I'm new to Ford trucks. I just got a 2000 F-150 6cyl XLT. It has a new battery and oil change, but not sure when the last tuneup occured.
At pretty much any speed/any gear the car starts to sputter, feels like a cylinder stops firing. The engine runs rough under moderate acceleration, like merging onto a highway. Usually when the throttle is light it stays smooth though not every time. And usually as quickly as the problem occurs it clears up and runs fine again.
So before I pull the plugs this weekend I thought I'd check with the group and see if some of you can point me in the right direction quickly.
I'm inclinded to believe its either a cap/rotor, maybe the plugs or maybe a fuel flow problem. Anyone else have a similar problem before.
Thanks,
J
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At pretty much any speed/any gear the car starts to sputter, feels like a cylinder stops firing. The engine runs rough under moderate acceleration, like merging onto a highway. Usually when the throttle is light it stays smooth though not every time. And usually as quickly as the problem occurs it clears up and runs fine again.
So before I pull the plugs this weekend I thought I'd check with the group and see if some of you can point me in the right direction quickly.
I'm inclinded to believe its either a cap/rotor, maybe the plugs or maybe a fuel flow problem. Anyone else have a similar problem before.
Thanks,
J
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Cargo Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,232
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From: NE Texas
To start with, your truck has no cap and rotor.
What you need to do is turn on the key without starting the engine and see if the Service Engine Soon light is on. Sometimes, dishonest sellers will remove the bulb so that an unsuspecting buyer does not see that the light is on.
The reason that you should check this is that you usually will have a code set if such behavior is present. Even if the light is working, I would check for codes anyway. There may be some present that are not turning on the light.
That is always the best place to start on an OBD vehicle.
Good luck,
Doc
ASE Master
What you need to do is turn on the key without starting the engine and see if the Service Engine Soon light is on. Sometimes, dishonest sellers will remove the bulb so that an unsuspecting buyer does not see that the light is on.
The reason that you should check this is that you usually will have a code set if such behavior is present. Even if the light is working, I would check for codes anyway. There may be some present that are not turning on the light.
That is always the best place to start on an OBD vehicle.
Good luck,
Doc
ASE Master
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Okay,
the check engine light is functioning. However, it has not come on during any of these episodes until now. As I was pulling into work, cruising at highway speed the engine started sputtering and after about a mile of this the check engine light came on.
Out of curiosity, could I have water in the gas that is messing up the injectors? I'm thinking about throwing a new fuel filter on this weekend to see if that makes a difference. Thus far I have not had the sputtering problems with a new tank of gas. It usually occurs when I'm down to about 3/4 or less. Coincidence?
the check engine light is functioning. However, it has not come on during any of these episodes until now. As I was pulling into work, cruising at highway speed the engine started sputtering and after about a mile of this the check engine light came on.
Out of curiosity, could I have water in the gas that is messing up the injectors? I'm thinking about throwing a new fuel filter on this weekend to see if that makes a difference. Thus far I have not had the sputtering problems with a new tank of gas. It usually occurs when I'm down to about 3/4 or less. Coincidence?
Cargo Master
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,232
Likes: 3
From: NE Texas
Yes, you could have any number of things, but there's no reason to start changing parts until you have done some diagnosis. That is just shooting in the dark. You can go to autozone or other parts houses and they will pull the code for free. Write down the exact code(s) and post them here. We can go from there.
Good luck,
Doc
Good luck,
Doc
Posting Guru
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I think the 4.2 has the EDIS ignition system, like the pre-2000 4.6 V8's. The difference is that the 4.2 uses one coil pack mounted over the intake manifold for all the plugs instead of two like the 4.6.
How did the "service engine soon" light behave? Steady on? Or did it flash on and off a few times? The latter is usually a sign of a misfire.
The good news about the EDIS system compared to the coil-on-plug system found on 5.4's and 2000+ 4.6's is that you don't have an individual coil over every cylinder dying to fail and generally be a pain in the ****. The bad news about the EDIS system is that the factory spark plug wires appear to be insulated with wet newspaper. They're crap. If your truck has more than 60,000 miles, I'll bet the farm that one or more of your spark plug wires is bad.
How did the "service engine soon" light behave? Steady on? Or did it flash on and off a few times? The latter is usually a sign of a misfire.
The good news about the EDIS system compared to the coil-on-plug system found on 5.4's and 2000+ 4.6's is that you don't have an individual coil over every cylinder dying to fail and generally be a pain in the ****. The bad news about the EDIS system is that the factory spark plug wires appear to be insulated with wet newspaper. They're crap. If your truck has more than 60,000 miles, I'll bet the farm that one or more of your spark plug wires is bad.
Cargo Master
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,013
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From: Cajun Country
Start with the basics; fuel filter and a very good cleaning of the throttle body.How many miles? If 60k or more ide change the plugs and wires.How about the air filter? Also,you can clean the MAF sensor.
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You all have given me some good homework, I'll look into it tomorrow and report back. In answer to some of the questions the Check Eng light is steadily on. Off the top of my head I believe the coil pack is clustered together right over the center of the manifold though I'll have to run down and check. Oh, and it has 98,000 miles on it.
Will report more this weekend. Thank you
J
Will report more this weekend. Thank you
J
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Okay, I stopped by Autozone and had the guy pull the codes and he said that "Cylinder 3 and Cylinder 5 are misfiring". He didn't give me any specific code number. So what next?
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Just to let you know that is codes p0303, and code p0305.
Coul be plugs, wires, or the coil pack it self. I would pull the plugs in the problem cylinders and check to make sure they are not fouled up. If they are in good shape, then you can test your coil pack with an multimeter. Not sure of the correct procedures to do this but if you have a chilton manual then it would have the procedures listed
Hope this helps a least a little.
Coul be plugs, wires, or the coil pack it self. I would pull the plugs in the problem cylinders and check to make sure they are not fouled up. If they are in good shape, then you can test your coil pack with an multimeter. Not sure of the correct procedures to do this but if you have a chilton manual then it would have the procedures listed
Hope this helps a least a little.
Posting Guru
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Normally I don't subscribe to the notion to throw parts at a problem and hope it goes away, but if you don't know the last time that the plugs were changed and the spark plug wires appear to be original, then I would invest in the purchase and installation of plugs and wires.
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So I looked at the manual and it says that at 100K miles it's time to replace the various filters and plugs. So I'm going to put in a new air filter, fuel filter and plugs. Now I bought the Motorcraft plugs, seems like most are happy with those, but Autozone did not have a Motocraft Wire Set. They had Bosch "Premium wire set" with a lifetime warranty.
As mechanical fate would have it the truck is running perfectly today and I haven't done anything to it yet. But since the last two weeks have been rocky I'm going to replace the recommended components anyway. I will hold off on the wires today though if you all have had bad experiences with the Bosch wires. I can still return them and get another brand elsewhere. Let me know, Thanks
J
As mechanical fate would have it the truck is running perfectly today and I haven't done anything to it yet. But since the last two weeks have been rocky I'm going to replace the recommended components anyway. I will hold off on the wires today though if you all have had bad experiences with the Bosch wires. I can still return them and get another brand elsewhere. Let me know, Thanks
J
