I have a 1997 Ford F150 with a 4.6L engine in it. It has 124,000 miles on it. 12,000 miles ago I replaced the plugs with Bosch 4 platimum plugs and Moroso performance wires. I also upgraded the exhaust with flowmaster Super 40 mufflers to help out the flow.

I know how to wrench... But this is why I hate computer controlled vehicles. Computers belong on a desk... not in an engine compartment. That is why I love working on my Pro Street 67 Camaro and hate working on my truck.

ok.. here is the problem:
Christmas morning I was driving to work and it started running very very rough. The check engine light came on and was blinking. When I drove home from work it was just fine, but the light remained on.

I let the truck sit on my days off and 2 days later I drove it back to work. It ran just fine on the way to work... but started running rough on the way home. It has NO acceleration.. and it sounds like its stuttering under when I give it gas. When it runs very very rough... the CE light blinks on and off.
__________________________________________________ ______________
What have I done:
I have popped the hood and looked for Sparks from arcing... NO sparks were flying around.

I put 91 premium octane in it in case I had bad gas or water deposits in the tank since it has been raining the past few days.

Checked all the wire connections and fittings around the plugs
__________________________________________________ ______________

Still runs like a dog... anyone have an idea of what might be causing this? I really don't want to buy an OBDII scanner or have some Joe rip me off to scan it himself... any advice on what to check would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Erik

 

Search the forum, you will find that Bosch plat 4's have had problems with mod motors, actually almost anything but the Motorcrafts seem to have had problems. Try the plugs, I bet your wires are ok though.

Shouldn't have to worry about the flowmasters at all. I would try the plugs.

 

If you have an Auto Zone store, they will give a free scanner reading.

 

I hate to tell you, but it's time to hit the 21st century and spend a hundred bucks on a scanner. It will work on any 96 and up vehicle. The scanner will tell you what's wrong. I.e. if you have a miss, it will tell you which cylinder. Try that with the camaro! If you don't want to spend the bucks, many autoparts stores will scan it for free. You may also want to share a scanner with a friend or neighbor to cut cost.

Report back with the code and we'll take it from there.

George

 

I just took care of two frozen gas lines on two differant makes with similar symptoms. Outside temp was like 15-20 degrees. DO your troubleshoot like these guys say, but just thought I'd mention it. In my case, one car ran like crap and actually died totally, then about 6 hours later as the sun warmed things up, and some dry gas, it came back to life and got it back home. The other just bucked like a wild bronco and dry gas fixed it. They were fueled at the same station down the street from me.

Did your problem show up with the rain? Wet distributor?

just my 02.

p.s. lots of parts palces scan for free.

 

Welcome to the forum.

These engined do NOT like Bosch plugs. I would suggest installing Either Motorcraft or Autolite Double platinum plugs.

 

I've been reading a lot of these posts trying to find info that might help with some problems I've been having with my F150, 4.2L. I'm still looking for more info for myself but it sounds like misfiring to me and I agree with the others that the plugs may be an issue. Also, you may want to check your wires with an ohm meter. While dealing with my issue I did some research on wires and the only wires I found that meet the published spec of 5K ohms/ft (Haines manual) were the Motorcraft wires. Not that I checked everything out there but those I did check, Bocsh, Borg-Warner and whatever Napa sells and none were even close to spec. All but the Napa wires were around 10% of spec, while Napa's were about 50%.

Just a thought.