We have a 2001 F-150 with the 4.6L V8. Within the past few weeks the truck has been acting funny. Sometimes while driving, the engine will start revving high around 3,000 RPMs, the oil gauge will disengage and the red oil light will come on, the engine temperature gauge will go off and the overdrive light on the column will flash off. The service engine soon light is also on. The truck feels like it drops out of overdrive and is only in about 3rd gear at most. When at stop the engine will rev up and down on its own and when it goes back to idle it is somewhat rough. This episode will last a few minutes then the oil and engine temperature gauges will come back on and the overdrive light will stop flashing. The service engine soon light stays on however. The truck will run fine and this won't happen again until several hundred miles. I would appreciate anyone's help on this. I'd rather not get screwed out of money taking it to the dealership to get it hooked up to the computer to see what is wrong.

 

You really need to start by taking the truck to a Autozone or similar place. They usually will pull the Check Engine Light (CEL) codes for you. With all of those symptoms, it could be quite a few things. The codes will start you on the right path. It'll be easier to do it now than later if it totally dies.

 

This may be a long shot but can work sometimes. I would check with the dealer first, and as long as it is safe, try removing the ecu harness, and then putting it back in, it could be a loose harness connection.

 

best place to start is the codes.....autozone or advanced auto will pull the codes.....the way i look at it is why make it harder than it needs to by....let obdII do something for you.....then you have a place to start at

 

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pull at the wiring harness at the back side of the passenger cylinder head and see if the vehicle acts up.have seen the harness chaff at this spot causing weird problems like this.