I have a 2000 F150, 5.4 V8, 75,000 miles. Started running rough, intermittently. Some days no problem, other days it was terrible. Tried everything and finally had it looked at by the dealer and was told I needed to have coil pack 5 replaced ($318-I don't think so). We removed the pack and it contained moisture. Tested the pack and it's fine, cleaned, reinstalled with the electric grease or whatever it's called. Running fine for now. Anyone else experienced this problem?

 

Had the same thing happen to me but changed all plugs gee what a job! with the fuel rail in the way any way # 7 coil was holding moisture.

 

Common problem of getting moisture down the hole in the modulars.

Get a brand-new boot, and appliy dialectric grease to the tip and where it mates to the coil. Then, run a bead of dialectric grease around the boot where it seals to the head. Should take care of the problem. Better yet, do all 10

$318 to change a COP? Wow...

On Edit: Ooops, should have said "change all 8"

 

Ran rough again this morning, AutoZone checked and told me Cyl 7 misfiring. Pulled it tonight, it was worse than # 5 was. Wet and corroded, I replaced (I did use the Dielectric grease) and is ok for now. Also checked coil pack on other side, #1, clean as a whistle. Wonder if I have a head leak. Oil loosk ok, though. Will see what happens tommorrow.

The dealer estimate for $318 actually included a $95 reduction for the analysis, that means over $400, they also told me I needed new plugs, which I replaced about 3 months ago, that was the 1st time I had a problem, #8 was misfiring then. What a joke!

 

I doubt you have a head leak.

When you changed the plugs, did you reuse the old boots?

My '01 V10 had dialectric grease from the factory. If you didn't use it when you did the plugs, and reused the old boots, that's probably the root-cause of your moisture problems.

Either that, or you hose off your engine every night

 

When I changed the plugs, I did use the old boots for 6 of the 8. Two have new coil packs, both re-installed using the dielectric grease. One was ok, just cleaned and re-installed using the grease. Hope you are correct, saying you don't think I have a head leak. Wonder why only the one side seems to have problems, driver's side Cyls 5 through 8. Again cys 1 through 4 seem to be ok. No hosing off of engine, at least that would explain the problem.

Thanks.

 

Are you in one of those areas where water pools in the center of the road?

Or running through lots of puddles (ponds) with the left side only?

On my '01 V10, #9 was wet, #10 was pretty dirty. Nothing wrong with the right side. Go figure.

 

you could say one of those areas alot of pot holes:-fire i jubounce over them

 

I have been giong thru the same problem on my 2001 V10. Dealer ($275.00 )changed the no 10 got half way home start running rough, they said it probably was another coil of course they have no way of checking them to see if the are any coils with potential problems.

Autozone ran scan #10 showed a problem, located #10 moved it wiggled it, tightened it ran like a top. Later #4 tooked to a shop where my friends son worked, told them change the wires (you can tell I am old school, this is not my 69 428 wires ?) ran fine for a time. Then #2 checked it tightened it wiggled it ran fine took 500+ mile trip. Started running rought bought code reading software for laptop showed #3 misfire but stopped on it's own.

But will take your suggestion Krewat advise.

Tired of chasing ghost.

 

Mine ended up be a cracked head leaking, i have since sold it.

 

There is no easy way to test them. Only testing them under the same conditions they run at, and not too many places have that. I've compared new to old a few times by simply measuring the ohms and there was no difference. Either high heat or high voltage must be needed to show failure.

 

Something I've thought about for awhile is what about a 'water dispersant'? I've used LPS (watch the lables as there are several different versions) on some cars that have had moisture issues in the past. Take apart all elctrical connections, spray them and put them back together: moisture issues gone. I'd be tempted to try that if I was having any kind of moisture issues. It also works in distributors, caps etc so I think it could be used in a COP, probably in addition to the dielectic grease.

Just a thought

Paul

 

I'm guessing this is what I'm running into right now. We had a huge rainstorm last night, this morning the Mrs. went to take our daughter to day care and the truck is running like crap. Popped the hood open and you can see all the moisture on the valve covers of the right (pass) side. I know for a fact that I didn't seal the COP's with dielectric grease when I did the engine swap.

My problem at this point is that I don't own an air compressor. Should I just put the truck in the garage and wait for it to dry? Try a can of compressed air? What would happen if I snagged the wifes hair dryer and used it to blow the air out of the holes? I'm kinda thinking I should pull all the COP's at this point and grease them up for a seal.

 

I took my truck to the dealer for skipping only at certain rpms, it idles fine. He put his feet on the brake and gas and looked at the puter and said cylinder 5 and 7 is week. I changed them both. Problem solved.
SM