Been lurking here for about a year and I really appreciate the knowledge. I have done the obligatory key word searches and have basically gone back about a year researching my problems so let’s begin.

A little background. 2003 Expedition EB 5.4L 2WD. 59000 miles. I bought the truck off lease and it has ran flawless.

About a month ago, I get the slight acceleration "stumble/chatter/rumble" that has been talked about all over the forum. Other then oil change maintenance, i figure the truck hasn't’t had any major tune up.

The "stumble/chatter/rumble" very much reminded me of a slight misfire. Although I was getting no CEL, a scan of the OBDC II showed no codes at all.

I find the threads regarding spark plugs and follow the change procedures and swap out the plugs with exactly what came out of the engine. Motorcraft. The plugs at 58000 miles looked pretty worn and used. I was careful and mindful of the problematic spark plug thread issue, and managed to get all the plugs changed. I did not change any COP's. Other then during acceleration between 40-55 and sometimes faster the engine runs smooth. So new plugs "stumble/chatter/rumble" still exists.

I haven’t changed the fuel filter. Looks like i need to swing by Ford since my Autozone and Advance doesn't have them in stock at all.

My transmission at 59000 probably hasn't’t been serviced as far as fluid and filter change. So this is on the chopping block of troubleshooting too. Meanwhile the trans fluid is proper level, not burnt, and i get good transmission lock up in all gears. When the truck has the "stumble/chatter/rumble" under acceleration i really don’t see any engine rpm speed fluctuation. So this could be in the transmission around the time the truck is shifting around the overdrive gear. When i do get the transmission flushed ill demand the mercon V or multi use blend.

The only other symptom I have which may be completely coincidence and totally unrelated, which lead me back to an electrical issue, when the truck goes through this acceleration "stumble/chatter/rumble" I get a very slight static pop through the sub-woofer in the back of the truck. Almost like a clicking noise, and its definitely coming through the sub-woofer. My initial instinct is that the sub woofer and fuel pump is wired to the same source or maybe i have a bad ground. Could this be a clogged fuel filter staining the fuel pump maybe? Very strange.

Anyway, any ideas or advice you guys have would be really appreciated. I would like to fix this problem if i can on my own before paying for someone to do it. I am just scratching my head here with how to proceed.

Like i mentioned earlier, i get no codes in OBDC so its hard to tell if i have a bad COP, EGR that should throw a code if failing. Right now other than transmission flush/service and changing out fuel filter i don’t know where else to go.

Thanks in advance fellas for all help.

Brock

 

Welcome! Given your description it sure sounds like torque converter shudder, which a fluid change should address. Given that it should have been changed at 30K, I'd start there.

 

Try changing the fuel filter and adding a bottle of fuel injector cleaner every 6000 miles.

 

By "stumble/chatter/rumble" do you mean that it hesitates, makes some lifter noise and vibrates?

Has the fuel filter ever been changed? If not do that...not just b/c it might address your problem but because it's waay past due. I change mine out every 15K and notice a change in performance everytime. If you've ever pumped gas right out of the pump into a clear jar you'll see what I mean...lots of sediment and other junk in there.

Good rule of thumb here is to make sure all the scheduled maintainence is taken care of...flush the tranny and take care of that fuel filter. How does the air filter look? Check out the MAF and get some contact cleaner if it looks dirty. This is just the easy stuff that needs to be done anyway. Hopefully that will take care of the problem. If not, I'm a fan of Sea-foam. Do a search and you'll find lots of discussion for it, lots against it and some how-to's.

Subwoofer makes a crackle...that is strange

 

i have a 97 f-150 that did the same thing as yours,u may get lucky with the fuel filter.the 5.4 tritans have 1 flaw,the obII cant tell when it is having ignition coil malfuncions.after fighting it for three months i found #1 coil pack to be bad.all u need to test is a oms meter and a chiltons book.but do it with the motor warm.

 

If your "static pop" increases in speed as the engine does, then it is electrical, and most likely a COP, or spark plug boot.

I changed all the COPs in my '03. I only had one bad, but I got all 8 off E-Bay for around the price of one from Ford, and they were new OEM's.

Have fun finding which one it is. Mine would not set a code until it starting jerking very bad when pulling.

You will need to buy one, and swap COPs out one at a time until you find the bad one.

Since you have an '03, I would start with #1 and then #5. If you had the older style Expy I would bet on #4.

The #1 and #5 are at the front where water can come thru the radiator and wet them. My #1 had a stress crack. Possibly from it getting hot and cold water hitting it.

 

That's pretty far from the truth...

OBD-II can indeed tell you which cylinder is misfiring even with no codes set. You just have to have the proper equipment and knowledge. The el-cheapo code readers won't even get you to the ballpark if the fault isn't severe enough to set a code.

Coil resistance readings are seldom useful for anything other than a gross failure (which would have set a code anyway). You won't find Ford's technical staff suggesting such a check in the event of mild or intermittent misfires.


Steve

 

Hey Brock,
I guess what you mean by stutter/chatter/rumble is the question.
Just a note that I had on my Expy:
During excelleration, whild tranny was shifting, I would feel/hear something that felt like I drove over a rumble strip on the highway.
From what I found on this forum, it was common, and a tranny fluid service solved the problem.

 

Change the Tfluid man. It needs it anyway.

 

using snapon mt2500 with 06 update!not part store junk.ford dealer found #4 misfire three times,truck would stall thats how bad it got but the obdII never got code for #1 misfire,they are the ones that told me to start testing the cop's

 

I'll third that. A filter and flush fixed my torque converter shudder at 70K. Fluid should be changed/flushed at 60K.

 

I had the same rummble it ended up being the transfer case fluid. That fixed it right away. The Dealer didn't even know this.

 

Thanks for all the replies I really do appreciate it. I serviced the transmission (flush/exchange) and also replaced the fuel filter this weekend. Problem is still there. Its definitely a cop misfiring. I have a good friend that is the fixed operations manager at a Ford Dealership. Ford actually makes a program that runs on a laptop, that you connect via serial cable to OBDCII port. It reads cylinder head temps in all the cylinders and from there they can determine which cop is acting up.

I am taking the truck in this week. Unless I find a developer on-line that sells an ODBC II scan software that will read domestic ford units. Which all communicate on Fords SAE J1850 PWM. Then I'll buy the software and trouble shoot the truck myself further.

 

Thanks for getting back. Interesting.

Perhaps you could try an infrared thermometer and see if there is a cool cylinder. It shows up really easy on a header, not sure on an exhaust manifold. But, you could aim right around where the exhaust is on the head.

look for a cool cylinder.