So I've had this truck for about 6 months and yesterday when I was driving to work going up a slight grade the truck started hesitating/stuttering while accelerating going up a slight grade. I've had this happen one other time but only for a brief second accelerating at a stop sign. It only lasted for a fraction of a second that time. Yesterday it happened for 30+ seconds until I gassed it hard. Then on the way home it happened again and this time I noticed the CEL flashing. When I got home I hooked up the scanner and it gave my P0303, which on the scanner said Cyl 3 misfire. I was planning on changing the coil pack and plug on that side, and cleaning the MAF sensor to see if that improved it, but wanted to see if anyone else here had a similar problem or might have something I should check or do beforehand?


Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated, this is my daily driver and though I only have about a 10min drive to work I can't afford to be without it.

 

Those are classic misfire symptoms. Very, very common.

You can try just replacing the coil on #3 if money is tight. You can also swap #3 to a different cylinder and see if the code moves with it or if the problem remains with #3, which would obviously then require a different course of action than replacing a coil

 

It may be time for all plugs and boots to be changed . torque plugs 25 to 28 foot pounds. like the man said classic misfires. . plug interval is 60k not 100k now .

 

Depending on mileage the plugs may never have been changed because of "scary to some" 2 piece design. https://www.aa1car.com/library/ford_tsb_08-7-6.pdf
Be careful to follow tsb removal procedure. I myself would crack the plugs loose as requested, add the carb cleaner and let sit overnight.

 

Awesome thanks to all you guys for the help, yeah I might just do all of them and see how that goes. I'm not much of a mechanic but changing spark plugs should be easy enough. Thanks for the idea about carb cleaner, I've heard some people have had issues with plugs breaking and was thinking of ordering the broken plug removal tool, but I would imagine letting it sit overnight they should come out fairly easily.

 

Make sure you have the removal tool and the special spark plug socket. Best chance of getting them out whole is on a warm engine using the impact method.

 

Yes on having the tool on hand , I soaked for 2 days still broke 2 . It all depends if carb cleaner can flow past threads ,its a crap shoot . Don't underestimate the holding power of that carbon and the weak plugs . Changing these plugs are not like a 57 chevy -5 minute job . Torque new plugs in 25 to 28 foot pounds .
Pull pcm and bracket off firewall . Do a hospital clean job .