Hey all, newb here. Hopefully I can find someone here or get some ideas of where to go to get my problems solved as I refuse to ask any more dealers to find out whats going on with my truck.

Since day one it has run like crap. A roush ford dealer installed the package upon my purchase, so charger was installed at less than 100 miles. Immediatley I hated it. It ran horribly. I took it back to the dealer several times, but as todays service dept works, if its not pullin codes then it must be running fine. From the day of delivery to 29k miles, I could do 45mph, put the pedal to the floor and the truck would miss, backfire gurgle, NEVER down shift, and 2 out of 5 times it would stall. I finally took it to a different roush dealer and they found a broken spark plug, a bad coil and a leaky fuel injector. WOOHOO, my problems are solved!!!! NO, they only got a little better. The truck still hesitates if you stomp it from anything but a dead stop, and even from a dead stop, when shifting into 2nd (auto tranny) its very often falls off all power and doesnt want to go until you get off it and back on it again.. and not without gurrgling and backfires. After having it in countless times for service as to why it runs poorly, and even having a Ford service manager taking the truck for a week, it has never been determined what is wrong. Well, now I have more issues.... I was away for 11 days and when I returned home, I started the truck, it ran fine for about 30 seconds, then in ran very rough and died. It started back up w/ no problems, then ran rough and died again. Once it has run a few minutes it will stay running, but at idle, not well. It has 52k on it. I replaced the fuel filter and have no difference. My extended warranty Im not concerned with, however, being that Roush thinks its cool to only allow warranties up to 36k.. I have a feeling Im into some expense to make this POS run .. well at least as crappy as it did before.

Unfortunately I am stuck with it as the economy has taken my job nearly a year ago here in FL. So yeah I could get rid of it, but Id have to get a 73 beetle so I could pay cash.... although, the beetle would run better.. probably faster too.

Any ideas, tips wisdom, ideas on where to take it near the central west coast of FL for some real diagnostic and possibly correct tuning???

Its very unfortunate because it REALLY put a bad feeling about Roush in me. Never again!

Thanks for any and all help,
Scott

Sorry for the novel.

Just realized there is a Roush, SVT, etc forum.. Sorry if I put this in the wrong spot.

 

tons of guys have had good luck with roush.....someone here should be able to get you some answers

 

I just have to go with my first gut answer after reading your post. It almost sounds to me like the dealership never sent the PCM to Roush to be programmed for the supercharger.

When you get on it after 2000 rpm (when you start to hear the charger bypass close) does it start to run really bad? It also seems like the PCM lost or never was programmed to make the fuel/MAF adjustments correctly for the extra boost. I would have the dealership reset the PCM back to factory then send it directly to Roush for reprogramming.

 

Or better yet send it to Mike Troyer, the guy who originally did the programming for Roush who knows how to get even more out of it!

 

+1 Sounds like your PCM was never programmed for it.

 

I contacted Jim Farinacci at Roush a couple weeks ago. He did verify for me that the PCM was sent from the dealer and they have record via my VIN of the programming. whether its right or not is another story.... But yes, I agree, to me it seems as if it a mixture problem.

Tell me about this MIke Troyer? How do I get in contact with him?

 

I just contaced via email Troyer Performance

 

Before changing the ECU parameters, I'd go over the system with a fine tooth comb and look for any vacuum leaks. Sucking air in from an undesired location because of a leaking vacuum line, or intake gasket could also explain your troubles.

 

As Gearbanger suggested, I went over the entire system w/ a fine tooth comb. I printed out parts of the roush installation manual, ie the vacuum installation, Solenoid bypass wiring etc. All seems to be in line. The 2nd, and better, Roush dealer I took it to that found many of the problems before, stated at that time, the bypass solenoid wiring was bad and they reconnected it. I checked that out.. still doesnt look like a great connection, but non the less it is connected and has continuity across the connector.

After 30 minutes of poking around, I did the ol "give everything a lil wiggle", that always seems to fix something. Then I found something interesting. On top of all the plugs lies the coil packs, each has a electrical plug that plugs in on top off to the side. All of them feel tight EXCEPT, the plug on the back of the engine, driver side. It feels broken.. it easily rocks back and forth. The plug is tight in the socket, the entire electrical connection rocks? That doesnt seem right, especially if the other 7 are solid as a rock.

Perhaps I need a new coil? And if so, how the hell does that break? And lastly, the coils are the factory coils right? That being said, my extended warranty should cover that?

 

I would say so....but not sure if the roush parts are covered...but either way they are not that expensive.

 

Just so we know, do you have the intercooled or non-intercooled version?

 

I have been told that there is a comunication issue with the Ford diagnostic equipment with Roush equipped vehicles. Basically as I understand it when you hook up a vehicle to a Ford machine it will automatically update the PCM to the latest version. This is fine for a stock truck but no good if you have a supercharger, so to prevent this from happening the Roush re-flash prevents the PCM from communicating with the Ford machine. A dealership can get around this by flashing the PCM back to stock, which obviosly wipes the Roush tune. The fact that they can do a diagnostic would suggest that it may have been put back to stock.

I know this as I had some problems with my Roush Harley which involved having a new instrument cluster fitted. The PCM had to be put back to stock in order for the cluster to be "paired" with the truck, then re-programmed by Roush, I have no complaints about my truck's performance whatsoever, it suprises the hell out of most people!

I contacted Troyer when I was told about the communication issue to see what they said & was told it is a well known issue, but it is there to protect the program. They are very helpful & probably the most knowledgeable people you could deal with, I will be getting some tunes from them soon myself.

 

Sorry, Intercooled


Interesting about the re-flash. I dont think its ever been gone into by a dealer that they would have done that. Especially since the problem has really been since day one. I know the dealer I got it from is too much a a Dumb a$$ to know what you can or cannot do via the roush re-program, however, the 2nd dealer, and now the only one I deal with would have known better. BUT... I will certainly ask when Im there tomorrow. Then again, maybe the dealer I purchased it from screwed it up before I got delivery? Ha, wouldnt suprise me one bit.

Is there a way a dealer can check it to see if it still has the Roush program, or would it have to go to someone like Roush or Troyer for that info?

Thanks for that input.

 

Yes, but you need a decent obdii scanner. Preferably one that interfaces with a laptop program like ScanXL. It will tell you which version is flashed to your PCM.

And yes, the spring clip connections on the COPs are easily broken but the connection is usually firm enough to stay on. COPs go bad all the time, however seeing as you've had problems all along it's probably more fundamental to the original install.

If I were you I'd call roush directly and look for a shop they recommend and trust.

 

Please bear in mind that almost anyone can become a Roush dealer, it just means that you can sell their products, I am lucky that the people I use here in the UK are up to speed on this stuff. They also have a good reportoire with Troyer.
You should be able to get your PCM flashed by Roush fairly quickly, we got mine done by return courier, if there is someone local to you they could do it even quicker. That would be the first way I would go as it has been bad from day 1, the only thing that puzzles me is how come you have suffered this for 52K? I would have been on their case way back after spending $5K+ to make it run bad!