When I purchased my '04 F350 I had some issues with it surging and coughing.
Of course it never did it when it was at the dealership and it never throws a code.
As a result it was a "not able to duplicate" issue and was never corrected.
It is getting pretty regular now. Daily. It still does not throw any codes.
And I can be driving down the street or backing up my driveway. On the level, or up or down hill. Hot weather or cold. Cold defined as 45 degrees around here. 70 MPH or stopped at a stop sign.
So, I am driving along and it suddenly wants to die. Chokes, coughs, sputters. You can feel the engine kick as it almost dies. Then it smooths out. Then later, never the same time span between, it can be 15 seconds or the next day, it does it again.
On other occasions it will suddenly rev up. Like I stepped on the accelerator peddle. Except that the truck has NEVER had this kind of performance. This is always fun. Woooo Hoooo! Then it drops back to normal. Normal being whatever I am doing at the time. Idling at a stop sign, driving down the freeway, backing up the driveway.
Backing up the driveway is the most fun. Backing up is always more intense because you have less control of the vehicle. And backing up is usually some sort of tight maneuver. Then, suddenly, zoom!!!!! You are accelerating towards that trailer. Or, loading dock. Or camping spot.
Any ideas? I have to guess that Ford knows what the problem is but never wanted to address it unless it was provable.
But, as I said, it is more regular now. It use to be only once, twice, or three times a year or so. But now, it is daily.

 

I just went through this very thing. Either you have a harness chafe or you have an injector severly overfueling like I did. It's like someone suddenly gives it a huge shot of nitrous??? Have the dealership run an MFDES test on your injectors, or if you have Auto Engenuity and can shut off the injectors one at a time I'll send you the test to do yourself. If the injector hangs wide open you can melt a piston quickly. It was very very tough to catch the guilty injector as it never left a code on the overfuel. I think the event has to be more than one second. Does it act like it doesn't want to idle down??

One more thing.....an 04 can have an 03 or 04 motor. If the ICP sensor is in the passenger front of the valve cover it's an 04 engine. Or if you have the prodution date. It might be an ICP sensor thing, but that usually leaves a code.

 

MFDES???

I do have the Auto Enginuity.

 

it's a mass fuel desired test. I had to unplug every cylinder individually since I didn't have AE. PM me your email

 

Update...

So, get this. I decided to order a new ICP sensor. In the process I checked the FICM tags for the build date. As per the 6.0 Bible. I found that the tags were old and unreadable. So I decided to get the engine serial number to determine the engines build date. I jacked up the truck, crawled underneath, shined my Mag Light LED light up to where the engine number is supposed to be stamped, and guess what. Another paper tag. The serial number is not stamped into the engine. And the tag was destroyed. When I went to remove some of the dust and grime the ink came right off. So, no serial number.

While under there I saw the front axle tag. It said that the axle was assembled in March of '04. Of course it does not necessarily mean that the engine was not built long before then, I suppose.

But, I learned from another thread that, unlike according to the 6.0 Bible, the ICP is under the alternator. I believe this is another indicator of the engine's age.

The supplier said there may be a part number stamped on the ICP itself. So, I cleaned the part off and there was no number.

NOW, to make a long story longer. While checking for the part number I decided to check out the ICP. I was curios as to what would happen if I disconnected the ICP while the engine was running. So I disconnected it. One burp and the engine continued to run. I disconnected it again but no more burps. So, I turned off the engine. Started the engine again. Disconnected the ICP. One burp and it continued to run. I disconnected it again but no more burps. I repeated the process again. Same results. With the exception that the check engine light came on.

I figured I had no clue what this meant so I plugged the ICP back in and quit for the day.

Yes, I did order the new ICP sensor. It is on it's way. HOWEVER, the truck has been purring like a kitten ever since. It's running like it was designed! I am curious how long this will last.

 

Any oil around the ICP plug or harness? Inside the ICP plug? The truck did what it was supposed to when you unplugged the icp. If you look at the icp sensor values when you unplug it you will see the reading go to a default value. If you ever have a crank/no start condition, the first thing to do is check oil level and unplug the icp and then try to start. If it starts, replace the icp. And the engine serial number should be on the passenger valve cover.

 

Thanks, good info.

Nope, no leaking oil.

Passenger valve cover. Anywhere in particular? Stamped? Or another paper tag?

There is the International label. It reads.....

International 2004
2044 6.0DIT Engine Family
4NVXHO6.0AED
Model A325C

 

the engine s/n is in fact stamped on the back of the block were the paper tag was. you just cant really see it. you can try the paper and crayon trick assuming you can get your hand up there.

there is also away to get the orig. engine s/n from oasis that the truck came with wich would be the same if the enigne has never been changed.

 

So when the dealership said that they could not tell me the engine serial number, or if it was an early engine or not from the VIN they were "wrong"?

I will have to look into this Oasis stuff.

It seemed to me that when I told them that the ICP was under the alternator and not on the rear of the engine they would have known if it was an early build or not.

I just picked up the PDF of the 04 model year, my year, 6.0L "Bible' and it showed the engine I have.

Do you happen to know if there was an "early" '04 and a "late" '04?

 

If your ICP sensor is under the alternator as you describe, your truck is a LATE-BUILD 2004 model year truck (built after September 29th, 2003).

For what it's worth, I've had a couple LATE-BUILD 2004 model year trucks that exhibited similar symptoms to what you describe. And funny enough, I would end up wasting my time, riding shotgun with the customer driving, in an attempt to recreate the symptom in vain.

Although not the strategy I like to approach with any repair, an ICP sensor was my "guess" and it SEEMED to fix their trucks.

 

When it was new I gave the truck to the dealership for a few days with the understanding that a tech would keep it, take it home, drive it around, use it for a few days. A fews days went by and I finally just took it back. "No problems found".

I sure hope it was just that this connection was loose. We shall see. It has been running sweetly since I played with the ICP connector.

I got the new ICP from a dealership today but I am going to wait to install it and see how long this sweetness lasts. Then I will check the connection again. If/when it acts up again.

 

As a follow up.

I have not installed the new ICP I got. It has been a month and a half since my last post. The truck has been running good since I disconnected and reconnected the ICP plug.

It has gone this long in the past and then suddenly it would act up again. But at this point it seems to be running well simply because I played with the plug at the ICP.