Hey I'm new here, and I've been searching for awhile and can't seem to find anything that matches what has been happening to my truck. I'm going to keep on looking after I post this, but I'm hoping this might expedite my results a bit.

My issues:

Truck started just fine this morning, was driving for about 15 minutes and it started to lose power going up a gradual incline. I didn't even think of it really and so I just pushed the pedal in a bit and no increase in power, in fact it bogged down. I let up and went back to the gas and same thing. This was barely pressing the pedal down. I got to the top of the incline and started back down a bit and gained speed (dropped from 55-60 to 40 at the crest) up to 55, hit level ground and started to lose power again, and it felt for the life of me like the truck was fighting for every ounce of power it could get. Everytime I would step on it it would bog down again. I nursed it to an appointment I had, and when I got done with that I started back home. Same thing. It would accelerate from a stop up to 30 (I've always been a laid back accelerater) and when I would read 35-45 it would start to dog again. I got it back home.

2nd issue: On the way home I had to stop at a highway crossing on a slight inline. There the truck started to shudder a bit. and if I would just touch the gas pedal it would bog down. I played with it a bit and got it to rev a bit. put it in reverse got away from the intersection and let it idle a bit when It died. started right back up, no problem. would play with the accelerator and same thing, it kept *******. I finally got it to rev a bit and 2 footed it back home slipping from neutral to drive.

Like I said I'm going to keep searching, and keep looking back at this thread. If anything else comes back to me, or if a post jogs something in my memory I'll try to respond as quickly as i can.

Thanks,

Deuce.

 

Oil levels look good in the engine and transmission? Does it run fine while in Park or Neutral?

Does it do this only when warm or cold or both?

 

Oil levels are good. When I got home I had it in park and played with the accelerator a bit and it kept wanting to dog down. I could play with it to get it revving eventually, but too much play on the pedal and it would bog.

It seemed to run fine while cold, then after 15 minutes initially, and 5 or so the second time it started to act up.

 

sounds like a fuel pump going bad but thats my guess.

 

Need to have the fuel pressure regulator checked.

 

Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll be checking stuff out tomorrow and over the weekend.

 

Well I haven't had time to do anything yet. School/work/ and very sick kid have kept me away from the truck. Hopefully will have some time this weekend. again thanks guys.

 

The fuel filter would be my first thought it definitly can reduce power.

 

I used to see quite a few 4.6L T-birds with those symptoms. They would run smooth but had lousy acceleration. It was a problem with the MAF sensor.
This was in a Dealership so we just replaced the MAF, but I've always thought a cleaning may have fixed them.
It would be worth a try on your truck.

 

Forgive me for bringing this up as it's out of your reach right now but a good scanner (not a reader) to look at the operating data will give the clue as to what is going on.
A scanner in the hands of someone who knows what they are looking at will get to the root of the issue quite fast and save a lot of hassle..
Good luck.

 

One of the features on the modular motor family introduces in 97, is the ability to run broke. Your engine has the ability to shut down a bank of cylinders if something is wrong with one of them but still have the other four run. This gives you the ability to limp home and not leave you stranded on the side of the road. This would explain your trouble trying to climb hills. If this is what is happening your truck should be throwing codes and the engine will not sound normal.

 

It should also throwing a blinking check engine/service engine light when this is happening. This is only normally done on overheat conditions if I recall though.

 

I had a problem similar to this and my cat was clogging, when it is running rough go back and see how much exhaust you have coming out.

 

It's a hassle to determine if the cats are blocked.
Here is a way to test.
Weld a nut of proper size to the head pipe before the cats.
Drill a small hole in the middle.
Attach a metal tube with a fitting that will screw into the nut for a seal with the tube sticking into the head pipe.
Connect a vacuum gage to the metal pipe via a hose.
Start the motor and observe the gage needle movement (in reverse of vacuum or positive pressure) use a gage that doesnot have a zero stop pin so you can see it move.
If the needle moves more than about the equivilent of 2 psi at some engine speed above idle, you are likely to have a restricted cat.
Otherwise a removal of both head pipes and a road run would give you a hint.
Best to make the effort to be sure because a cat system is pretty salty in price to guess at.

 

Oops.
Responded to the wrong post.