04 5.4L stalling, sometimes no start
 

Hello, a friend has a 2004 F150 5.4 3V, 4WD, AT that I'm trying to figure out for him. This might get a little long & sorry for that, but over the weekend it stalled on him (engine at operating temp) & restarted fine, but the engine light was on- ran fine though. He got it home where it stalled again & wouldn't restart. Later in the day it started up fine & he attempted to drive it to my shop. When he stopped at an intersection a few miles away it died again & wouldn't restart. We went up maybe 10 minutes later & it fired up, but died in less than 30 seconds. When it does run, it runs & sounds great. Here's a quick history because A LOT has been done to the truck recently.

Truck has 208K & last fall a timing chain guide broke. He assumed it was a phaser making noise & because of his negligence & continuing to drive it, the chain wore into & through the front cover. The aluminum shavings from wear on the cover ruined the bearings & engine. We ended up putting in a reman engine which we got running last week. Quite a number of other parts were needed including 9 wire connectors pigtails. It ran like a top & after start-up break in, fluid checks, & a 15-20 miles test drive he took off for home. He put about 100-150 miles on it before it stalled on him with a check engine light afterwards.

Saturday morning is when he tried driving it over. After we got it to the shop I ran diagnostics & found it had 11 DTCs. Here's the list.
P0119- Eng coolant temp circuit intermittent
P0320- Ignition/ Distributor engine speed input circuit
P0354- Ign. coil D primary/ secondary circuit
P0357- Ign. coil G primary/ secondary circuit
P0606- ECM/ PCM processor
P1000- OBD systems readiness test not complete
P1235- Fuel pump control out of range (FPDM)
P2004- Intake manifold runner control stuck open (bank 1)
P2105- Throttle actuator control system- forced engine shutdown
P2106- Throttle act. cont. sys- forced limited power
P2107- Throttle act. cont. module processor

Cleared all the codes to start fresh & most of the time it will fire up & run nicely, but seems like it stalls when the transmission is put into gear. Then it generally doesn't restart until left set for a while. It'll crank just fine, but not fire. I've noticed that when cranking on it the tach doesn't move. Once or twice while cranking on it, the tach all of the sudden jumped up & it would fire & die. Other times the tach moves & the truck starts & runs fine- until putting it in gear. This morning I held the throttle just a touch above idle & put it in gear. It didn't seem to stall until the RPM came back down to idle- then it died. I checked the fuel pump driver module & found it's falling apart so changed it hoping (but not expecting) it to take care of the problem. Still operates the same way. Since clearing the codes saturday, the engine light goes off & stays off when it runs. I ran codes again today & the only one I got was P1000. I've looked at all the wire plugs to see if anything has come loose & can't find anything. I also checked wiring behind the plastic cover on the frame under driver's seat to see if problems- nothing. I'm kinda wondering if the crank sensor might be acting up & causing the problem. Reason I say this is because of the lack of tach signal when it doesn't run. Not sure though- it's got me puzzled. Would anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on this? Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

while reading your story, the fuel module and the crank sensor came to mind......... Then I got to the last two sentences. Guess I would lean toward the crank sensor. I have heard of several going bad, and multiple codes after that.

With as many "electrical" oriented codes as you have, I believe I would be suspious of a ground connection somewhere. Especially if the engine compartment has been washed or lives in a humid / corrosive environment.


Knowing that computers and electronic stuff needs a very good ground reference to work well - and not knowing which one would effect what - I removed every ground lug I could find on my '04 5.4 3v Lariat (about seven of them) and cleaned them with a brass brush.


I can't say it necessarily cured any of my issues - but I wanted to eliminate one variable that can cause many obscure symptoms. However in your case it is one thing that is common to many of your different issues - and it is not as expensive as throwing parts at your truck. That can even break a window!!!! Lol


Good Luck

Thanks for the replies. This morning I put in a new crank sensor & got the same results- fired right up & then died about 30 seconds later.

Seeing as how we just had the engine & harness out I'm guessing all the grounds are connected well, but that may be the next thing to check anyways- just to be sure. Thanks again.

Well I found the problem. 1 of the transmission cooler lines had rubbed against & through the coating on the 5 volt reference wire going to the engine oil temp sensor in the pan. It appears the lines had been bent by someone in the past & the support bracket left off. Wire must have settled just right & got pinched. The reference wire is spliced in to supply many of the other sensors too which explains numerous codes. I have the wire repaired, the lines moved & supported well, & checked power & grounds to the ECM. All that checks out well now. I can't get 5V out of the ECM though & it's locked in Engine Failsafe Mode too. I've both cleared codes & disconnected the battery, but Failsafe won't clear. Because there's no reference voltage out of the ECM I'm thinking it hurt the computer. Gonna try reflashing it in the morning & I guess if that doesn't work we'll swap ECMs.

The fuel pump module is not under drivers seat area on frame its on x frame under spare tire and if corroded will do strange stuff should be checked