halbert

Hello All;

Well----this one's got me baffled.

I have a '94 F-150 4 X 4----four wheel drive temporarily out of service--so it's running on 2 wheel drive----with a straight 6 cyl (4.9 L?)

About 2 months ago, I got myself into a low grassy spot in the middle of nowhere (stupid thing to do, I know), and in order to climb out of it, I had to over rev the engine--spinning tires and all. On the way home, I had to climb a very steep section of paved road. About half way up, I started pushing clouds of blue smoke out into the slipstream. Kinda figured that my grassy spot adventure had blown the engine. Then---smoke stopped, but engine was running about half power. Got home (barely), and found the transmission didn't want to go into gear---felt like it was slipping. Checked trans fluid----off the stick----added 4 qts of trans fluid, and trans was fine (this truck does not have a vacuum canister on the auto trans).

So---I can start the truck----no smoke----no popping in the exhaust----nice, smooth idle that it occasionally departs downward from and sometimes stalls---but only occasionally. Can drive it, too---but as I give it the gas, it hesitates--almost like the vac advance isn't working (new distributor is installed)--and if I give it less gas when this happens, the hesitation goes away, only to return if I give it more gas (as in floor it).

I had a mechanic whose opinion I value tell me to bang on the catalytic converter to see if I fried it. I did. I didn't hear any junk rattling inside when I hit it with the hammer.

This has been a great truck----wherever I go, folks comment on how great it looks----lots of them want to buy it(!) HOWEVER----I can't use it right now because of this problem, and I really need to be able to use it.

Can anyone give me some direction/hope?

Thanks for listening.

Take care.

Hal

Marc D

If it's an automatic, it's possible your transmission boiled over and pushed trans fluid out of the relief valve and onto the exhaust causing the blue smoke. Once it cooled no more smoke. The loss of power could be the slipping of the bands in the transmission OR the electronic shift solenoid has put the motor in "limp mode" only allowing you minimal speed to get home. Check the trans fluid for a burnt smell or brown color (on the dipstick) It should be bright red.

halbert

Thank you, Marc. I'll check the condition of the trans fluid. Is the electronic shift solenoid inside or outside of the transmission, and is it possible to test it?

Thanks again.

Take care.

Hal

Marc D

There are actually several solenoids on the trans. One is mounted near the rear tailshaft and at least 1 inside, that requires dropping the pan. If you can find the trans code on the door tag and Google it there are some great images that can help you pinpoint them. I wish I could tell you how to test them but I don't know. I think you need a tranny shop for that. Sorry

HeatherB1685

My '94 is 5.8 automatic is doing the same thing. It acted identical and blew out the transmission fluid as i was trying to get it home, smoked grey/blue smoke and lost power, barely got it up my driveway as I live on a steep inclined driveway. I put transmission fluid back in transmission..it seems fine now. I strongly believe the culprit is the catalytic converter. If you motor cant breath properly as it needs to in order to REV at full strength and not stall, it needs a clean exaust. If the air cannot escape properly (Through the catalytic converter) then it cannot intake air correctly which will suffocate a motor. Mine is very clogged and I am now in the process of taking mine off and redoing my exhaust system. I will update you when I find out if this fixes mine or not and I'll watch for your update....Thanks for sharing!!