2010 F-150 - 5.4 engine stalls/Gas to E out of whack
07-25-2011, 02:56 PM
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2010 F-150 - 5.4 engine stalls/Gas to E out of whack
I just thought of it today - this all started 2 days after I hooked up a trailer to the 4 prong trailer plug for the first time.
Last sunday was the first sign of trouble. I was going across town to pick up something - distance, approx 30 km. When I left home the 'distance to E' showed 96km. More than enough to at least get there and fuel on my way back.
Everything is normal until the 80km to E warning comes on. Then the number drops like crazy, every 200-300 meters it drops 1-2 km - even when stopped at a light, it drops 2 or 3 KM. After approx 10km since the 80km to E warning came on, the truck stalls in a typical manner a truck would when it runs out of gas. I was on the highway when this occured.
After a minute or two, I try for fun to start up the truck again, it does and i managed to drive to a gas station to fuel up. When I fuel up, the gauge is not quite at the F - and after a few KM it drops to 3/4 full (I just filled it to the brim).
But wait, there's more!
My wife had to do a long trip with the truck on the following Tuesday. Suspecting a gas gauge issue, I warned her to keep the tank full to avoid issues. On the way up - no problem. On the way back she had just filled the tank and the truck would not start, it would turn and turn but wouldn't catch. She mentionned that while all the gauges does their 'reset' (like when you start the truck everytime), the oil gauge did not move. I suggested she check the oil level just in case. She did, it was a little low, but nothing that would prevent it to start, she still added 1 litre of oil. The truck managed to start and she had no more trouble all the way back.
Next day, wednesday, going into work, 3 times, the truck stalled on me when I stopped at a stop sign or traffic light. The engine would just putted out and the oil pressure light would come on. Samething on my way back from work (my commute to work is 16km one way). The truck would start almost right away after I stalled. Just as I was pulling into my driveway the Check engine light turned on.
Not wanting the risk any further damage, and because Ford was paying, I got the truck towed to the dealership on Thursday - I mentionned the stalling problem, gas gauge issue, and also ask for a slightly overdue oil change (2000km over due), maybe the dirty oil was the problem. When I drove the truck in their garage (from the back of the towing flatbed), the check engine light was still on.
The dealer changed the oil, did an update for the fuel gauge issue and could not reproduce the stalling/not starting issue and claimed there was no check engine light on and no codes in the memory. Left it at that. Truck ran fine on my ride home Thursday night.
Friday AM - I left home I had 102km To E displayed. So on my way to work I once again hit the 80 km to E warning and the KM were disappearing fast. On top of that, she stalled on me again, with the oil light turning on. This time I was prepared, I used my blackberry to take a video of it for the remainder of my ride down the street on my way back to the dealership. It stalled once again and in my 3 minutes video, the KM to E started at 62KM and it ended at 47KM to E. Showed the mechanic the video... I guess just to prove I am not making it up more than anything.
The electrical specialist there spent all day Friday trying to reproduce the stalling - he could not. He only suspected the O2 sensor could be the issue. I talked to some friends that are a little mechanically inclined, and they said the O2 sensor malfunction wouldn't really cause it to stall like that. It would run more rough, but not really stall.
Monday AM (this AM) he changed the O2 sensor. I picked it up at lunch today, it didn't stall. But still seem to have the KM to E issue. I left the dealer it was at 174km to E (they put in fuel since it was low when I dropped it off Friday AM). When I pulled into work, it is at 132km to E (my work is probably 15 KM from the dealership. Quite a small discrepency there.
I've searched online and couldn't find any examples similar to the stalling & oil light coming on. All the fuel gauge / KM to E issues were of the gauge readings going up and down randomly - my issue is it seems to drop really quick - but never comes back up.
TL/DR; Truck stalled a few times while stopping - oil light came on. Also the 'KM to E' seems to drop quite fast near the end of the tank. Dealer can't reproduce it, replaced 02 sensor for stalling issue, although been told that couldn't be the problem. KM to E still an issue.
Last sunday was the first sign of trouble. I was going across town to pick up something - distance, approx 30 km. When I left home the 'distance to E' showed 96km. More than enough to at least get there and fuel on my way back.
Everything is normal until the 80km to E warning comes on. Then the number drops like crazy, every 200-300 meters it drops 1-2 km - even when stopped at a light, it drops 2 or 3 KM. After approx 10km since the 80km to E warning came on, the truck stalls in a typical manner a truck would when it runs out of gas. I was on the highway when this occured.
After a minute or two, I try for fun to start up the truck again, it does and i managed to drive to a gas station to fuel up. When I fuel up, the gauge is not quite at the F - and after a few KM it drops to 3/4 full (I just filled it to the brim).
But wait, there's more!
My wife had to do a long trip with the truck on the following Tuesday. Suspecting a gas gauge issue, I warned her to keep the tank full to avoid issues. On the way up - no problem. On the way back she had just filled the tank and the truck would not start, it would turn and turn but wouldn't catch. She mentionned that while all the gauges does their 'reset' (like when you start the truck everytime), the oil gauge did not move. I suggested she check the oil level just in case. She did, it was a little low, but nothing that would prevent it to start, she still added 1 litre of oil. The truck managed to start and she had no more trouble all the way back.
Next day, wednesday, going into work, 3 times, the truck stalled on me when I stopped at a stop sign or traffic light. The engine would just putted out and the oil pressure light would come on. Samething on my way back from work (my commute to work is 16km one way). The truck would start almost right away after I stalled. Just as I was pulling into my driveway the Check engine light turned on.
Not wanting the risk any further damage, and because Ford was paying, I got the truck towed to the dealership on Thursday - I mentionned the stalling problem, gas gauge issue, and also ask for a slightly overdue oil change (2000km over due), maybe the dirty oil was the problem. When I drove the truck in their garage (from the back of the towing flatbed), the check engine light was still on.
The dealer changed the oil, did an update for the fuel gauge issue and could not reproduce the stalling/not starting issue and claimed there was no check engine light on and no codes in the memory. Left it at that. Truck ran fine on my ride home Thursday night.
Friday AM - I left home I had 102km To E displayed. So on my way to work I once again hit the 80 km to E warning and the KM were disappearing fast. On top of that, she stalled on me again, with the oil light turning on. This time I was prepared, I used my blackberry to take a video of it for the remainder of my ride down the street on my way back to the dealership. It stalled once again and in my 3 minutes video, the KM to E started at 62KM and it ended at 47KM to E. Showed the mechanic the video... I guess just to prove I am not making it up more than anything.
The electrical specialist there spent all day Friday trying to reproduce the stalling - he could not. He only suspected the O2 sensor could be the issue. I talked to some friends that are a little mechanically inclined, and they said the O2 sensor malfunction wouldn't really cause it to stall like that. It would run more rough, but not really stall.
Monday AM (this AM) he changed the O2 sensor. I picked it up at lunch today, it didn't stall. But still seem to have the KM to E issue. I left the dealer it was at 174km to E (they put in fuel since it was low when I dropped it off Friday AM). When I pulled into work, it is at 132km to E (my work is probably 15 KM from the dealership. Quite a small discrepency there.
I've searched online and couldn't find any examples similar to the stalling & oil light coming on. All the fuel gauge / KM to E issues were of the gauge readings going up and down randomly - my issue is it seems to drop really quick - but never comes back up.
TL/DR; Truck stalled a few times while stopping - oil light came on. Also the 'KM to E' seems to drop quite fast near the end of the tank. Dealer can't reproduce it, replaced 02 sensor for stalling issue, although been told that couldn't be the problem. KM to E still an issue.
07-25-2011, 07:46 PM
#4
Senior Member
Please realize that when the truck stalls, the engine stops turning and thus oil pump stops pumping... and voila oil pressure drops to 0. I see lots of people notice this when the engine stalls and right away go to thinking there is an oil problem. It's no different than turning the key to on with the engine off... that oil light better be on, otherwise it is not working.
Whatever your problem, it is not oil related in any way.
As for the the Distance to Empty feature... it's never going to be spot on. It is normal to go down as you sit stopped... after all, the engine is burning fuel while sitting at that red light and that means less fuel to drive on. If it never changed, you could theoretically sit at the red light all day long with a start of 200km to empty 8 hours later still have it say 200km to empty. It should go down as you sit at the red light. It will also go down faster if you start doing more city driving after you have done a lot of highway driving. It is all based on your average fuel economy after some past distance traveled.
As far as the stalling, that sucks. I don't know what to tell you other than just keep having it towed everytime it dies, say you are afraid to drive it because it could stall while merging into traffic and you fear for your life. Eventually the dealer or Ford will be forced to take care of it; they will be sick of having it towed.
Whatever your problem, it is not oil related in any way.
As for the the Distance to Empty feature... it's never going to be spot on. It is normal to go down as you sit stopped... after all, the engine is burning fuel while sitting at that red light and that means less fuel to drive on. If it never changed, you could theoretically sit at the red light all day long with a start of 200km to empty 8 hours later still have it say 200km to empty. It should go down as you sit at the red light. It will also go down faster if you start doing more city driving after you have done a lot of highway driving. It is all based on your average fuel economy after some past distance traveled.
As far as the stalling, that sucks. I don't know what to tell you other than just keep having it towed everytime it dies, say you are afraid to drive it because it could stall while merging into traffic and you fear for your life. Eventually the dealer or Ford will be forced to take care of it; they will be sick of having it towed.
