brandxn

Good afternoon/morning people of the F150 forums,

First of all I would like to say thank you to everyone that contributes to these forums as they have been helping me out a good deal this month or two with the issues that I have been having with my 2005 5.4l with 185k on it. This past week the truck is been giving me an issue that I can not seem to figure out, so I thought I would come on here and see if anyone else had similar issue with their truck, and I would to thank anyone who takes the time out to read this and contribute if they have anything to add.
So the issues starting happening about a month in a half ago when I was leaving a jobsite and I got about a mile down the road and came to a stop when the truck started to shake a bit, rpm gauge was bobbing up and down a little, and I went to take off and had a major loss of power and it eventually stalled out about 500 feet down the road along with a flashing CEL. At this point I was able to start it back up, turn around and slowly wheel back to the jobsite where it got parked at night. The next day put a code reader on it and it had multiple codes as well as every cylinder on the driver side misfiring. My dad had took a look at the first batch of codes and seen something about the cam and something else. I know that we replaced the cam position sensor and two other sensors that I cannot remember to save to my life right now. Anyway we tried that and that did not do the trick and it was still running like crap, but it would actually stay idling very rough, and not die out like it would yesterday. Now at this point it was throwing the exact codes from this post on a different website https://www.fordf150.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=74480. It took me awhile to find that post searching all over the internet, and ultimately it was a VVT solenoid that needed to be changed and it made the problem go away up until now, minus needing a alternator three weeks ago that went out. Also I should add that all the plugs and injectors were changed out 2 and a half years ago because of a different problem that left me broke down, and has been reliable up until a month and a half ago.
Now here this week is where I am being left stumped and not knowing what to do. I am by no means a mechanic and I know that I am from that, but I do like to do things myself if I can, and forums like these allow me to do that. Anyway, last Friday everything was good until later in the evening when I went to take off from my house after driving all day with no issues. As soon as I started the truck I noticed a rough idle feeling again and seen the rpm gauge bobbing up and down a little bit and knew something was up. I went and grabbed the scanner and drove around the block waiting for something to happen. Sure enough I felt it cut out with a loss a power and the CEL came on, cylinder 2 misfire. Driving back home it was very rough at low RPMs and if you set the cruise it vibrate\buck\ feel like you were driving on tiny speed bumps the whole time until you let off the gas, then it would smooth out until coming to a stop where the idle would be rough/weak. My first thought was its gotta be the VVT solenoid since its having similar issues to last months issue, and it’s on the opposite side of the issues last month. I drove about 35ish miles before getting that part on it was rough idle at stops, chugging like feeling while driving at steady speeds, not full power while accelerating, and a the CEL coming on and off always for cylinder 2. I got around to swapping that part and it made a 50/50 difference it seemed like. Sometimes it was rough, then it felt like it would kick itself in the butt and it was fine. I drove for maybe 10 miles or so and thought it probably was the coil. I put a new coil on and took it for a 10 mile test drive on slow roads, as well as the highway and everything was great and no more check engine light! Came home and let it idle in the driveway smoothly for a few minutes before shutting it off and changing the oil. I got around the changing the oil and when I went to move it out of the drive way the issue was back again... The next day I did some research and went ahead and cleaned the MAF as well as taking the throttle body off and giving it a proper cleaning, there was a good amount of black grime built up so I figured that was causing an issue. Also ran seafoam through and then filled up with premium for the heck of it. Got it back on and the issue of rough idle at stops, chugging\vibration like feeling while driving at steady speeds, not full power while accelerating was still present. At this point I had to let it be because I was/am in the process of moving out and had lots of stuff to haul. While driving the CEL was not on until probably 50 miles of driving, then it came on and it was cylinder 2 of course still. That day I put on close to 200 miles with cylinder 2 misfiring the whole day, driving back and forth. The truck never once stalled on me, and has yet to stall on me. The past morning on start up in threw a new code of the bank 2 being too lean, that made me think it could be a failing injector. I swapped the injector with a new one, as well as changing the plug with new Motorcraft. Started it up and I believe it was a little bit better, but still the same old problem persist. I drove back home and at first it seemed like the rough idle was still, but when I was up to speed it was smoothed out for a short period of time, I am not sure if that was entirely the case though.
Now this is the last part of this novel, but it gets weird. I was sitting at a stop light and something told me to put it neutral and rev it to the moon for the heck of it for a second or two. I’m assuming that’s not great for it but it and when the RPMs came back down it was idling smooth as it ever as… I took off from the stop light and it was driving perfect. I drove around for a little bit and it was like nothing ever happened. Now this morning I started it up and it seemed to be just fine, I went inside for 5 minutes and came back out to it idling rough again. On the way to work it was having the rough idle at stops, chugging\vibration like feeling while driving at steady speeds, not full power while accelerating issues again and I decided to put it in neutral and rev it up again to 5k. Behold when it came back down it was smooth and all great again for a few minutes. I hit a few stop lights and everything was great. Then at the next one, once the RPMs came down from driving, it went rough again. I did the revving up thing a few times during the commute and had the exact same results every time. This is where I am stuck at now and not sure how to move forward with this issue. CEL is always cylinder 2 and nothing else. Revving it to the moon for a second or two seems to make it do something and run good for a while.

If anyone has had this issue or knows of someone, or anything about this incredibly weird thing going on, I appreciate all suggestions and anyone that took the time to read that abnormally long post.

Martian

1) What brand alternator?
2) What brand plugs and injectors?
3) Have you done the other basics, such as fuel filter and air filter replacement?
4) What does your exhaust smell like? What does your oil look like?


What I'm thinking... and these are just possibilities...
Bad brand plugs.
Bad brand COPs. (Both of these are incredibly common with newbs, and I'm not trying to sound insulting)
Fuel filter clogged.
Bad replacement alternator. (These trucks prefer Motorcraft and no other)
Possibly an injector stuck open.
Cheap VVT solenoid.
Timing chain tensioner / guide broken.
CAT clogged.

BadFish523

I agree starting with what Martian suggested. Also very well written thread with a good description of your problems and many details. Well done sir.

brandxn

Thank you for the quick replies!

The alternator brand is whatever the most expensive one advanced auto has that is not motorcraft, because they did not have that in stock I'm assuming as it was not offered to me. To be honest I do not know the brand, but I do know it was brand new, and not a remanufacture, I will have to look when I get home.

I believe the spark plugs are auto lite, I recall seeing that name on the one I took out last night. The injectors are DWD, BWB, something with a WB I seen on the box last night. I have to assume that's what they are because the new one looks just like the old ones in there.

Fuel filter was replaced last month, but I had not replaced the air filter, I have only ever hit it with air.

The exhaust I would have to say smells normal? It hasn't given off too much of a different stench to notice anything I suppose. And I have not looked at the oil since I changed it on Sunday actually...

Also when I bought the truck with 132k give or take miles on it, it was doing the ticking noise sounding like a diesel truck, and got that taken care of $2k later. I am not entirely sure, but I do believe it did consist of changing the Timing chain tensioner as well as a few other things that are known to go bad on these which you learn about after you buy the truck.

By the sounds of it, I am learning that motorcraft parts are the only way to go with these trucks and I might really be in a hole now.. Thank you again for the reply with those suggestions.

Martian

Motorcraft is USUALLY the way to go, most definitely, but there are some areas where you can skip that rule. Let's start with the plugs. We will work through this one part at a time so we can find the actual problem. Get those plugs out of there and replace them with Motorcraft SP-515, torqued to 25-28ft/lbs. I suggest going the full 28. They do like to back themselves out. Anti-seize is optional, but if you use it, use nickel.

brandxn

I am going to start with that. Hopefully the removal for all eight goes as smooth as the one did last night, knowing the plug removal on these trucks could go south real quick. Apart from torqueing properly, anything else I should do prior to the install/ while installing?

Thanks again!

Martian

It wouldn't kill you to also take the coils apart, since they'll be off anyway. By that I mean pull the boots off, make sure the springs are "screwed" all the way up into the coil. Then apply some dielectric grease around the coil where the boot slips over and pop the boots back on. Then put some more grease on the bottom of the boot, up inside, so when it pops back onto the plug, there's a good water / airtight seal created by the boot end and the grease.

brandxn

So my dad and I went ahead and did spark plug refresh getting rid of the AutoLite brand with Motorcraft. We also changed the the throttle position sensor just for the heck of it because of the weird revving situation we have got going on, thinking maybe it could be linked to that in some way.

Anyways, after the swap we are where we were a few hours ago. My dad has a buddy who has the exact same truck and who was also having similar symptoms in his truck a year or two back. He tried everything, and long story short his fuel pump module was bad and it was causing these type of issues. This guy swore this was our problem so we took the spare tire off and changed that as well as cleaning up of the rust and swapped it out. No luck.

I wish I could try a different VVT solenoid (or any other part for the matter) because I have a feeling it could be a cheap. But who knows...

I noticed on start ups when the RPMs are a little higher, and even when they are not when its warmed up, it seems like it idles fair for a few seconds, then goes downhill. I also noticed it dumps a good amount of liquid out of the tail pipe in the when its idling in the driveway on start up and leaves a decent sized puddle. I dont think it dumps water while I am driving.

BadFish523

Have you tried new boots and springs on the coils?

BadFish523

Also maybe a plugged cat?