Shawn Ohlinger

First of all I've been using this board for information for about 2 months now and it has helped me out tremendously thanks for all the info shared on this site!!

Ok I have a 2005 F-150 XLT Crew Cab 5.4 Triton. It had a tune up at 110,000 miles. It now has 169,000k miles. of course the spark plugs broke off in most cylinders but that was then this is now. I've been having serious issues with my truck for about 2 months now and it's my only vehicle and I commute 32 miles to work everyday, this vehicle goes out I have no transportation so it's really stressing me out. I've taken it to the dealership and that was basically useless they tried to charge wayyy too much for parts and work that I did at home myself for way less cost. They charged me 94 bucks just to scan it and tell me I had a bad coil pack on cylinder 8 and my fuel pump drive module was out. Which I've recently fixed and it helped to a certain degree. I'm pretty sure that the symptoms coming up in the scans I've done are coming from a larger problem as my vehicle has so many miles on it that these are just side affects of a bigger problem. It start back in january of this year my truck would start missing between 45mph and 60 mph when the engine was slightly loaded. for example when i lightly push in the gas pedal to maintain my speed going up a hill it will start jerking and losing power (mis-fire?). I have had it scanned repeadetly and only get 1 or 2 codes at a time. After replacing my fuel pump drive module i now consistanly get a high pressure code from my fuel rail pressure sensor. I have had mis-fire codes on cylinders in this order 6,8,1,5 i replace the coil packs and 1 - 2 days later i get a code for one of the other cylinders in the mentioned order. cylinder one read a fuel injector failure and I replaced the fuel injector on that cylinder. Now that i've replaced all of this I'm getting a code for p03550 e-coil failure primary and secondary ????? that is my current problem and the symptoms are more violent mis-fires, and loss of power. Same as the other cylinder mis-fires. Now my engine does have a ticking noise I believe to be coming from the valves on the passenger side of the engine possibly from a bad spring ??? After each time i have done a replacement of a coil pack or the fuel injector and the fuel pump drive module etc...it helps the engine run better but never still alleviates the mis-fire symptoms that go on around the 45-60mph range when going up a hill....Does anyone have any idea what is causing this and if that could be reason for the coil packs going bad as well ????? Each time i replace a coil pack my check engine light comes back on a couple days later with another mis fire code on a different cylinder it has NEVER thrown a code for multiple cylinder mis-fires at one time ???What is going on ? MAP sensor is good, and cats are still ok although I'm sure it's just a matter of time for them as well or perhaps it is time ? I'm ready to just get rid of it. I'm the only owner of the vehicle bought it brand new with 52 miles on it at the dealership, regular oil changes, and was tuned up at 110,000k miles. Broken plugs but 863.00 dollars later that was fixed and no more issues until 154,000k back in january and it's been down hill from there....any suggestions or help will be greatly appreciated. The dealership charged my 94.00 to give me codes that i could have gotten at advanced or auto zone for free what a rip. and tried to charge me $360 + dollars to change cylinder 8 coil pack and my fuel pump drive module which i did myself for alil less than $150.00 bucks and 35 minutes of time on a weekend. Right after changing that 2 days later cylinder 1 mis-fire and cylinder 1 Fuel injector failure codes and i replaced them. Now cylinder 5 mis-fire changed coil pack and now I'm getting a P0335 code for e-coil failure primary and secondary ??? Keep in mind everything I've done calms the engine down for a couple days but the 45-60mph load mis has never gone away...

Shawn Ohlinger

All replacement parts have been factory recommended replacement parts...

Mod (Ret.)

From reading your lengthy post, you've tossed quite a bit of money into the problem(s), and no firm fix has come.

At this time I'd suggest it go to the dealer for the repair, for a couple of reasons: it's your single mode of transportation, and you cannot afford to have it "down". Having a dealer repair it will net you a warranty on the repair; if they don't fix it properly, you have a recourse to return it, and have it repaired at their expense, or proof that it has a new fault that was not the original cause of failure.

You mention you feel the dealer ripped you on a diag test....why didn't you take it to the parts store in the first place that did it for free? This is the fault of the dealer? Remember, they have a decent cost margin to operate a business. You do know you can buy a cheap scanner and read your own codes. Not fair to blame a dealer for charging you money to do a diagnostic read out.

Talk with the service manager and explain your previous repairs. Let them know you have replaced certain parts, have certain OBD II codes. This lets them know you're experienced.
remember, you had them replace the plugs before, and it gave you over 50K of trouble free service. Why not give them the same respect on this trouble?

As the truck gets older, more will begin to possibly fail. Perhaps your idea of trading it in is a good one if this is your only means of transportation. While I'm a big supporter of holding on to vehicles for over 200K, I also have backup transportation if my truck requires it sit for a few days under repair.

Shawn Ohlinger

I still owe on the loan after refinancing money is tight (who can't say that though right?) I would like to keep it until it's paid off there are lots of options. I work 5pm-5am monday through friday. I'm no mechanic always been breaks and oil. This is the first vehicle I've had with coil packs, have never done as much work to any vehicle myself as I have this one. While money and time is short for me. Information I've gained on this forum with others peoples problems similar to mine have helped me to gain the confidence to attempt some of the repairs myself. With the diagnostic scan I feel I was led to the assumption that they could tell me exactly what was causing all of these things to go at once, and they would go into a more in depth look at how my truck was operating, they have a "liasion" for lack of better word between the customer and the mechanic and the lady running the service desk is very pushy, and quite honestly sort of rude. I don't have patience for people like that, but she was the person I consulted with not the mechanic himself. I was a bit upset when all I got was a piece of paper with the diagnostic codes, and had I realised this before hand I would have just had someone else do it. I have friends with the scanners and of course there is advance and auto zone LOL. I have been using those resources ever since the dealership incident. I would prefer to do things myself, but I have limits in my ability, and I believe I am reaching them here....I am going to replace all the remaining coil packs this weekend, however I have my doubts about it being a total fix. I do need another every day driver vehicle though you are right about that a vehicle with 169k is getting up there. I still owe on the loan, and hate to have to trade it in...always said I'd drive it till the wheels fall off I'm just not prepared for them to fall off yet i guess...

Swegner99

That "liason" you refer to is called a service advisor. Thats what I do for a living. Let me tell you, the way the lady at your dealership handled your complaint is ridiculous. You are paying for the diagnostic, you arent paying for the codes on a peice of paper. I agree with Bucko, take your previous invoice back to the dealership and sit down with the service manager. Let him know the situation and that you feel cheated. They will more than likely get it back in, and get you a proper diagnosis, for free.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

You should of replaced all your COP's to began with...with the amount of milage on your truck...I hope your using dielectric grease on the COP's when installing them...and also would look at your Cats...could be the sorce of your mis-fire's...clogged cats will cause mis-fires...good luck with the service advisor..

Shawn Ohlinger

Well I don't know any good time or mileage figures of when coil packs go bad...thought since i was just getting a code a for 1 cylinder mis-fire in the beginning that it was just that coil pack going bad, then after changing it a couple days later it threw a code for another, none of the cylinders that have had changed coil packs have thrown another code, but I never got mis-fires on multiple cylinders at one time it was always just 1 cylinder at a time I've now changed 4 in total and am planning to do the other 4 this weekend if that does'nt work I'm going to get in touch with the dealership, and see how they can help me. I hope its not the catalytics I changed my 02's when I got the lean code (advised by a pretty convincing friend) it made no difference in how the vehicle was performing...Like I said I'm no mechanic I'm just a guy with a tool box. A quickly growing tool box after all this LOL....I have never heard of dielectric grease can you tell me about it ? Can anyone tell me for sure what an E-coil fault on primary and seconday is ? I'm assuming it's the connections to the cylinder 5 coil pack and fuel injector failing ? Want to be sure though.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

Its the conductive grease required to be applied to the COP prior to the installation...this ensures connectivity between the plug and COP. without it you could still generate a mis-fire

kanga2311

If you had that many mis-fires for that long, I can almost guarantee that your one or more cats are bad. you could tap on the cats to see if they rattle, which would meen the honeycomb inside is broken. I don't think your cops are causing this problem. However, go to autozone and get some di-electric grease. Use it liberally inside the cop boots when it goes on the spark plug. It is a must when you do a spark plug change on the 5.4L. Good luck.

Mod (Ret.)

I've been following this thread in hopes this gets resolved for you. I have to say as an outsider looking in, you at some point will need to stop tossing money at the truck, and get it serviced.

There's two ways to troubleshoot: the first is to realize when your tool chest and knowledge base do not support the problem at hand, and seek qualified help. The second is to continue tossing parts at the problem; eventually the problem is solved, but at a huge expense 9 times out of ten. However, most seem to go the way of the second way of troubleshooting. When they get responses of "mine did the same thing, I replaced part xyz, and the problem went away", this fuels their reasoning to continue tossing parts at the problem.

I hope the best for you. These forums can be great places to gain knowledge, and sometimes get lucky at a repair. But in this case, I really think your best bet is to get it off to a qualified repair shop. It's your only mode of transportation; your tool box is limited; your funds are limited. All good reasons to get it repaired correctly, and the first time.

Good luck. Let us know how it all turns out. I hope you can resolve this quick, and as cost effective as possible. I know what it's like to have my only means of transport acting up. Not a trusty feeling at all.