pc03fx4

I had this problem in my 2003 fx4.
water from a touch less car wash made its way into the plug holes on passenger side.
I removed the coils and used compressed air and blew all the holes out.
Poor design from ford on plug placement.

Jbrew

Remember when you said you had crap caked into the throttle body. That should NEVER and it will kill that engine eventually...early grave, not kidding. Your MAF takes a hit as well with improper filtering. In fact, they build and cook on a hardened layer of crap that won't come off with MAF cleaner.

It so easy, cheap to fix all that. Fix it right and it purdy much eliminates maintenance, - for as long as 100,000 miles. So many iof these engines COULD run great and do this all the time. Fix it right, one thing at a time.

jayta98

Hi I did checked the holes and there was no water in them. Thanks. I will keep an eye for that too

jayta98

update. I purchased a cheap set of coils from amazon to test and see if the coils are the issue. It had great reviews but I still trust that I should stick to OEM or visteons. It cost me $54 bucks for a set of 8(i know cheap) but I figure this will be an inexpensive way to test the coils out vs going to ford.

After I installed them I did the PCM relearn. I'm still testing them but I did noticed more power and better acceleration. I also noticed the idle got way better. I believe i don't feel the slight vibration under acceleration but I still hear a different kind of noise when I accelerate that I hear thru the exhaust. I tried to record it but the engine and cabin noise won't let me. I believe I might have something going on with the exhaust system.I rechecked the exhaust manifolds and no leaks.

Overall the coils did need replacement as I can see the gains in power, better idle and better acceleration. As soon as one of these knock offs goes bad I will get a full set of visteons or motorcrafts.

I also installed a full set of Gabriels ultras shocks all around. The original shocks were OEM and they were all shot. I pushed down on them and they stayed down. They never came back up. The trucks feels firm now and i don't feel every imperfection of the road anymore. I got the shocks from rockauto for $120 shipped plus a mail in rebate of $25 bucks.

I'm doing the injectors next and upstream O2 sensors. A few more projects I got is flushing the coolant and 4 more quarts of tranny fluid. I'm also looking for an OEM air filter setup so I can get rid of the KN stuff.

I appreciate all the input and suggestions. Thanks everyone!

jayta98

I took the truck for a 40 min ride this morning. I still see more power and better acceleration but the original issue is still there, the hesitation under acceleration. Is about the same. I did noticed the idle is more jumpy but very slight. I only noticed the jumpy idle when the trucks idles exactly at 600 rpm. when I stop, the truck idles at 800 rpm for about 5 secs and then slowly goes down to 600 rpm( which i believe is normal), during that time the idle is perfect until it reaches 600 rpm.

One thing I did different this time was that I disconnected the battery until I was done swapping the coils. I did the PCM relearn as found in the forum. Maybe I will try it again. I might get a new set of plugs and install them. I know the current ones are just 4k but **** happens sometimes.

Carcrazygts2

idle for these trucks is commanded 725 with AC off and 900 with AC on. Cleaning the IAC does nothing as its a screw valve. Replace the IAC. You still have a coil issue. The aftermarkets have issues with heat soak. They have the wrong type of potting which leads to addi resistance on the primary side. Also testing coils is not fool proof. But its best to test hot and cold. Same way with injectors. Test resistance hot and cold.. If you have any that go over 19 ohms while hot its best to replace them. I chase a similar issue awhile ago an it turned out to be a bad oxygen sensor.

Jbrew

Right, something is screwed up with that engine. As Carcrazy said, 725 is perfect idle and you should be real close to that. Even if you had the battery disconnected for days, the software relearns idle in about 3-5 minutes after start...fairly quick.

Your idle being what it is, - if you don't have any DTC's, look to the converters and EGR system. Also look above the AC accumulator for ignition harness damage.

Make sure no one shoved a patata up your tailpipe as well.

Carcrazygts2

Also idle is not apart of the adaptive learn procedures. Adaptive relearn is for fueling, timing an transmission shift characteristics onle.

jayta98

ok good to know. I did noticed the transmission shifting way batter now. I'm going to hook up a vaccum gauge to make sure i don't have a vacuum leak. I sprayed crab cleaner around the TB, intake and no change in idle so the gaskets seems good.

I'm going to get the spark plugs today and see if I install today or monday.

jayta98

Ok so the idle is not right then. How do I check the EGR and converters? I will look at the harness.