1995 f150 302efi auto 180,000 km on motor

My truck all of a sudden just started acting very sluggish and surging and when I hammer the pedal it backfires. The cap and rotor and plugs and were changed last fall. Any ideas.

 

Check fuel pressure.

 

Check codes, its a start.

Also check for vacuum leaks, fuel pressure and timing if your distributor came loose.

 

Well I checked the plugs, cap and rotor and there were fine. No signs of vacuum leaks but hard to tell when not sure what to look for. I guess I need to get it scanned for codes even though the check engine light is not on and also check the timing. Are there specific vacuum lines that would cause this issue or a specific sensor? It's kinda weird as it ran great until a few days ago then all of a sudden boom this happens. I guess It wouldn't be a bad batch of fuel? Could it be a fuel injector issue?

 

Dude, check the fuel pressure.

 

What is the fuel pressure suppose to be at? Do I check it on the fuel rail from that tire valve on the fuel rail, I have never done that before. What tool do you need to check it with?

 

Yeah, it's pretty simple. Get a fuel pressure gauge ( ) and plug it into the shrader valve on the fuel rail. If you have a Haynes Manual, they have a pretty good section for testing the fuel pressure under different circumstances to test different fuel components (pump, injectors etc)

 

You check it with a fuel pressure gauge and at least autozone and oreilly will loan them out to you. You start with checking at the schrader valve on the fuel rail. It's 35-45 KOEO and 30-45 KOER for a 96. I think it's the same for a 95, but I could be wrong. If you get lower pressures than that, disconnect the fuel filter and test it there. If it's still low there, drop the tank and test the pump directly. If you still have low pressure, at least the tanks already been dropped because you need a new pump. lol

EDIT: bad info on the pump. Check the voltage at the harness that connects to the pump first. If the voltage is good, supply 12V directly to the pump and check the pressure again. THEN you can condemn the pump.

 

Is there a seperate fuel pump in each tank or just one, or does the rear tank use the same fuel pump as the front tank cause I have tryed running fuel through both tanks and no difference between the 2 it still surges. It also does something weird with the surging it seems to do it with the tranny when it shifts up into 3rd gear. Yes this is a auto tranny if that makea any sence, Once the tranny downshifts down from 3rd gear down to 2nd with the overdrive button the surging goes away, till tranny upshifts in 3rd then it surges again. I know the tranny probably has nothing to do with this problem it. Also I noticed today the the tac is a little jumpy like 200 rpm while I'm driving.Gonna try to find a fuel pressure guage this weekend and test it out. Just a question the plug wires or the ignition coil would not cause this to happen. Thanks.

 

Anything could be causing it. The way you first described it sounded like a fuel problem.