hipmatt

We all know, or most of us know, the issue with the two piece spark plug in the 5.4 3 valve engines. They bust off inside and your stuck with trying to get some guy charging you up the you know what to get it out for you. There is a tool for this issue called a lisle tool

This help me extract the spark plugs fairly easy.

Now im am having certain issues My truck shakes when i turn it on and my tranny is stuck in limp mode. Limp mode is when your tranny wont let you go into certain gears to save you from doing some real damage to your truck.

Things that i have done to my Truck.
Oil change
change out spark plugs
change out all coil packs.
Cleaned Throttle body

Things that i want to do.
Kick my truck.
Change out throttle body.(dont know what the diff is between cleaned out or brand new one}
Fuel filter.
wiring hardness.

Im reaching my limit. but not there yet.
im double checking my work. when i pull off a spark plug wire while the truck is on it vibrates more on certain wires. And other wires the truck wont vibrate at all it would just stay the same.
When i do this test that means the ones that i had vibrated more are good i believe.
I need some guidance. ideas what to check. Im pretty sure it has to be something easy because the problem started with the spark plugs.

hipmatt

any ideas?

fordmech604

Is the check engine light on, are there any codes in the pcm ? You said it shakes, do you mean "missing" ?

hipmatt

Hey sorry i havent written back. I was getting a missfire in cylinder 3. that when i changed the coils.

It wouldnt throw any codes until i tried to drive fast and the limp mode would slow me down.

There feels like a loss of power.

fordmech604

So it's not missing now right ? No check engine light on. I would guess you have a bad throttle body.

Mad greenback

I had the same issues. I was breaking the porcelain on some of the new plugs upon installation. My fault. Replaced the offending plugs with new and was more careful. No problem since.

hipmatt

Thats what what im thinking to do next.

hipmatt

So I took my truck down to pep boys. They have this service where they will diagnose the truck. Their service includes:
The Engine Diagnostic service includes:

Quality service performed by a professional Pep Boys technician
Road test of vehicle to verify complaint (if running)
Visual inspection of engine compartment for obvious electrical or vacuum related conditions
Complete battery and charging system analysis
One or more of the following tests: fuel pressure, spark, compression, individual component
An answer to the cause of the malfunction
Estimate for repair
Courtesy vehicle inspection

Calling the guy, he told me that he will check the throttle body as well. The service is like 90 bucks. hopefully it will point me into the right direction.

hipmatt

Hey fordmech604 thanks for posting. Now when its missing does that mean that the check engine light will come on?
Also what about rough idle. That is what is seems like its doing more. I took it down to pep boys they couldnt do the full diagnostics or any it seems like because they needed a fitting for fuel compression. anyways the guy said why is it rough idling. That is when i explained it all to him.

Long story short i got nowhere with pep boys.

But he did make me think about my rough idle situation.

fordmech604

No, it can miss with out have a check engine light on, just depends how bad it's missing. Without having access to the PID data while your truck is running, It's hard to diag. But from what you have told us, It still sound like you have a bad throttle body.