Hey Guys,

First time poster here. I'm having a hard time diagnosing a problem on my truck as you may have guessed. Apologies for the long post but I'm trying to provide as much detailed information as possible to help you so that hopefully somebody can help me.

Problem 1: Hard Start
I believe this problem is fuel related with the engine running rich. When I let the truck sit for hours (9+, overnight or at work) it doesn't want to start unless I pump the accelerator. It's a long start around 5-8 seconds, and when it finally turns over, it shoots a cloud of white smoke and i have to hold the accelerator down for about 10 seconds or else it dies, almost like i have to burn off excess fuel. I'm assuming the white coloring is from the B12 Chemtool fuel injector cleaner I put in to help clear the problem so I'm not to concerned with that. You can definitely smell gas from the exhaust cloud when it starts. I checked the fuel pressure and its about 50 psi (key on, engine off) at the fuel rail going into the engine. I can also hear the fuel pump kicking on every time I turn the key to on. So sticking with the basics, I had the battery checked (bad), replaced it, and I changed the spark plugs out. The plug tips were black, dry, and sooty like typically seen on an engine running rich. I also inspected the air filter and it's not that dirty. Starter sounds strong but I haven't officially had it checked so I guess that's a possibility. I know I have fuel, air, and spark to get the engine going, just not sure how it is flooding after sitting. I could wait 10 minutes, an hour, or even two after turning it off and it starts up just fine no problem. It's only after it sets for a long time. No check engine light relating to this problem either. I'm not really sure how to check for a leaky injector (no gas present on the outside of the engine so I don't think it's the o-ring) inside the cylinders short of taking it to mechanic with a computer but that's what I am leaning towards.

Problem 2: Rough idle after warm
After the truck has been running for about 30-40 minutes, particularly after "strenuous" driving such as on the highway, when I come to slow down say to yield or at a stop light, the engine runs rough (misfires) and will die unless I give it gas. It only does it when I go to drive though. I let the engine run idle in the driveway for 2 hours the other night trying to get it to die and it wouldn't but as soon as I put it in drive, it died. Most of what I have read indicates this is the dreaded low oil pressure problem that is common on these engines. So to start off, I checked the engine oil level; it was low and due for an oil change so i changed the oil and filter (motorcraft). Next day, I drove it to work and it died as I pulled into the lot. So after i got it back home that evening, I went and got an oil pressure gauge to test the pressure. After the car warmed up to operating temperature (about 20 minutes at idle) the oil pressure was about 28 PSI in park and when i put it in drive (with brake held down) it dropped to about 24 PSI. Ford says 15 PSI (borderline acceptable) but after some research and youtube videos from FordTechMakuloco, I don't have any reason to think that the minimum reading of 24 PSI is inadequate. At 2,000 RPM, it was about 68 PSI. No check engine light is on but when I hooked my code reader up to the car, it shows P0022 (Camshaft Position Sensor, Bank 2 Retarded). I assume that's a pending code or stored in the memory since no check engine light is on. Again keeping it simple, I went on and changed both the camshaft position sensors hoping that would solve the problem but no luck. I'm not getting any kind of strange noises form the engine such as valve trains grinding, ticking, knocking, etc. Aside from sensors and oil pressure, I can't find any reason why this would be happening only after the car is warmed up and at a slow/stop (low RPM) condition.

Do I actually have two different problems or just one problem with two symptoms? My theory (completely spitballing here and have no proof whatsoever) is that fuel is leaking and causing excess fuel to enter the engine. Spark plugs will only ignite X amount of fuel, so they have to repeatedly fire until the excess fuel is removed on startup. Once the excess fuel has been removed/ignited then the engine will fire. Whatever is leaking continues to leak while the engine is running (injectors are also adding fuel as normal) which results in the engine getting more fuel than design over the course of 30-40 minutes and eventually it floods once the engine slows down and can't remove the excess.

Truck Info
2010 F150 Lariat Crew Cab
5.4L 3V Engine (Engine Code V)
161k Miles (purchased with 101k)
4WD
Driven daily down dirt road
Exhaust header cracked/leaking

 

I’m having the same issues, did you ever figure out what the problem was?

 

if you have P0022 code like the original poster, it's most likely the driver side VCT solenoid.

 

Thank you for the response! I’ll look at that.

 

U'm experiencing the same problem. I have changed injectors, MAF, 1 o2 sensor and still have the problem. Truck runs great once owrm with just a slight hiccup on idel

 

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