2011+ 55-60mph 5.0 Shuddering and EcoBoost Engine Miss/Loss of Power - Possible Fixes
09-19-2012, 03:57 PM
#1911
Senior Member
Deflector plate does not fix this, had it put on mine over the Summer and mine is doing it almost every morning.
I did some extensive driving back and forth over a mile stretch of road this morning where there are three hills where I can make it do it every time the temp is mid 50's or less. What was interesting to me is I haven't noticed the shudder any time the temp is above mids 50's. But after the testing, I let my truck sit about 2 hours, and the temp warmed to about 70 degrees. On the way to lunch I climbed a hill and the shudder was present. This leads me to believe that the shudder is related to moisture buildup. During my testing in prime condensation conditions, I built up enough moisture in the IC for it to still be in there and cause the shudder hours later when the temp rose to 70 degrees and the dew point was way below that mark. That is just my thought, and I know others feel that way too, but my testing this morning reinforced in my head that this is moisture related.
I did some extensive driving back and forth over a mile stretch of road this morning where there are three hills where I can make it do it every time the temp is mid 50's or less. What was interesting to me is I haven't noticed the shudder any time the temp is above mids 50's. But after the testing, I let my truck sit about 2 hours, and the temp warmed to about 70 degrees. On the way to lunch I climbed a hill and the shudder was present. This leads me to believe that the shudder is related to moisture buildup. During my testing in prime condensation conditions, I built up enough moisture in the IC for it to still be in there and cause the shudder hours later when the temp rose to 70 degrees and the dew point was way below that mark. That is just my thought, and I know others feel that way too, but my testing this morning reinforced in my head that this is moisture related.
09-19-2012, 04:23 PM
#1912
At least no one will die of thirst while driving an Ecoboost/water-maker. Just stop at a rest stop, crack the home-made petcock in the IC and have a nice glass of water. Could even be useful for helping put out forest fires.
09-19-2012, 07:01 PM
#1913
Senior Member
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After our near death experience in July, I had to buy another vehicle that I could rely on to not get the wife and I killed . . . and get advertised mpg too I might add which my EB hasn't seen for nearly 10 months now. Now I've got a 5200 lb. paperweight sitting in the way in the driveway.
Wonder if I can just drive it back to the dealer, toss them the keys, and call me when it's either fixed or they are ready to issue a refund?
09-19-2012, 10:05 PM
#1914
New plugs are in. Immediate difference in idle, smoother accelleration, and gee whiz, smoother shifting.
Here are the stock plugs from my 2011 FX4 Ecoboost. Laid out same as in engine, bottom plugs are the front of the truck, top plugs are the cab, right side is the driver side.
All of them were gapped at .040" except for the middle right, which was gapped at .045".
The new plugs, NGK LTR6IX-11, were all gapped at .045" or higher out of the box, which I regapped down to between .030" and .032".
Considering the plug manufacturers and the Ford service manuals say NOT to regap the plugs, yet the plugs are coming out the factory outside of the spec, this is obviously something that engineering/technicians will have to look at. Simply driving into a Ford dealer, having the tech check the plugs and finding them out of spec, only to replace them with another factory plug that is also out of spec will accomplish nothing.
Even if you believe that moisture in the intercooler is the root cause of your problems, you would be wise to at least check the gap on your factory plugs and regap them down to the minimum spec if you are so mechanically inclined. I will explain:
Most people believe that it is the actual electricity of the spark which causes the fuel/air mixture to ignite, which is incorrect. It is actually the HEAT energy generated by the electrical current which gets the flame front going.
Water happens to be an excellent heat SINK, and when it is moving through the intake piping, it atomizes quite well (think spray mister.) There isn't enough to choke out the engine or hydrolock it, but just enough to rob enough heat from the spark and cause a misfire/incomplete combustion, and there's your rough idle, shuddering, clogged cats.
Here are the stock plugs from my 2011 FX4 Ecoboost. Laid out same as in engine, bottom plugs are the front of the truck, top plugs are the cab, right side is the driver side.
All of them were gapped at .040" except for the middle right, which was gapped at .045".
The new plugs, NGK LTR6IX-11, were all gapped at .045" or higher out of the box, which I regapped down to between .030" and .032".
Considering the plug manufacturers and the Ford service manuals say NOT to regap the plugs, yet the plugs are coming out the factory outside of the spec, this is obviously something that engineering/technicians will have to look at. Simply driving into a Ford dealer, having the tech check the plugs and finding them out of spec, only to replace them with another factory plug that is also out of spec will accomplish nothing.
Even if you believe that moisture in the intercooler is the root cause of your problems, you would be wise to at least check the gap on your factory plugs and regap them down to the minimum spec if you are so mechanically inclined. I will explain:
Most people believe that it is the actual electricity of the spark which causes the fuel/air mixture to ignite, which is incorrect. It is actually the HEAT energy generated by the electrical current which gets the flame front going.
Water happens to be an excellent heat SINK, and when it is moving through the intake piping, it atomizes quite well (think spray mister.) There isn't enough to choke out the engine or hydrolock it, but just enough to rob enough heat from the spark and cause a misfire/incomplete combustion, and there's your rough idle, shuddering, clogged cats.
The following 2 users liked this post by VoiceOfReason:
Pfeffer (09-20-2012),
rmorris1953 (09-21-2012)
09-20-2012, 09:20 AM
#1915
Originally Posted by VoiceOfReason
New plugs are in. Immediate difference in idle, smoother accelleration, and gee whiz, smoother shifting.
Here are the stock plugs from my 2011 FX4 Ecoboost. Laid out same as in engine, bottom plugs are the front of the truck, top plugs are the cab, right side is the driver side.
All of them were gapped at .040" except for the middle right, which was gapped at .045".
The new plugs, NGK LTR6IX-11, were all gapped at .045" or higher out of the box, which I regapped down to between .030" and .032".
Considering the plug manufacturers and the Ford service manuals say NOT to regap the plugs, yet the plugs are coming out the factory outside of the spec, this is obviously something that engineering/technicians will have to look at. Simply driving into a Ford dealer, having the tech check the plugs and finding them out of spec, only to replace them with another factory plug that is also out of spec will accomplish nothing.
Even if you believe that moisture in the intercooler is the root cause of your problems, you would be wise to at least check the gap on your factory plugs and regap them down to the minimum spec if you are so mechanically inclined. I will explain:
Most people believe that it is the actual electricity of the spark which causes the fuel/air mixture to ignite, which is incorrect. It is actually the HEAT energy generated by the electrical current which gets the flame front going.
Water happens to be an excellent heat SINK, and when it is moving through the intake piping, it atomizes quite well (think spray mister.) There isn't enough to choke out the engine or hydrolock it, but just enough to rob enough heat from the spark and cause a misfire/incomplete combustion, and there's your rough idle, shuddering, clogged cats.
Here are the stock plugs from my 2011 FX4 Ecoboost. Laid out same as in engine, bottom plugs are the front of the truck, top plugs are the cab, right side is the driver side.
All of them were gapped at .040" except for the middle right, which was gapped at .045".
The new plugs, NGK LTR6IX-11, were all gapped at .045" or higher out of the box, which I regapped down to between .030" and .032".
Considering the plug manufacturers and the Ford service manuals say NOT to regap the plugs, yet the plugs are coming out the factory outside of the spec, this is obviously something that engineering/technicians will have to look at. Simply driving into a Ford dealer, having the tech check the plugs and finding them out of spec, only to replace them with another factory plug that is also out of spec will accomplish nothing.
Even if you believe that moisture in the intercooler is the root cause of your problems, you would be wise to at least check the gap on your factory plugs and regap them down to the minimum spec if you are so mechanically inclined. I will explain:
Most people believe that it is the actual electricity of the spark which causes the fuel/air mixture to ignite, which is incorrect. It is actually the HEAT energy generated by the electrical current which gets the flame front going.
Water happens to be an excellent heat SINK, and when it is moving through the intake piping, it atomizes quite well (think spray mister.) There isn't enough to choke out the engine or hydrolock it, but just enough to rob enough heat from the spark and cause a misfire/incomplete combustion, and there's your rough idle, shuddering, clogged cats.
Last edited by Tyssa'sRide; 09-20-2012 at 09:42 AM.
09-20-2012, 10:55 AM
#1916
09-20-2012, 05:23 PM
#1917
Senior Member
Originally Posted by renovatedspaces
Was it difficult to get to any of the plugs? I'm anxious to see if your mileage changes.
Unfortunately for me, re-gapping the factory plugs has had zero affect. I'm going to have to see how the guys that changed their plugs fare this fall/winter before I decide if I want to give that a shot.
09-21-2012, 12:41 AM
#1918
So far so good. My throttle response is back to when the dealer tech reset the PCM and transmission KAM. I had a couple 50km+ trips today with some rain in the afternoon, ran wonderfully all day. Will be trying regular on the next few fills and taking my route home which I can get it to shudder on. Too early to tell about mileage but I had pretty decent mileage to begin with. I will update you in a couple of days.
09-21-2012, 12:58 AM
#1919
Disconnect coilpack connectors (slide red locking tab out first, then depress center clip)
Disconnect valve electrical connector (under foam,driver side)
Disconnect vacuum swing arm (turn plastic compression spring sleeve then pull up,driver side.)
You can now access each coilpack and spark plug.
The only other vehicle that has been this easy to get at ALL of the plugs is my Mazda Protege5, which reminds me...
09-21-2012, 05:46 AM
#1920
Senior Member
[QUOTE=VoiceOfReason;2044821]
Considering the plug manufacturers and the Ford service manuals say NOT to regap the plugs, yet the plugs are coming out the factory outside of the spec, this is obviously something that engineering/technicians will have to look at. Simply driving into a Ford dealer, having the tech check the plugs and finding them out of spec, only to replace them with another factory plug that is also out of spec will accomplish nothing.
Even if you believe that moisture in the intercooler is the root cause of your problems, you would be wise to at least check the gap on your factory plugs and regap them down to the minimum spec if you are so mechanically inclined. I will explain:
--------------------------------------------------------
My ex-father-in-law and I use to have intense arguments about this. He would always replace plugs without checking gap.
I told him on several occasions that the gap needed to be checked.
I wondered about this just the other day if ford was checking the gap on all their plugs or just installing them.
Thanks
Considering the plug manufacturers and the Ford service manuals say NOT to regap the plugs, yet the plugs are coming out the factory outside of the spec, this is obviously something that engineering/technicians will have to look at. Simply driving into a Ford dealer, having the tech check the plugs and finding them out of spec, only to replace them with another factory plug that is also out of spec will accomplish nothing.
Even if you believe that moisture in the intercooler is the root cause of your problems, you would be wise to at least check the gap on your factory plugs and regap them down to the minimum spec if you are so mechanically inclined. I will explain:
--------------------------------------------------------
My ex-father-in-law and I use to have intense arguments about this. He would always replace plugs without checking gap.
I told him on several occasions that the gap needed to be checked.I wondered about this just the other day if ford was checking the gap on all their plugs or just installing them.
Thanks