Hello, I have an 09 f150 with 88000 miles on it. For about the last 40,000 I have noticed a couple of odd things. When you get to a stop light or sign and start to tip in the throttle the truck will start to bog down before accelerating. Not every time, just occasionally. Also when the truck is on the highway in cruise when under a slight load like going uphill it almost feels like a slight miss, a sputter. But after the truck kicks into a lower gear its fine. When pulling hills or accelerating at higher rpm it's fine. I thought it was the plugs. So I recently changed them and we just took the truck from Ohio to Tennessee and the problem is still there. I'm starting to think the throttle position sensor, can anyone tell me if my symptoms sound like that's the problem.
Thanks
Will

 

Before throwing parts at it, check the air filter and clean the MAF sensor.

 

I am going to bet leaking tensioner seals on the front of the engine, these have o rings built in that keep the chain tight and are known to have issues blowing out on the back side. Cheap to fix yourself- expensive to pay someone.

 

there is a video that shows what they look like and do. I would also reccomend doing phasers and VGT solenoid a as they are known to be problematic. Watch your oil pressure gauge when it bogs down too.

 

I had the phasers checked early this year and they are good to go. They really don't even tick compared to my 04. Also when it does stutter I haven't seen the pressure gauge move, it doesn't even lose any rpm.

 

The air filter was changed about 6 months ago and every time I change the oil I pull the mass air flow out and spray it really good with electronic cleaner. Could it be the maf sensor itself?

 

So yesterday I cleaned the MAF again just to make sure. I also noticed that the connecter on the throttle position sensor was not locked in place. It wasnt loose it just didnt have the red "lock" locked down. I pull the connecter apart and cleaned both sides of it and reconnected it. Im not sure if it made a difference though because I havent found a road near me that I can consistently duplicate the problem. I would still like to find out common issues with the throttle position sensors when they start flaking out. The truck has had this issue for about 50,000 miles, but I thought it was more plug related until I changed them. Also the guy that owned the truck before me put a throttle body spacer on it, could that have something to do with it?

 

I would remove the throttle body spacer and see.
From Personal Experience, those things are nothing by trouble on computer controlled Fuel Injected engines.

 

When I bought the truck it had a throttle body spacer and a cold air intake on it(removed and put the stock intake back on). Im not sure if it had a tune or not. The truck at times has shifted funny, and I have the tranny computer reflashed. Im gonna take it off anyway, but Ive been thinking that the funny shifting could be a result of the TPS right? Maybe the spacer is making the problem worse.

 

Spacer has been removed. Now time will tell. I tried to check the resistance of the tps and best I can tell its registering smoothly.