bravo69

Hello,

I am new to the forum. I've been a Ford man all my life. Just sold my 2005 Ranger and purchased a 2012 F150 Lariat Crew Cab Ecoboost with 88k miles. 3rd owner. Picked it up from a local used car dealer.

After the second day of owning my new truck I tried to pass another vehicle traveling on a highway and the truck started to sputter. It felt as if the transmission was going because when I revved up the engine, the truck accelerated a few seconds after It was weird. Than the CEL came on and felt like the engine wasnt running on all cylinders.

After doing some online research it sounds like it may be the spark plugs, cracked plugs insolaters, condensation in the intercooler (CAC) or spark plug wires. I also found out that this is a common problem with some of these trucks and some people experienced after replacing these parts the problem will occur some time later.

I have a 30 day warranty with the used car dealer. He said that he is going to run the diagnostics to see what codes it shows and he thinks it is the spark plugs. I dont think I want to keep the truck if this is going to happen again. The warranty says it will return the funds if the dealer cant deliver the vehicle in 30 days.Not sure what happens to the loan I fianced.

Anyone know what it could be? I will get the codes this monday.

thank you in advance

5.0nly

90% of the time it is the plugs. Make sure they are correctly gapped. Ford parts only and none of the aftermarket gold and platinum plated BS.

bravo69

Thanks for the reply. I have a feeling this is not the first time this has happened to this truck and why I am the 3rd owner now. Dealer told me the previous owner traded it in for a bigger dodge truck lol. I would love to get hold of the previous owners.

Somewhere in a forum it was recommended to use a double platinum plugs. Doesnt it all depends on what spark system it uses? What type of plugs does Ford use? Double platinum plugs are more heavy duty but is that what Ford has?

I really dont want to own a truck where there is a flaw in the engine that requires extra maintenance. It wouldnt be so bad if I can replace the plugs myself but from what I read its not easy to replace all of the plugs and its like a 8 hr job. I also read that moisture builds up in the intercooler that may be the reason for the fouled plugs. I think its moisture?

Its still on a 30 day warranty. The dealer is probably just going to replace 1 or 2 plugs to buy enough time so problem will come back after warranty expires. I am wondering if I can just return the truck with 100% refund? I dont think it will be that easy. These dealerships cover their asses.

Am I making a big deal out of this?

NASSTY

Changing spark plugs is easy in these trucks. After doing it a few times it should only take about a half hour. I'd get some Motorcraft SP 550's. They come pre-gapped @ .028, but check the gaps anyway before installing them.
You may also want to look into drilling "the weep hole"?

bravo69

thanks for replying NASSTY.

good to know about changing the plugs. How many times have you changed the plugs?

I found this TSB regarding misfiring upon hard accelerating. https://www.tsbsearch.com/Ford/13-8-1

There was another thread on a ecoboost forum about "Misfire Neutral Profile Correction" relearn process but it only applied to 2011 trucks. not sure if this is just a band aid.
http://ecoboostforum.com/threads/tsb...t-3-5l-v6.100/

Spiky

The Motorcraft plugs are all platinum. While they are rated for 100k miles, most people on this forum tend to change plugs on the EB much sooner than that. 30-50k. The intercooler is a bit of a design problem, but the weep hole fix seems to work for people.

I don't know who would need 8 hours for spark plug change. Maybe on the older 5.4L V8 with plugs that had issues. But not on the EB or 5.0.

NASSTY

I've owned three 3.5 Ecos since early 2011 so I've changed plugs 7 or 8 times.

bravo69

how can this be acceptable? These trucks are so damn expensive we shouldnt have to be put thru this. I have to worry about rapid acceleration all the time, changing plugs every 30k miles and drilling holes in the intercooler, etc, etc. I always believed and trusted Ford for so long I should of just kept my 05 Ranger.

The car dealer has my truck right now. Who know's what he is doing to it right now. Whatever he can to buy 30 days of warranty time. I texted him about drilling a hole in the intercooler and he responded with a nasty message saying there is no reason. He is probably going to replace just a plug or two. I hate to complain but this is not right.

Can someone please provide a technical description on why exactly this happens?

Spiky

My solution was a 5.0.