gone postal

Okay, the truck is in the shop (again).

Symptoms:

Bucking under load (Idles fine, dies/bucks when throttle is pressed)

Progressed from there to not starting at all, no fuel.

Starts w/ether

Got it to the mech shop, they ran a basic diag, no CEL, no codes, but the fuel pressure in line was through the roof, but it's not injecting anything into the cylinders.

Any ideas? The mechanic is talking with a local dealership, he's confused too.

bobkyle2

throttle position sensor maybe??...cam or crank sensor

gone postal

Thanks for the suggestions.

Rule #1.....never let your wife try to translate what the mechanic tells her. Just talk to the mechanic.

The actual situation is that the computter is reading excessive fuel pressure, and therefore not allowing the fuel pump to turn on. This=no fuel=no start.

Now we get into the fun with my truck. It's an early production run 04 F-150 STX. It took me 3 attempts to get the correct caliper for the front brakes. They changed some things slightly during the production run.

The ford dealership sent them a fuel pressure reg. Wrong one, doesn't fit.

Sent it back, told them it was the wrong part, looked up the part # by VIN. Still the wrong one.

The tech at the ford dealership asked Rick what the fuel pressure was at the rail. Rick's reply was simple, I already knew the answer to this one.....no way to tell, there's no test point on the rail, which according to their book is impossible.

Soooooo, the mech is sending them the Fuel pressure reg off of the truck so they can get a duplicate. Most days, I really like my truck.

Days like this, however, leave me looking through the want ads for a rust free 1983-1986 F series.

gone postal

I did have a good laugh talking to the mechanic this morning, though.

We were talking about the issues with the truck, and I told him "I'm thinking about getting a bumper sticker made for the truck: Protected by the Maserati anti theft system. Can't start it, can't steal it."

bobkyle2

........i feel your pain... i worked on one of those ... and everyone i talked to thought i was crazy.... was trying to get wheel bearings... and they kept saying i didnt know what i was talking about... ford dealerships??.... finally a old farm store got ahold of someoen and they knew right what i needed

Mod (Ret.)

This must be a Heritage model, as the late 04's to 08's do not use fuel pressure regulators. This system was used to route fuel back to the gas tank, meaning a "send and return" line was used to/from the injector rails. The late 04's to 08's (and perhaps the 09's and later) use a single fuel line from the gas tank to the fuel injector rails. The pressure in this single fuel line is regulated by a fuel pump module located on a frame rail in front of the spare tire. These modules are known to fail after a few years due to water, dirt, mud, and salt (for those that live in the snow states) that builds up behind this module and rusts the backing plate of this module into its circuit board (module bolts flat to the rail). Right now there's a 1 to 2 month "waiting list" to get one, as the snowy season seemed to distroy quite a few of them. There were two threads posted on this subject about a week ago, and I found out that the Ford Explorer uses the same module as the F150's, under a different part number.

The way this new system works is simple, without the need of a fuel pressure regulater....pressure is monitored via a sensor at the fuel injector rails, and the fuel pump module turns on/off the pump to control fuel pressure in single fuel line feeding the fuel injector rails.

Ford (and others) went to this system to prevent the fuel from heating up in the injector rail send/return fuel lines to/from the gas tank. With one pressure fuel line, the fuel pump is turned on and off to keep a constant pressure to the injector rails.

gone postal

It isn't a heritage model.

It's an 04 STX.

I've had multiple issues with this evidently being an early production truck which is a slightly different animal than most.

Pardon the nomenclature creep, but while there's no regulator per se, there is a sensor which serves the same function, which the Ford dealer has sent the mech the wrong part twice now. The one they're sending him doesn't fit, and he can't check pressure at the rail to check whether the current animal is reading the correct pressure.

Anyone want an 04 4x4 STX?

bobkyle2

now we see how you got the "gone postal " name haha... hang in there

Mod (Ret.)

I can see you are already at wits end and I don't blame you. What engine do you have?

I'll assume that your mechanic has provided the Ford parts guy your trucks VIN number? This should be what the parts guy would need to get the exact part. Then again, if the parts guy is one of those that mearly looks it up in a book and grabs off the shelf, then your mechanic is at the mercy of the Ford books being correct; always the case right?

I have noticed that my 05 4.2 liter V6 goes by a "VIN 2" (as seen as a "2" in the eight digit position the VIN string) whenever I order a part, meaning it's a "new" (second gen) F150 4.2, verses the 4.2 used in the 1999 to early 2004 (a "1" in the eight digit position).

My best guess is that there's mass confusion over your 2004 that perhaps was an early production build ???

If it would be any help, I could provide you with a Ford parts guy in Chicago who could perhaps help. This guy at the parts department knows his stuff; it was he who knew that a Ford Explorer and F150 shared the same fuel pump control module, just a different part number. All the others that I called simply went by my year and model, and whatever the books told them.

This guy knows his stuff.

gone postal

Thanks for the offer, Bucko. If we don't have a real part (correct part) tomorrow I'm probably goign to be asking for his contact info.

On the upside, I'm getting better gas mileage now that I'm driving a ranger for the moment.