tareed94

My truck started making a weird sound earlier tonight (2007 F-150, 5.4L, 159,XXX miles) and I can't figure it out. I was standing around talking to a friend in the middle of a student apartment complex and started hearing what I thought was distant bass from someone's party. I walked close to my truck (which was running at the time because I wasn't gonna be there long) and noticed the sound got louder. My stereo in my truck was paused and had no music through the speakers. I realized it was coming from my exhaust and that my truck was running odd. The RPMs were about 300-400 and would jump back and forth when it was doing the little "bass tones". I don't have the slightest clue what it could potentially be, I'm planning to take it to a shop for a full diagnostic unless someone has some ideas to check. Check out the video to hear what I'm talking about. (Headphones advised since it is low "bass" tones and small speakers may not pick it up)
http://vid1337.photobucket.com/album...pszooatuy7.mp4

jdinner

Have the spark plugs been changed yet? Sounds like an intermittent cylinder misfire.
or
With the engine cold, smack the catalytic converters with a rubber hammer or your palm one at a time to listen for a rattle inside. It could be a piece of the cat dancing around inside the converter.

tareed94

Plugs were changed less than 20,000 miles ago. Changed the plugs and the boots.

I'll try hitting the cats this morning. I sent the video to my dad this morning and while talking to him I remembered something else. I turned the truck off and back on to see if that remedied the situation (it didn't) but I smelled antifreeze for a moment after turning it back on. Any thoughts on that? I'm about to check my oil level and see if there's any water or coolant in it. (checking for over full level, water drops, or foreign liquid)

MGD

What? ^^^

- ETC problem
- random intermittent misfire

Pull stored /pending codes, & look at Mode $06

MGD

tareed94

What is an ETC? Sorry if it's obvious, I've just never heard of that before.

I can't pull any stored/pending codes because I don't have a programmer. Could a place like autozone see the pending codes with their diagnostic machine?

What is Mode $06?

Oil looks fine, and it's been raining so the ground is soaked, if it's a cat I don't believe it will leave me stranded so I'll just drive it until I can check the cat at a later, drier date.

MGD

ETC - Electronic Throttle Control / Throttle Body - it's what controls the idle speed.

Mode $06 - misfire counts

Refer to this doc, Specific to the 2007 Model Year:
http://www.motorcraftservice.com/vdi...f/OBDSM704.pdf


Starting on Page 10 - for Misfire info (mode $06 is on page 17)

Starting on Page 89 - for ETC info

No - most parts houses like Autozone have very rudimentary scanners - not capable enough for this task.

Invest in either a good one, OR buy a cheap Android tablet, an OBDII Bluetooth dongle and the Torque Pro app from Google Play. Load the Ford-specific extensions as well for a very comprehensive diagnostic tool that will serve you well.

Torque also has a forum for you to ask question and contains much more info.

MGD

tareed94

Thanks MGD. I'll have to check into that route because I've started hearing a lot about the Torque app. I'll see what I can do about getting an adequate scanner to check into that. Think I'd be able to borrow someone's programmer and look it up or would the VIN lock prevent that? (Assuming the programmer can read Mode $06 data)

After driving it around more today it is sounding like timing components (phasers, chains, etc) are going bad. I've been hearing a ticking from under the hood for a while and knew it was coming and I think it's finally here. When I was driving earlier it was making a slight knock/rattle when I would slow down to stop at a light. I'm going to pull a valve cover this weekend and look at the phasers to see if they're visibly damaged. I'm somewhat just guessing at problems and checking them out.

MGD

You'd need a SCT X3 or X4 and the SCT Livelink application ( free download from the SCT site ) loaded on a laptop to see misfire counts. You'd be using the programmer as the 'pass-through' interface - not sure if VIN-locking is an impediment to doing this - yer not programming the truck.

You can also monitor VCT PIDs to at least get an idea what the phasers are doing.

MGD.

tareed94

Gotcha, so I'm better off using a tablet with the bluetooth OBD port than trying to borrow a programmer and buying the software. Thanks for the help MGD