Hey I have a 2002 4.6v8 4x4 with about 182k on it. I have had an engine tick for a while that sounds like lash adjusters but it has never effected my performance. It recently got a lot louder and i got a serious loss in power. The truck is shaky when I accelerate. After revving the engine there is white smoke out the exhaust. The exhaust is also wet and smells like fuel. The truck feels like it is running very lean. I am not loosing coolant or oil. I tried to read the codes but had trouble with my reader. I will try again today with a different reader. Any thoughts on what the problem might be before i start ripping the whole engine apart?

 

Sounds like a Coil went bad or you blew out a spark plug.

 

Yep that's exactly what it sounds like..perhaps a little coolant on top. Since it sounds like the OP let it ride for awhile, your right, it probably blew....just sitting in the chamber bouncing around now. Worst case of course and it's all suspect, - for now.

 

Ran the codes and it spat out misfires on cylinders 2, 6, and 7 (P0302 P0306 P0307) and O2 sensors on both sides (P0171 and P0174) which makes me suspect coils. Pulled put the suspect coils and tested all three with a multimeter and all came back fine. Im going to pull the engine apart this weekend unless some one has another idea on what I can check.

 

Not sure why anyone would pull the engine apart at this point, that makes absolutely no sense right now. Yea borderline goofy IMO. Well, unless you like taking things apart ? Well, have to admit, I know I do anyway...for real!

Other than that, I'm keeping quiet..I've never seen this troubleshooted in reverse order before..I guess you can, possible. Regardless, -post pics with expectations. It'll be interesting I expect.

 

I'm with the brew. No need to give yourself more work than necessary.

First I'd pull the plugs. At minimum replace those 3, preferably all 8 once you get this figured out. They're cheap and relatively quick compared to tearing your engine apart. There are quite a few pieces that go together to make an engine. Lol.

Once those 3 plugs are changed, swap the 3 coils you tested with coils that don't have misfires.

Then drive. Report what happens. If it follows the coils, you know they're bad. If it stays with the cylinders reporting your current misfires, we go from there.

 

All the plugs were replaced less than a month ago. Swapped the location of the coils last night still running lean ill run the codes again tonight when i get off work

 

What plugs did you use?

Did you have this problem before replacing them?

 

Winner!


Wish ford would take responsibility for the ****ty head design.

 

Motorcraft plugs and the truck ran the same before and after the plug swap its worse now though