Hello all! Wanted to come here to give folks an update on the misfire we've been having on our 2001 F150 Super-Crew (5.4L/2V, 2 wheel drive, auto-transmission, 245,000 miles). To make a, long story short: our truck has a misfire. After going to AutoZone their code reader said we had 6 DTC/MIL codes along with our check engine light being on The codes fond were: P0302, B1342, C1222, C1115, U3FFF, C1220. I know the P0302 is misfire in cylinder #2, so we (my son and I) decided to check/fix that first. Got a new COP for the truck and changed it out. In doing so we had to disconnect the negative cable from the negative post on the battery which cleared all the codes - except the ABS light. What is interesting is that when we pulled out the old COP, we saw what looked like rust marks?? We put on the dielectric grease and tried to put the new cop back.my son didn't think it was going on correctly so he pulled it back out. When he did he saw that there was water dripping off the bottom of the new COP (where it attached to the spark plug)?? The good news is that it was water and NOT coolant. The bad news is that I don't know where the water came from.

Out here in California we have recently had about 20 to 25 heave downpour rain-storms (yes, 20 to 25) and so I imagine that the rain is getting into the engine compartment somehow. I have seen a few posts where people have mentioned the cowl at the base of the windshield could somehow be leaking but I don't know how, nor do I know how to check and fix it. Also, if the cowling was leaking somehow, wouldn't the rain be in the spark plug wells closes to the windshield, instead of the ones closest to the front of the truck? Is there a way to check if/where the leak is coming from in the cowling? And is there a way to fix it?

If folks here have any suggestions and advice on the other DTC/MIL codes, please feel free to let me know. We did our best to get the water out of the #2 spark plug well and installed the new COP. We drove about 100 miles in the truck since the new COP was installed and so far we don't detect a misfire and the check engine light has not come on. The ABS light has been on for a long time and I am guessing it is an ABS wheel sensor (the truck is about 22 years old so they're probably bad). Unfortunately I don't know any easy ways to check and determine which wheel is the problem without taking each wheel off, but at my age I would have to wait until my son can help me. I can't find my code reader, however I did get FORScan loaded onto an old laptop but I have no clue how to use it to help check for an ABS problem, (or even if it can help me isolate which wheel or what else the problem could be). If anyone here has any ideas, suggestions or advice, please feel free to let me know. In the meantime, as always; thanks in advance to all who offer help!.

 

water in number 2 that isn't coolant is a little odd to me, not sure what might cause that.

the ABS light on - I would be willing to bet the ABS module/computer is bad. Forscan is capable of reading the ABS module - if it CAN see it, it could tell which sensor is having an issue (I believe there's one on each front wheel and on the rear end). If Forscan can't communicate with the ABS module that usually means it's bad. You can mail it off and have it fixed or they will send you a repaired unit with a core charge until you send yours back. It's just an electrical connector and a couple bolts/screws

 

You can read your ABS codes....... It will tell you which wheel speed sensor is bad. They are cheap and really easy to change. You can get some chinese as cheap as $7. They range in price from $7 to $90... And they're all the same thing.

When one of mine went bad I replaced it with one off a used wheel bearing I had kept for an emergency spare. When one front bearing needed replacement I replaced them both and kept the old one that wasnt bad.

You can buy a wheel bearing with sensor..... And take the sensor off for less than the sensors some brands are trying to sell

 

Does your 2001 have the rubber gasket that sits between the coil and the head cover? Maybe its missing or torn and allowed moisture to go down into the spark plug well.

 

Thanks everyone who offered advice and suggestions so far. Let me try to answer the questions and comments you folks have asked/said as best I can;

I am praying that it isn't the ABS module. I know it can be, and I know rebuilding services are are only a couple hundred bucks,(which I don't have right now) but I've never had any trouble with the brake pedal feeling spongy, or the brake traveling to the floor. I am new to using FORScan so I don't even how to navigate to the section on how to read the ABS codes, or the ABS wheel sensors. Because we had to disconnect the negative (-) battery cable to change the COP, it cleared "Check Engine" light and all the codes, with the exception of the ABS light. So far, after over a 100 miles driving, the check engine light has NOT come back on so I'm thinking we at least cleared up the misfire on #2.

I should apologize for being such a 'newbie' and not knowing much about FORScan. Perhaps if (when) I did know more I could figure out how to get to, and to check the ABS system, but I am trying to learn as fast as I can. So I am (hoping) it's not a case of FORScan not being able to communicate with the ABS system, and more of a case of me not knowing what I'm doing. I've looked for video's and/or documentation on checking things like the ABS on my generation F150 (1997 - 2003) but so far I haven't found anything. If you folks here could give me the steps to do so, I would be extremely grateful!

If it does turn out to be just a ABS wheel sensor, can I replace just the sensor, or do I have to replace the bearing/hub as well?

As far as a rubber gasket between the COP and the head, I have no idea. My son' just pulled out the old COP and replaced it with a new one. Is the rubber gasket incorporated into the COP boot assembly? Or is it something by itself that sits on the head?

As always, thanks to all who offer help and advice!!!

 

You test w/garden hose. Need to wash up the hood seal, perhaps revitalize it (can't think of a better word) so that it seals better. Attempt to reshape the seal if it's become indented or deformed w/foreign matter. Anyway yea, they can develope a sealing issue back there by the cowl, pass side. Water will leach inside, clinging to the bottom of the hood before it eventually drops on the motor somewhere around #2. #3 is more common. #2 ...close enough.

 

I've seen on the old internet stories about water leaking down the cowl/firewall in to #8. Not #2.

There should be a screen in Forscan that shows all of the modules. Then when you highlight the module it shows the codes.

Here's what I saw on mine. I was doing PATS stuff and PATS codes are stored in the Instrument Cluster (IC). There's also a P1000 because I cleared codes just before. And a 1260 in the PCM because the wrong key caused the PCM to disable starting. You can see ABS at the end with no codes. I think that one of the icons on the left is the button for the DTC sub-menu. Start clicking. Edit - actually you can see DTC in the yellow triangle on the left. That's the menu I was in.

 

Thanks folks! A couple of years ago I had the water leak in the back window above the truck bed. I guess the butyl tape they used to seal it )when the truck is made) dried up. Took it to a windshield repair place and they said it's pretty common problem on the F150. The screen on my old laptop doesn't get that bright anymore (combined with my old eyes) so I'll have to wait till dark to get in there again and see what I can find. I wish FORScan had some online documentation we could print out that tells us step-by-step how to use the program and isolate the trouble. But don't get me wrong - I'm still jazzed the program exists so we can learn some things my old cheapie code reader can't tell (when I find it that is).

 

if your forscan OBD2 connector has a manual switch, make sure its flipped to the correct side so you see the modules listed above when you click the "dtc" button

A bad ABS computer will not change pedal feel or anything, ABS just wont work.

As far as a seal over the coil pack, I wonder if they're making the mistake I did in another thread and mixing up a 4valve motor, which has a cover that goes over all the coil packs and a rubber seal vs the 2 valve motor which does not have a cover of any kind. Sounds like they may be onto something with that seal where the hood meets the wiper cowl.

 

Water would always find a path through the passenger side according to the many posts I read in the past, affecting numbers 3 and 4 cylinders. Dropping water from the hood between 2 and 3. Of course a lot of that will depend gravity/pitch of the vehicle.

Nothing but the coil boot and plug should be in the plug chamber. In 2004 the Grand Marquis's (4.6L) had a plastic cap that half **** protected the chambers from debris, -shaped like a umbrella w/hole through the middle which fit around the coil. Wasn't rubber, it was made out of hard plastic....not water proof, but molded to fit around the coil. It was domed, but sat flat on the head around the top of the boot. But that's the only Ford I've seen with any kind of protection for the plug chambers and they looked factory to me.

Heard of folks attempting to seal the chambers in the past..wouldn't advise that if it's a daily driver. Repair the leak if it's your daily driver.

Good idea to Incorporate 3M silicon (crystal clear/non solidifying silicon) around the boot joints of the coils. NO silicon inside the COP boots at plug mount end as it may interfere with the boot springs causing misfire... just very little on the tip. Better to silicon the porcelain on the plugs themselves when performing tune up procedures on vehicles with DG508 style /COP setups.