2013 ecoboost engine prob throttle loss
 

Hi All, having some issues over the past few days, hoping someone can provide some input...

My gut tells me this is not related to the turbo condensation issue (I drilled the weep hole and it's dry).

I was on a road trip last week from central Texas to northern New Mexico. I was in the panhandle of Texas last Sunday... cruise control set to 75, all was going well. I felt a "bump", thought it was weird, but kept the cruise on and kept going. I'll describe the feeling of it as being a bump, but can't figure out if it is trans/driveshaft related bump or thud or a fuel issue or a miss. My gut tells me if felt more like a "miss" hesitation type of thing.

Anyway, as I got to the next town, about 5 miles from when the bump/hesitation happened, I had to decelerate to 30 mph through the town. All of a sudden, the dash screen lit up orange with the wrench icon, engine light came on, throttle response was lost which made the truck slow down. I veered over into the turn lane as the truck came to a stop. When it stopped, it was idling very roughly. The throttle was barely responsive... I could only inch forward (even if i floored it), but that's about it. I shut the truck off, waited 10 seconds, turned it back on, and all was well. No engine light, no wrench icon, idle was normal, acceleration was normal... so I carried on, as I really had no choice in the matter (I was 100 miles from any town with more than 100 people in it). Made it to my destination, 200 miles later, with no issues.

I drove it through the week last week with no issues. Was headed back yesterday, was in some small town in north Texas and it happened again. Same exact thing, throttle loss, wrench/engine light, rough idle, throttle basically unresponsive, pulled to side of road, turned off, then back on, and all was well. Made it just fine another few hundred miles to home.

Went out today, city driving, same thing happened. Pulled over, turned off, then on again and continued. Didn't get but another few miles and happened again... and again after yet another few miles, finally made it to the house.

I don't have a code scanner handy, but my Sync system has a vehicle diagnostic function. Today when this happened the second time, I used Sync to run the diag then send me the results. It doesn't tell me a code, but here is what it says:

-----
Engine, Transmission & Emissions

Status: Urgent Service Required
The icons below may be illuminated in your dash or console or may appear in your message center. The vehicle diagnostics indicate a parameter that is out of normal range or that a component has failed. Systems within your vehicle need prompt service and/or inspection.

URGENT
Powertrain Malfunction / Reduced Power

What Should I Do?
Have the system checked by an authorized dealer.

What is Happening?
Indicates that a powertrain, all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive fault has been detected.

What does this mean?
Powertrain Fault: Illuminates when an electric throttle control, transmission, all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive or fuel system fault has been detected.

Contact an authorized dealer as soon as possible.

-----

I'm at 55K miles so the drive train warranty is still valid. Obviously I'm prepared to limp it into the shop, but feel like this might be a case where the dealer will jerk me around and can't figure it out if it doesn't fail when I roll it into the lot or if they can't duplicate it. If I go turn the truck on right now and send another diag report, it will tell me in the engine/transmission section above that everything is fine. I assume that means no code will be thrown unless you're right in the middle of the issue with the engine/wrench light on.

Any ideas on this one? This is bugging the crap out of me... I don't feel like this is the turbo issue. Could it be spark plug related, throttle body related, or legit transmission/shaft/rear end?

Thoughts? Thanks!


-Brian

Could be communication lost with throttle body

Agreed. If you tell the dealer what happened, they will replace the throttle body. I've had mine replaced.

Txproud
 

Hey
I had the same problem it happen to me four times exactly as you described with the Wrench of Limp. I was able to retrieve codeP2111 while it was on the side of the road idling really rough. It turned out to be my ETB. I took it to dealership of course they couldn't recreate it, once I showed them the fault that I got from the vehicle he ran some tests and found the Throttle body bad ...I bought the part from them and replaced it myself my truck is out if warranty, I would imagine yours would be covered. I also replaced my spark plugs and boots. My truck is a lot older than yours (2011 EB). After the first time l reciever the Wrench... I cleaned the ETB obviously it didn't help. I've been running good so far a week since I replaced it with plenty of traveling. I've attached the fault I pulled from truck
Hope this helps!

Thanks for the input, guys. I took it to the dealer yesterday, they came back and agreed the TB is defective.


Now the frustrating part... my truck has 55K miles on it and still under powertrain warranty. That being said, they say the TB is part of the emissions system which sounds completely ridiculous to me. WTF does it have to do with emissions? The TB manages air into the engine, so sounds to me like it is a critical piece for engine operation. Without it, it won't run. Why the heck would this not be a part of the engine components and therefore under powertrain warranty? Why is it considered emissions and then therefore not covered and out of warranty?


Sorry, just had to vent, but just sounds like another stupid loophole for manufacturers to exploit and further reduce their liability rather than just simply doing the "right" thing.


They want $600 to replace it... I said no way, put it back together and I'll replace it myself for $100 and 15 minutes of my time.


Don't get me wrong, I love my truck, am a Ford guy, and always had Ford trucks... but the last few trucks I've had have all had the same issue... TB goes out. No other major issues, just always the TB. Either Ford has a bad design or they are using crap Chinese manufacturers... or both.


Thx!
Brian

If they tried to get out of paying for it by stating its emissions related they are truly dumb f***s because emissions warranty goes for 8 years and 80,000 miles

Apparently the emissions warranty is split in two... only a few parts are covered up to the 8 years, the rest are covered under the bumper to bumper. According to their computer, the TB p/n does not fall under the few parts in the 8 year warranty.


:censored:

It could also be a loss of boost pressure input from the boost pressure sensor.

I had this problem and provided a detailed fix action under this post: https://www.f150forum.com/f70/ecoboo...99-dtc-228695/

It is easy to see if the wire is broken at the pressure sensor as it is located right at the front of the motor, but, behind the top of the radiator.

Good luck!

- Mike