truck really hates wet weather
02-07-2017, 07:11 PM
#1
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truck really hates wet weather
1995 f150 xl 5.0L
Whenever it rains or is foggy my truck has a hard time with acceleration. It starts up fine then sometimes will stumble at idle and sometimes not. I will drive about a mile or less and then the trouble starts. Sometimes the steering wheel will vibrate at around 25 mph. Sometimes acceleration will hit a wall somewhere between 15 and 30 mph then take off after about a hundred yards. Sometimes during that hesitation I will get a knocking noise which I can only imagine is detonation. Also during that hesitation the engine light will come on for a while then go off if I come to a stop or restart the engine. After driving for a while it will idle good at stops. Only happens when it is wet outside.
Things I have done to try and remedy the problem are
New plugs, wires, coil, rotor and cap.
Used a little dielectric grease on the plug boots (just a little)
Verified the ignition timing (10 degrees btdc)
Inspected all my electrical connections and found a break in the o2 sensors black wire on the main harness side of the connector - also found the radio noise capacitor wire broken and no longer connected to the capacitor
Cleaned the ignition coil mount to ensure ground - the mount does vibrate a lot when the engine is running. it is missing the flat bar that connects it to the exhaust manifold.
Used water mister to try to find arcing , didn't find any
Read codes: only stored codes 172 and 173 which are o2 sensor not switching- lean and rich. Only codes I get with KOER test have to do with doing the test wrong. Tried it several times and gave up.
This is strictly a wet weather problem. Truck runs great when it is dry.
Anybody have any history with this problem or insight into wet weather drivability issues?
I am a little confused about the o2 sensor broken wire not lighting up the CEL. Could the o2 sensor cause these problems with acceleration and stumbling? Also does the radio noise capacitor only suppress radio noise from coming through the stereo or does it serve a higher purpose?
Whenever it rains or is foggy my truck has a hard time with acceleration. It starts up fine then sometimes will stumble at idle and sometimes not. I will drive about a mile or less and then the trouble starts. Sometimes the steering wheel will vibrate at around 25 mph. Sometimes acceleration will hit a wall somewhere between 15 and 30 mph then take off after about a hundred yards. Sometimes during that hesitation I will get a knocking noise which I can only imagine is detonation. Also during that hesitation the engine light will come on for a while then go off if I come to a stop or restart the engine. After driving for a while it will idle good at stops. Only happens when it is wet outside.
Things I have done to try and remedy the problem are
New plugs, wires, coil, rotor and cap.
Used a little dielectric grease on the plug boots (just a little)
Verified the ignition timing (10 degrees btdc)
Inspected all my electrical connections and found a break in the o2 sensors black wire on the main harness side of the connector - also found the radio noise capacitor wire broken and no longer connected to the capacitor
Cleaned the ignition coil mount to ensure ground - the mount does vibrate a lot when the engine is running. it is missing the flat bar that connects it to the exhaust manifold.
Used water mister to try to find arcing , didn't find any
Read codes: only stored codes 172 and 173 which are o2 sensor not switching- lean and rich. Only codes I get with KOER test have to do with doing the test wrong. Tried it several times and gave up.
This is strictly a wet weather problem. Truck runs great when it is dry.
Anybody have any history with this problem or insight into wet weather drivability issues?
I am a little confused about the o2 sensor broken wire not lighting up the CEL. Could the o2 sensor cause these problems with acceleration and stumbling? Also does the radio noise capacitor only suppress radio noise from coming through the stereo or does it serve a higher purpose?
02-09-2017, 09:29 AM
#2
If you find a wire problem you should fix it - especially for the O2 sensor - before looking for other causes.
After that, considering what you've replaced it sounds a lot like a bad connection. If you have a poor connection and add a little moisture you could get an intermittent or nonexistent connection.
I'd suggest cleaning up all your battery and ground connections (especially the grounds) for starters. Even if that doesn't fix it, you have to eliminate it as a possibility before digging too much deeper. And it's a good thing to do anyway.
After that, considering what you've replaced it sounds a lot like a bad connection. If you have a poor connection and add a little moisture you could get an intermittent or nonexistent connection.
I'd suggest cleaning up all your battery and ground connections (especially the grounds) for starters. Even if that doesn't fix it, you have to eliminate it as a possibility before digging too much deeper. And it's a good thing to do anyway.
