Lost

[Jackpine]

Originally Posted by Longshot270

Too bad there isn't a warranty at the dealership where if they can't get it straightened out then it's free.

Have they tried reflashing the computer since it started doing it? I'm thinking that if nothing mechanical is causing a problem then it has to be a bug in the computer.

I think there's something kind of like this. It may vary by State though. I'm pretty sure there is "relief" from paying for a "fix" that doesn't work. I see having a Ford engineer being involved as a good sign.

Boy, it really sounds like it gets screwed up when it comes out of open loop mode. Kind of like the long term fuel trims are all wrong. But, I'm sure they disconnected the battery, during some of this, so the trims should have gotten reset.

- Jack

[BlackSTX]

Certainly sounded as if you had plugged cats, but replacing them should have eliminated the problem if that was the cause. I would rule out misfires unless you are feeling one, but you don't indicate this is a concern. My experience with timing chains w/ variable adjustment doesn't fit your problems either. Heck, we had seen chains so bad they were almost falling off the gears, the tensioners were at their limits and they still ran fairly well.

I would consider checking your fuel pressure when the engine warms; but if you haven't replaced your fuel filter in a while, install a new one first just in case you have picked up some contaminated gas. I doubt the filter is the cause, but it's certainly a quick, inexpensive possibility that you can then rule out..... without paying the dealership to do it.
Did you have any codes stored in the PCM? You haven't mentioned this, it may be helpful.

Sadly, many dealerships don't send their techs for adequate training, or they don't know how to utilize the Ford online programs to check for fixes to you problems. Worse yet, some techs shouldn't be working in dealerships at all.
Being that you paid a good sum to repair a condition that didn't get resolved I would expect there is some means to have them continue their efforts without costing you an additional sum, or demand they refund your money, since they claimed their suggested repairs would fix it...... misdiagnosis!

Heck, the dealership I worked at, if the customer ran into such a situation they only had to call one of the owners or an manager to express their concerns and often repairs were then made correctly at no charge or for a very significant discount. If this doesn't bring any attention to your concern, let them know you are going to contact the Better Business Bureau and complain to the state attorney generals office.

If all else fails, check around for a local shop with a good reputation for driveability problems. If nothing else, let them have the engineer look at it. There shouldn't be any additional charge just because Ford sends him in to look at it. This is what Ford pays him to do, not the dealership.

Sadly, while these repairs aren't neurosurgery, they require those working on the problems to be capable of making the right diagnosis in just the same way you would want your doctor to do. I really don't believe those working on your truck may have been the most competent employees in those dealerships; and I certainly hope they weren't!

Keep us posted on your problem, either we're going to come up with an answer or help you get it fixed right. Best of luck!

[tadams11201]

iiiii

[88Racing]

No not really?
But
That module where its located seems to get a lot of debris on it. The wiring into the box isn't all that protected. The backing on the box can corrode also.

Originally Posted by tadams11201

No, they haven't. I am going to check it today. Yes, had PCM reflashed three times. Hopefully, the fuel control module will be the issue. Has anyone heard of the fuel relay on these going out?

[Jackpine]

Originally Posted by tadams11201

No, they haven't. I am going to check it today. Yes, had PCM reflashed three times. Hopefully, the fuel control module will be the issue. Has anyone heard of the fuel relay on these going out?

I think the correct name for this is the "Fuel Pump Driver Module" (FPDM). The original design seemed to become corroded and would swell and crack the case, exposing the circuit board inside to the elements. There were also reports of dealers being out of these things and having them on backorder due to the frequency of failure. They are easy to replace yourself, if you have the part, and it's easy to inspect them for exterior damage if you drop the spare tire. It's mounted on the crossmember just in front of the spare tire.

- Jack

[tadams11201]

iiiii

[Longshot270]

I wonder if you could "return" any of the equipment from the failed attempts to fix the problem?

Since nothing seems to work I'd like to "see" what your truck is driving like. The gryphon has the ability to record some of the PIDs you usually watch on the screen. The 5 I'd like to see are RPM, LOAD, MPH, APP and OSS.

These will tell me the speed your engine is working at, how hard your engine is working, how hard you are having to push your engine, how fast your going and OSS will just tell me what the "output shaft speed" is. All the OSS is usefull for is if it doesn't match the RPM relatively closely under certain conditions the transmission is slipping. The last one isn't necissary but since there was an opening might as well put something that might be usefull. Otherwise I would have went with MAF like Cody mentioned but since you've changed the cats and I dont have a 5.4 to compare to it wouldn't tell me much.

Since you only have 5 mins of driving go to a nice long street where you dont have to worry about people running up on you.
To pack the most information into one run (and one trip since the programmer only stores one log at a time) start with an agonizingly slow and steady acceleration from 0-60 at 1 mph per second acceleration. Sounds easy but I recommend you keep a watch or clock on the dash to guage your foot off of. After that slow back down to a stop and floor the pedal till you hit 60+ (I went to 90 but I know not everyone can do that). For the last one do a regular acceleration that you use in traffic up to about 60 mph.
Or make it look like this graph: http://forum.gopowerhungry.com/membe...datastream.jpg

If your not sure how to do it I have instructions just above my sig pic in the link "Gryphon data log instructions (The basics)".

Probably wont get anything usefull out of it but ya never know, something might pop up that nobody has though of yet.

[88Racing]

There's 2 stores on eBay that sell the coil packs.
Ones called uneek and the other is ?

[BlackSTX]

Before you go replacing coils, if replacing them didn't change the problem initially, they're probably okay, don't waste money that you may not need to.

As suggested, see if you can get that info requested by Longshot. Have you questioned the dealership that charged you up the wazoo for a ton of work without correcting the problem? I'd try hitting them up for not fixing the problem, that's far more important than replacing the coils again.

[osprey]

Sorry to be a 'Johnny-come-lately' to this problem, but I might have a solution to this problem.

What it sounds like, to me, is that your camshafts may be in a retarded positon by one or two teeth, causing the poor performance. You could also have a problem with cam phasers that are not advancing the cam timing during acceleration. These problems would not be apparent in no load acceleration (transmission in park or neutral), but would be very apparent in acceleration under load.

I would definitely have both the camshaft timing checked, and have the cam phasers checked for proper operation.

I know, from personal experience, that when the timing gear started to go out on one of my previous vehicles, the cam timing retarded one tooth. You used to be aable to tell this because the initial timing woudl be retarded when read from the balancer with a timing light. You would then advance the initial timing by resetting the distributor, and everything would seem fine, until it jumped another tooth and retarded the camshaft further, and even then with the timing reset, the engine would be very weak.

Hopefully, this information will help you get your truck back to 100%.