Ford down :(

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I have a 94k miles 2002 2v 5.4 F150 Lariat Super Crew. Good truck.

Noticed it was sputtering/stuttering at the 50mph shift point when it needed to downshift.

Then going home from church on sunday truck shuttered and shook the whole way home no matter what speed. CEL flashing it was definitely misfiring on multiple cylinders. Spark plugs have never been replaced so I studied online and found these things are tedious, which kind of sucks for something should be simple for routine maintenance. Decided to start on the passenger side hardest cylinder (8) and go forward.

It was dead stuck and I didn't want to break the plug so I put everything back together and called the shop for an appointment.

They called back today and they said cyl 3,4 and 6 were bad. I'm guessing they did a compression test? So now I'm waiting for those cylinders to be replaced, and spark plugs, and I told them while they're at it to replace the valve cover gaskets.

Not a happy camper :[
 
I can't imagine it would be a compression problem with those miles on a mod motor.
I bet bad plug/coils. The may pull some threads when they change your plugs but it is a pretty easy fix.
 
The plugs on the 5.4L 2V are fun to change. I did ours on the Expedition at higher mileage than you and yes, it was an adventure. I let it soak overnight with penetrating fluid in the wells and that seemed to help. These are also notorious for coil failures, however multiple misfires occurring like they have may point to a jumped timing chain. Does it make a lot of chain noise on startup? The guides are prone to failure, and if they go, the chain can jump time causing what you are experiencing. My buddy had this happen on his '03 F-150 with the 4.6L. Same symptoms as you.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
The plugs on the 5.4L 2V are fun to change. I did ours on the Expedition at higher mileage than you and yes, it was an adventure. I let it soak overnight with penetrating fluid in the wells and that seemed to help. These are also notorious for coil failures, however multiple misfires occurring like they have may point to a jumped timing chain. Does it make a lot of chain noise on startup? The guides are prone to failure, and if they go, the chain can jump time causing what you are experiencing. My buddy had this happen on his '03 F-150 with the 4.6L. Same symptoms as you.


I don't think it makes a lot of chain noise. Although I wouldn't know how to identify chain noise if it did exist
 
Originally Posted By: JeepWJ19
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
The plugs on the 5.4L 2V are fun to change. I did ours on the Expedition at higher mileage than you and yes, it was an adventure. I let it soak overnight with penetrating fluid in the wells and that seemed to help. These are also notorious for coil failures, however multiple misfires occurring like they have may point to a jumped timing chain. Does it make a lot of chain noise on startup? The guides are prone to failure, and if they go, the chain can jump time causing what you are experiencing. My buddy had this happen on his '03 F-150 with the 4.6L. Same symptoms as you.


I don't think it makes a lot of chain noise. Although I wouldn't know how to identify chain noise if it did exist


It just does not make sense for three cylinders to go bad simultaneously. That was exactly what happened to my buddy's truck however when the chain jumped.
 
JeepWJ19

I had the same motor in my '99 Expedition. It sounds like a Coil Pack to me. BTW I sold my Expedition to a relative about 5 yrs ago and it is currently going strong with 450k miles.
Good Luck!
 
I have the same truck 4.6 XlT. By chance do you wash under the hood at the car wash? Having 3 cylinders go at the same time its highly unlikely to be "bad cylinders" whatever that means or coil packs.

Pull the coil-overs and blast compressed air down the holes to get any dirt/grit out.
Put some penetrating oil down the holes and let it sit.
Pull the plugs and pray the threads don't come out with the plug.
put new iridium's in, I put a dot of anti seize on the threads also.
get a large tube of Dielectric grease at AZ and coat the outside of the coil-over boots (This is very important)

Being a clean freak and washing the engine gets water down the plug holes that can sit and corrode the plug holes. The HV of the coils only needs a tiny bit of moisture or contamination to arc across the boots to the heads causing misfire. The dielectric grease helps but DON'T WASH THE ENGINE!
 
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I have the same truck and did not have an issue changing the plugs. Not tedious at all unless comparing to a front wheel drive 4 cylinder. Cylinder 4, 7 and 8 are a bit of a pain, but not bad with some extensions and swivels.
These plugs do not break, they do have an issue with spitting out plugs if not torqued correctly (24-28 ft lbs, no anti-seize).
Probably bad COP, don't get cheap ones or you will be having an issue again.
 
They probably screwed up the [censored] spark plug threads in the head. There is only 4 thread per hole on those heads. Its their way of paying for their screw up.
 
Originally Posted By: blupupher
I have the same truck and did not have an issue changing the plugs. Not tedious at all unless comparing to a front wheel drive 4 cylinder.


Agreed. 5.4 2v plugs in an F series are easy to change with the proper tools.
 
First things first "cylinders x, y and z are bad" is not a legitimate diagnosis from a shop. Ask them to kindly explain exactly what they mean by bad. I suspect its either bad COPs or that the plug threads stripped when the plugs were removed. Neither are anywhere near unsolvable problems.
 
I guess I'll see how I feel when it gets done and a year later to see if anything bad happens again.

I typically like doing things myself but I just don't have the patience to deal with this at the moment.

Makes me not want anything other than an inline 6 nowadays.
 
Originally Posted By: cb_13
Originally Posted By: blupupher
I have the same truck and did not have an issue changing the plugs. Not tedious at all unless comparing to a front wheel drive 4 cylinder.


Agreed. 5.4 2v plugs in an F series are easy to change with the proper tools.


I found them a pain in the buttocks, but I have rear heat and A/C and the lines run right over the rear plugs on the passenger side
frown.gif
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
I found them a pain in the buttocks, but I have rear heat and A/C and the lines run right over the rear plugs on the passenger side
frown.gif



I've been putting this off on our 2001. It too has rear HVAC. It's not running bad yet, just a little bit at idle, but under throttle it is smooth. I even bought a bunch of swivels and extensions, but haven't forced myself to do it yet. I'm just going to have to break down and do it this spring. 153K rust free truck; it's got lots of life left in it yet.
 
Originally Posted By: JeepWJ19


They called back today and they said cyl 3,4 and 6 were bad. I'm guessing they did a compression test? So now I'm waiting for those cylinders to be replaced, and spark plugs, and I told them while they're at it to replace the valve cover gaskets.

I'm curious to hear how the shop is going to "replace the cylinders."
 
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: JeepWJ19


They called back today and they said cyl 3,4 and 6 were bad. I'm guessing they did a compression test? So now I'm waiting for those cylinders to be replaced, and spark plugs, and I told them while they're at it to replace the valve cover gaskets.

I'm curious to hear how the shop is going to "replace the cylinders."
 
Sloppy fingers...

Knowing me I probably heard them wrong. I have a tendency to not hear the full details. I will find out later. Maybe they meant the heads were bad, again IDK. I've not been the right mind as of lately so right now I'm just going to let them do their thing and then U'll find out the full details.

I didn't mean for anything to be misleading.

Thanks.
 
Originally Posted By: Srt20
They probably screwed up the [censored] spark plug threads in the head. There is only 4 thread per hole on those heads. Its their way of paying for their screw up.


I agree with the above comment.
 
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
Originally Posted By: Srt20
They probably screwed up the [censored] spark plug threads in the head. There is only 4 thread per hole on those heads. Its their way of paying for their screw up.


I agree with the above comment.


Yep,I agree too.
 
Originally Posted By: JeepWJ19
Sloppy fingers...

Knowing me I probably heard them wrong. I have a tendency to not hear the full details. I will find out later. Maybe they meant the heads were bad, again IDK. I've not been the right mind as of lately so right now I'm just going to let them do their thing and then U'll find out the full details.

I didn't mean for anything to be misleading.

Thanks.
So you approved them to fix the truck, even though you have no idea what they're fixing?
 
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