2005 F-150 throwing codes on its birthday

[schurchill39]

I have owned my 2005 F-150 5.4L 3v truck for exactly 1 year today (93,xxxkms) and its just my luck that it starts throwing codes like it is it's job. I was driving on the highway 60 km outside of town when the ol'bitch started to shake and throw an engine light. I have the Edge Evolution programmer so I was able to pull over and grab the codes right away.

P0304 - Cylinder #4 misfire
P0172 - System too rich (bank 1)
P2196 - Front H02S signal stuck rich
P2271 - Rear H02S signal stuck rich

I cleared the codes, took a gander for any loose vac hoses and tried goes again. My acceleration was piss-poor until I started going 15 or so then it drove like normal but with a shudder. I checked the codes again in about 15 minutes and everything came up again except the P0304.

I was hoping it was a coil pack because those are way easier to replace than the stupid two piece spark plugs (especially in cylinder 4 which is on the passenger side closest to the firewall). Swapped that coil pack with cylinder 5 (front drivers) and took it for a drive. This time I got the P0172 again so I know its on bank 1 and not the coil pack.

Any ideas? Or am I going to have to spend the next 2 days trying to replace those stupid spark plugs?

[P_D]

Nothing to worry about that's just how fords celebrate their birthdays

[sr20s14zenki]

Do the plugs. ^typical useless troll response. If you aren't helping, please, kindly shut your face.

[corsvette]

i've seen worn out plug boots cause trouble as well. Also, if the engine gets wet it could cause that miss as well as water gets past that boot and collects down the plug hole. It tends to collect dirt down there as well, try bowing out the hole with a compressor (if you dont have one use one of those computer duster cans)

When I had my 05 i kept 2 boots and 2 spare coils in the glove box

[Rat Fink]

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[RickDaTuner]

Might be a stuck open injector.

Let the pump prime, then turn the key to the off position, find the shader valve on the fuel rail and depress the pin; if you get a little blurb of fuel out then your looking at a leaking injector. If you get a nice spray, then your looking at something else.

It's moments like these I would really appreciate the versatility and capabilities of the IDS, cylinder power balance, injector leak down, relative compression... It would quickly cover the basics for you.

[schurchill39]

Originally posted by corsvette
i've seen worn out plug boots cause trouble as well. Also, if the engine gets wet it could cause that miss as well as water gets past that boot and collects down the plug hole.

Engine hasn't seen water in a long time, and I switched the coil and boot with one on the other bank and there was no change. But thats for the info, I'll be picking up a spare one to have in my truck with me for a just-in-case

Originally posted by Rat Fink
Broken plugs take 5 minutes with the lisle tool and compressed air is pretty crucial to clean the plug wells. Taking the pcm and bracket out gives you lots of room to work with.

Yea that PCM is in all sorts of wrong places. I still think it will be a bitch to get at plug 4 but thats all I can think of besides an injector.

Originally posted by RickDaTuner
Might be a stuck open injector.

Let the pump prime, then turn the key to the off position, find the shader valve on the fuel rail and depress the pin; if you get a little blurb of fuel out then your looking at a leaking injector. If you get a nice spray, then your looking at something else.

This is what I will start off with. Any suggestions on how to test individual injectors?

[RickDaTuner]

Grab a mechanics stethescope from princes auto, then have a listen to each injector, the dull or silent one is your culprit.

Here's a picture of the tool


» Click image for larger version

[schurchill39]

I replaced the plugs (4 out of 8 broke on me) and it seems to be running pretty good so far. About to do a 1000km trip back to GP so we will see how he pans out.

Interesting side note, I switched from the 5w20 to 5w30 and have enjoyed the reduced engine noise.

[HO2S]

Originally posted by schurchill39

Interesting side note, I switched from the 5w20 to 5w30 and have enjoyed the reduced engine noise.

Ide go back to to 5w20 unless you want to replace your engine soon.
5.4's have to have good quality 5w20 and nothing but. It may be quiet for now but the cams will seize in the head or you will spin the very front or very rear crank bearings.

[Cos]

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