well yesterday i was driving my truck home, running liek a charm, and about a mile fro mteh house, it started sputtering and acting liek it was going to die, i knew i had a 1/4 tan kof gas, so i was covered there, i knew hte fuel pum pwas runnign cuz i can hear it, got home looked it over, let it kool off, got up this morning, tried to start it, acted liek the timing was all jacked up, and / or runnign super lean... so i looked over vacuum lines, electrical plugs, everything i could think of, even thought the coil pickup inside the distributor was going bad, got a free replacement at autozone, installed and no change, a few months ago, the fuel tank got cleaned out, and a whole new fuel assembly installed, new filter and new pluge, rotor cap wires etc.

so im at a complete confused state of mind right now, i canot figure out what gives, any ideas?

1990 ford f150 2x4
30-6 fuel injected (no air intake tubes)
automatic trans

thankyou

 

How 'bout electrical?

When my alternator died, the truck ran like crap while it was running off of the battery...

 

That could be. Any codes in the computer? Pop the distributor cap off and spin the engine by hand to the left until the rotor starts moving, then spin it to the right and see how far it turns before the rotor starts moving in the other direction. You're looking for play in the distributor. Any more than 10 degrees is no good. You said you had the pick up coil replaced. Did the roll pin shear off the bottom of the shaft? (seen it many times with Fords)

Keep us posted.

 

actually i was suprised, autozone had a lifetime warranty on my distributor so i replaced the whole thing free! there was zero wear on the old distributor, put the new one i nand nothing changed, im looking into a new throttle position sensor

 

Welcome back around, we all thought you won the lottery and forgot about us.....lol

They need 3 things to run, air, fuel, spark, since it was still running even though rough and then did restart, sound like something has or is going bad elec wise or fuel wise.

Clogged inline filter? Maybe the fuel gauge is off, bad gas? Can you hook up a code reader (auto zone) and see what the magic box says? Code BR549....blinker fluid low.

Jump timing, I would think it would continue to run and not restart at all, just turn over.

 

well local ford dealership sucks... their computer for the moseld computer in my truck broke last year and the yrefuse to get a new one. i guess my truck is becoming a outcast before it needs to be...
so a local mech hooked up a pc to it and got and EGR code, so tommorrow ill be taking off, cleaning scrubbing and cleaning some more the EGR, then reinstall and hope to god it runs cuz a new one with selinoid is 120 bucks... fingers are crossed!

 

I figured most chain auto parts stores had a reader with multi adapters, and that assistance was usually free?

Good luck, hang in there.

 

Rich, you need three things for a fire to burn, air fuel and spark. You need FIVE things for an engine to run. Air, fuel, spark, compression and timing.

That being said, the egr is a huge hole in the manifold and will DEFINITELY make an engine run bad. An easy way to test is dump the throttle wide open foe a second. Does the engine come up ok? If it does, then it's very possible the egr is bad. If it still stumbles and carries on, it's not the egr valve. An old trick to make it run is cut a new gasket for the egr valve but don't cut the center hole out. (Basically a block off gasket) This seals up the hole in the manifold yet looks like nothing was done. Despite what you've heard, an egr valve DOES NOT have to be hooked up for an engine to run.

 

I always think of the first 3 when troubleshooting and forget to think about the other two since its usually one of the first three thats causing the problem.

Thanks for keeping me running on the right cylinder.

 

ok, anyone know where i can get a new SPOUT for the distributor??? i never had the real thing on this truck, there was always a paperclip wire in-place. and internet obviously isnt doing me justice right now.... if anyone has one or knows where i can get one, id be greatly appreciated


also, when i repalced the distirbutor, i noticed the metal part under the rotor had one small leg and the others were wider, i guess what im asking, is the small leg suppsoed to be #1 cylinder???

 

anyone ever heard of a bad temp sensor making the engine run like crap??? i unplugged the o2 sensor, and nothing changed, left it unplugged and unplugged the temp sensor above the thermostat, and it ran alot better.... so apparently, there is something amiss there. what would hte engine symptoms be if it went bad?

 

Hmmm. How smart is this thing?

I guess that it's possible for a temp sensor to send "x" incorrect signal to a computer that would adjust your timing and/or fuel ratio to adjust for an out of parameter operating temperature...and thus cause the truck to run poorly if given an incorrect temperature value...

...but that's an awfully long way to go....

If it runs better without it, and you're not afraid of over heating, run without it...

JMHO.

 

On GM engines(what I'm more familiar with) the ecm uses engine coolant temp to determine the correct air/fuel mixture, along with the o2 sensors. I'd get a new one and put it in, if they're not too expensive.

Also, it can be ok, but unplugging it can 'fix' another problem, if things are broke in the correct way. One way I could think of(again, using gm programming) is if you have a lean condition, unplugging the temp sensor would make it add more fuel, thereby 'fixing' the lean condition. Get it?

 

i put a new one on, and it changed nothing, 15 bucks in the ****ter. so i web searched my butt off and came to a conclusion that most people changed the throttle position sensor and it worked, for them anyways, for me NOPE, 39 bucks more into the ****ter... i took off the egr cleanedit good, seemed to be ok, took off the O2 sensor and cleaned it, it wasnt bad at all, still no change, however once you get it warm, it will idle on its own. but again the throtle moves and it wants to die...you have to pump it alot to get it to rev up.... this just isnt right on a FI motor... im lost.... anyone got dynamite?

 

Vacuum leak. Hole in a gasket.

Have you tried the WD40 trick on your vacuum lines?