Help! Truck is running like crap!

fightman80

fightman80

New member
Hey folks,

I'm looking for some help here. Yesterday, my truck started to have some issues, and it has continued today.

Seems like when I'm just iddling, and about to take off, the truck is surging. The entire truck seems to shake....almost like it's chugging??? When I approach 80km per hour, the truck seems to almost vibrate, and gets really loud??

The initial chugging, reminds me of the time the engine was extremely low on coolant due to a coolant leak I had in the rear heater lines. Only thing is....I checked my rad and reservoir....and they're both reading where they should be! Now, when we did the timing belt/water pump, we added a bunch of new coolant to the rad, is it possible that maybe we forgot to take all the air out of the lines.....and now the truck is airlocked???

The Timing belt and Waterpump were done at the end of October, using a cheap ebay kit. However, I don't drive it a whole lot these days, as I commute a long distance and rather take the car (fuel economy). I've looked to see if there is coolant leaking on the ground..(nope), I've checked my oil (all good...honey colored).

Another thing I should mention, the Check engine light was flashing repeatedly for a short time yesterday, and flashed once quickly today as well........but now the light is extinguished......

I hope someone here can help me....because Christmas is fast approaching, and I can't afford to take this in to the mechanic, or even worse....the Stealership!

Thanks in advance for any replies, I'm off to work now, so I'll check in tonight after dinner.
 
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fightman80 said:
Hey folks,

I'm looking for some help here. Yesterday, my truck started to have some issues, and it has continued today.

Seems like when I'm just iddling, and about to take off, the truck is surging. The entire truck seems to shake....almost like it's chugging??? When I approach 80km per hour, the truck seems to almost vibrate, and gets really loud??

The initial chugging, reminds me of the time the engine was extremely low on coolant due to a coolant leak I had in the rear heater lines. Only thing is....I checked my rad and reservoir....and they're both reading where they should be! Now, when we did the timing belt/water pump, we added a bunch of new coolant to the rad, is it possible that maybe we forgot to take all the air out of the lines.....and now the truck is airlocked???

The Timing belt and Waterpump were done at the end of October, using a cheap ebay kit. However, I don't drive it a whole lot these days, as I commute a long distance and rather take the car (fuel economy). I've looked to see if there is coolant leaking on the ground..(nope), I've checked my oil (all good...honey colored).

Another thing I should mention, the Check engine light was flashing repeatedly for a short time yesterday, and flashed once quickly today as well........but now the light is extinguished......

I hope someone here can help me....because Christmas is fast approaching, and I can't afford to take this in to the mechanic, or even worse....the Stealership!

Thanks in advance for any replies, I'm off to work now, so I'll check in tonight after dinner.
Click to expand...

Why not go to autozone and get the codes read instead of everyone on here guessing what your issues might be? Let us know what you find out.
 
If the CEL was flashing repeatedly, it may be spark plugs and/or coil packs. My fiance has an Escape, and it did the same thing. The light would flicker, then stay off. THere could also have been some moisture in that area that caused a short. I'd look there first.
 
That was my thought as well; last time my F150 needed spark plugs, it did the same thing just prior (though the pulsating/rough running wasn't quite as bad as yours seems to be), and the light was on as well.
 
Classic plugs/coil pack symptom when the CEL Flashes and feel power loss almost immediately or where the power band begins..
 
Flashing CEL means a bad misfire, as in cat-damaging level of bad. You really need the codes to see if specific cylinders are misfiring, or if it is random. Then you can start swapping coil packs and other things to start diagnosing this. Otherwise this thread is a waste of time.
 
TheDurk said:
Flashing CEL means a bad misfire, as in cat-damaging level of bad. You really need the codes to see if specific cylinders are misfiring, or if it is random. Then you can start swapping coil packs and other things to start diagnosing this. Otherwise this thread is a waste of time.
Click to expand...

Right, which is spark related.
 
Agreed with the Durk. Need to get CEL codes to pinpoint which cylinder to start messing with. I had a flashing CEL a month or so ago, with very similar symptoms. It turned out to be a bad injector on cylinder 3.

Checking plugs, wires and swapping coils eliminated those possibilities. A new injector was about $80 from O'reilly who had it in stock. (I think you can get used and rebuilt online for much less)

Good luck with this one.
 
brian4t said:
Why not go to autozone and get the codes read instead of everyone on here guessing what your issues might be? Let us know what you find out.
Click to expand...

Don't you need the light on to get a code???? Besides, it was another 25km drive to the nearest Part Source (we don't have Autozone), and I didn't want to risk my truck blowing up on the side of the highway.

Thanks for the replies guys! I'm gonna get my buddy to bring his code reader when comes over tomorrow. We'll try to figure this out tomorrow. I can totally see the Spark plugs or coils being the issue, I've never changed them, and God knows if the Previous owner or Dealership changed them prior to my purchase.....

I'll keep you guys posted!

Thanks again for all the helpful suggestions! You guys Rock!
 
Last edited:
you dont need a light to get code, i just had this problem, its usually the plugs, wires, coil pack or injector, for me it was the injector p0300-303
 
Shame on you Fightman for never changing your plugs and wires, lol. You've had your truck for a while now so that's probably it. Maybe you'll find Densos on one side and NGKs on the other (that means they've almost positively never been changed).
 
brian2sun said:
Shame on you Fightman for never changing your plugs and wires, lol. You've had your truck for a while now so that's probably it. Maybe you'll find Densos on one side and NGKs on the other (that means they've almost positively never been changed).
Click to expand...

HA HA! I know.....I was actually going to do it a couple of years ago, but when I told my dad I was planning on doing it, he says "If it's running good, why change them??" ha ha ha! As you might have already figured out, I usually ask my dad for alot of advice! I'm 31 years old, have my own home, a wife and 2 kids, but I still call my dad everyday, and when I'm about to do something, I still get his advice first! lol!

I don't know, I just figure, a man who's reached his early fifties has surely experience a lot more than me, so I always ask his advice for stuff!

I'm definately going to get the 2 electrode plugs and wires, that is of course if that is my problem. I'm planning on doing the old water bottle test today, and see what happens. If all else fails, my buddy is coming over around 4pm today, and we'll just use his scan tool.

Once again, thanks for all the advice folks, if it's not my dad, I always like to get it from you guys! :)
 
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