New Owner and need help

[own1bigtruck]

I bought a 98 Expy 4x4 with the 5.4 from a guy I work with last night to replace the wifes Ford Windstar minvan. It has 260K on it right now. Since last night I have replaced the belt tensioner, PCV and tube assemblies, air filter, DPFE lines, recharged the AC, changed engine oil and filter, and trans oil and filter, and have the oil to change both diffs and transfer. It has a couple of issues that are baffling me and starting to get very aggrevating. When I first got it, it would idle rough as crap. The PCV and tubes fixed most of that. When it is first started it is rough and slobbers around, but once it warms she purrs like a kitten at 650-700rpm. However what I cant figure out is when you are driving it seems to accelerate fine up to about 35, then it starts to shudder like the TQ converter is slipping unless you mash it to the floor. Once it gets about 2K rpm it seems to calm down. The down side of this is that is seems like it has very minimal power and cant seem to get the RPMs to go above about 2300. I am pretty sure that I have a small exhaust leak on the passenger side bank, but I cant see that being a big enough deal to cause the issues. Money is a bit tight right now, so I cant afford to take it to the dealer and have them throw parts at it and waste money trying to figure it out. Heck I bought the thing for $500, Im just really hoping that I didnt screw myself and have both an engine and trans that need rebuilt before it will be driveable enough that I feel comfortable letting my wife take it with the kids. Also, does anyone know where you can get a PDF version of the shop manual and possibly the owners manuals that arent going to cost me $300 a set from the dealer??

 

[Hit By Thunder]

Cant help you with the running rough. I would scan for codes first then I would disconnect the battery for abit then reconnect it. This will reset the soft codes and it will relearn shifting and running for about a 100 miles or so.

As for manuals, I just ordered mine from ebay and it was $75 with shipping to Canada, that was for volume 1&2 as well as the electrical manual.

welcome to the site and some good guys here to help you out.

Rob/HBT

 

[Copper93]

Have the codes read. I just had a coil go bad on my 97 expy and it ran rough as all get out. Once I got it to 2k rpms it would settle down. About 2k, the engine was turning fast enough to blend in the missing cylinder. If it has been misfireing long enough, it may had damaged your converter. A damaged/clogged converter will keep it from reving up due to the back pressure.

 

[own1bigtruck]

No codes to pull. Previous owner had replaced all of the plugs, COPS, and all 4 O2 sensors trying to fix the rough idle problem due to the infamous 90 degree elbow on the back of the intake. This is part of the reason Im at a loss.

 

[bedrck46]

You can download the owners manual
go to owner.ford.com
get the shop manual on DVD

Ford workshop manual on DVD. Can be obtained from seller "morpheousking" on e-bay. Cost about $20.00 Much better than Clymer, Haynes or Chilton and also includes wiring diagrams

Don't waste your money on a Clymer, Haynes or Chilton Manual.
It is well worth the $20.00 just make sure you get the DVD for your year as the seller has different DVD's for different years

 

[bedrck46]

you may also want to clean the exhaust ports thru the throttle body You need to pull the throttle to clean them properly and change the DPFE sensor

 

[Hit By Thunder]

Hmmmmm maybe intake leak. My 2001 f150 with 5.4L had a bad exhaust valve on #5. Always had a miss and when it hit overdrive and the rpms were low. It buck sobad, it would go into limp in mode. Rather than rebuild the motor, I opted for another low mile truck that was a soft rollover and swapped my body onto the rollover frame. Truck runs like a champ now. Idid the swap about 2 years ago and the rollover had 70000 miles

Rob/HBT

 

[jammy75]

Def check your DPFE and your EGR gasket my 98 had the same shake rattle and roll and all I did was put a rubber glove over the intake and blow cigar smoke into my brake booster line to find that my egr gasket was leaking($2.99) Hope this helps and good luck keep us posted on your progress...

 

[jammy75]

O' forgot my dpfe hoses where reverse too.

 

[IMINYOURCHAIR]

O' forgot my dpfe hoses where reverse too.

i had that happen to my truck, except it just made it throw a cel every time i drove about 10 miles. egr flow insufficient

OP: after you get the engine side of this sorted, we can look more into the trans. sometimes the engine can act funny when you are also chasing a trans problem and make it look like one problem when it's something else in the engine.

 

[Mediamonkey11]

Definitely sounds like an engine issue, I test drove one that drove perfect for a bit then did the same thing, I could tell it was from the engine though, was a definite miss. Even if the PO did that work I'd check the plugs and coils w/boots out thoroughly.

 

[own1bigtruck]

Well add the DPFE, and EGR vaccume pressure regulator to the list...still doing it.....

 

[mjlcobra]

FWIW I have a brand new DPFE sensor from AutoZone ( duralast ) that I tried to solve the P0401 with. Ended up having blocked EGR ports on my intake. If the coils, cops, and plugs have been changed, I suppose I'd go with fuel filter and air filters. They're cheap enough and probably need changed anyways.

 

[1stGeExpedition]

Check all of the plastic plugs for your coil packs. If one is not properly connected or a wire is bare it can cause your symptoms. It'll miss (may or may not throw codes) and stumble. Kinda sounds like a plugged cat or exhaust leak too.

By checking the cop connectors I mean physically. Disconnect them one at a time and inspect each one along w/ the wires.

Do you have codes related to this? I read that you said no codes to pull but did you scan it?

Maybe your PO disabled the SEL like mine did. Does your service engine light illuminate on the dash when you put the ignition to on before starting?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[1stGeExpedition]

I changed my cops not too long ago and didn't fully plug in the #7 connector and it stumbled and ran like crap just like you describe.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[own1bigtruck]

I replaced all of the COP's and plugs again last night. She runs much better now! The stutter is gone and she idles nice now! Still have a small exhaust leak where the down pipe connects and a squealing idler pulley but I feel much better about this investment now. I guess now its time to order all of the suspension components and start rebuilding the bottom end....

 

[jlo82585]

the 5.4l is notorious for an exhaust leak on the R side exh. manifold. Its a ford design flaw of using non-stainless steel and poor exhaust heat dissipation. Usually a real pain to fix, mine has the same issue, the manifold bolts are either missing or are so rusted they don't even resemble bolts. I had a shop quote me $300 to fix the leak alone so i'm saving up...