ford 5.4 coils? computer? wiring? program? something's gotta give

marty79

marty79

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 2, 2015
Location
Newton, NC
well I've waited a while to post but it's time to get into it further as there HAS TO BE a deeper issue rather than these coils:
A while back yall remember I had misfire issues, supposively was the cheapo china coils so was told to put the originals back in it and go from there. I put the originals back in it and well ever since then, about every 3-4 weeks it throws a coil. For now I've swapped in the china ones and they are holding up, it's the other ones that keep going..
including now. gets a new transmission and go figure another coil goes but this time #1 misfire and nothing is changing...NO IT"S NOT COIL.
I was going to go buy Ford OEM coils but there's HAS TO BE something else going on with this POS!! There's no way this thing is throwing coils that often, cheap or not, and it just be coils. I know fords suck and there known for coil issues but this is beyond "the ford quirk"...ECU?? Reprogram??

Any help advise would be great. I'm fed up with this junk of a pos. Just spent $1342 for transmission, starter, flywheel and fluid and now just back to the same old ford crap.
If there's anyone within reasonable distance of me and really knows Fords, I will take a day off and come to you and pay you full price if that's what it takes to fix this once and for all. Thank you for your time to anyone who can help.
 
Have you done a compression test on the cylinders? I saw a guy with a cracked head, according to him, crack was messing with spark plug, spark plug issues were causing coils to go/show fault. Not saying that's what it is but...
 
1stgenxxx said:
scrap it buy a chevy
Click to expand...
believe me when this thing is up and running good, with so much money I've got into it, it's probably going up for sale and go back to a Tahoe. 5 Tahoe I've had and NEVER dealt with anything outside regular stuff but this is just pathetic!! I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER buy another ford EVER again! But nonetheless I gotta fix it!

Drunktaco said:
Have you done a compression test on the cylinders? I saw a guy with a cracked head, according to him, crack was messing with spark plug, spark plug issues were causing coils to go/show fault. Not saying that's what it is but...
Click to expand...
well can't be that cause it's thrown coils all over the place not just one side so it's not just one bank focused. Trust me I've thought of that and once I replace a coil, until the next one goes it runs perfect. No noises, full plenty of power, quiet no smells no funny stuff....just throws coils every several weeks and now stuck on #1.

Forgot to mention that half the time, tomorrow I'll crank it up to go to work and it will run perfect, not a pitter putter but on the way home, crank up at work and runs like butt on the way home...this car is possessed obviously
 
I have heard of people having coil issues with the 5.4 because of bad plugs.
Just a guess, but how old are the plugs?
 
junkxj said:
I have heard of people having coil issues with the 5.4 because of bad plugs.
Just a guess, but how old are the plugs?
Click to expand...
plugs are maybe 3months old, 4 tops. they weren't bad but put in motorcraft ones. original owner did it every 100k roughly so it was pretty well taken care of
 
Misfires on those motors have ended the life of many trucks/SUVs
 
1stgenxxx said:
Misfires on those motors have ended the life of many trucks/SUVs
Click to expand...
i don't doubt that one bit. I love the expedition itself better than the tahoe on several different topics, this expo tows better than the tahoe but the chevy is way more reliable than this ford by long shot. I just don't get it, my 99 F150 with 5.4 didn't do any of this crap which was my "hopes" when I bought this thinking it would be ok and not give me all this hell. Now I'm into this truck so deep that I have no choice but to fix it good and either keep it or suppose sell it for the good money it will be Lol. If I can get past this coil/misfire crap once and forall, it will be a darn good reliable SUV with all the work and money put into it.
And because I'm not good at reading and comprehension, I can't understand any of the real tech stuff on how to do Mod $06 and stuff on the scanner and run/trace/test wires on the bus ports and all that becomes jibberish as usual when trying to read it so that sucks.
 
Do you have the correct spark plugs?

The 5.4 has a few options that “work” but aren’t right.

What engine? Year? Etc?

Have you checked injectors?
 
rockcity said:
Do you have the correct spark plugs?

The 5.4 has a few options that “work” but aren’t right.

What engine? Year? Etc?

Have you checked injectors?
Click to expand...
03 expedition 5.4 auto 4x4.
Motorcraft plugs that factory calls for...
As far as injectors, how can it be since different coils keep going every several weeks.
 
have you checked all your grounds?
 
Want it fixed? Don't know how, do as I do. Take it to Minton's automotive over in Granite Falls. David is a wizard on everything automotive. He's not the cheapest, but he can fix it. His work is also guaranteed. Not many places do this.
 
marty79 said:
03 expedition 5.4 auto 4x4.
Motorcraft plugs that factory calls for...
As far as injectors, how can it be since different coils keep going every several weeks.
Click to expand...



I understand. But are you using SP515, 507, 421, etc?? Just because they are Motorcraft doesn’t necessarily mean they are the “correct” plugs. Parts stores often times list and sell you wrong parts.

I’d do more research and verify you have the correct part number for your year and engine. It may not completely fix the issue but at least you’d know that you have the right part to eliminate any potential issues with correct firing.
 
rockcity said:
I understand. But are you using SP515, 507, 421, etc?? Just because they are Motorcraft doesn’t necessarily mean they are the “correct” plugs. Parts stores often times list and sell you wrong parts.

I’d do more research and verify you have the correct part number for your year and engine. It may not completely fix the issue but at least you’d know that you have the right part to eliminate any potential issues with correct firing.
Click to expand...

You get outta here with that sort of logic.
 
rockcity said:
I understand. But are you using SP515, 507, 421, etc?? Just because they are Motorcraft doesn’t necessarily mean they are the “correct” plugs. Parts stores often times list and sell you wrong parts.

I’d do more research and verify you have the correct part number for your year and engine. It may not completely fix the issue but at least you’d know that you have the right part to eliminate any potential issues with correct firing.
Click to expand...
This weekend I'll check it all out, thank you
 
upnover said:
Want it fixed? Don't know how, do as I do. Take it to Minton's automotive over in Granite Falls. David is a wizard on everything automotive. He's not the cheapest, but he can fix it. His work is also guaranteed. Not many places do this.
Click to expand...
Much Dually noted, thank you
 
Did you gap the plugs before you put them in? I've pulled plugs out of the box the were spread wayyyy apart, and some that had no gap at all. It is very important to have the correct gap as well as the correct plug.
 
Have you ever had issues with carbon buildup on the plugs or the barrel? The 5.4 is notorious for this. If the buildup is not removed prior to installing new plugs, it is possible to damage the spark plug during installation which could lead to misfire conditions.
 
rockcity said:
Have you ever had issues with carbon buildup on the plugs or the barrel? The 5.4 is notorious for this. If the buildup is not removed prior to installing new plugs, it is possible to damage the spark plug during installation which could lead to misfire conditions.
Click to expand...
Wasn't that on the 3 valve motors? The 03 has a 2 valve. The 3 valve didn't start in the Expedition till 04.
 
rockcity said:
It may be. I don’t know the year break in the 2v versus the 3v but it’s certainly something to verify
Click to expand...
This is 2 valve. Gonna pull left bank tonight and see what's up. Thanks everyone for ideas and input
 
You say it's not the coil but have you taken the coil that throws the misfire code, swapped it with another cylinder and see if the misfire moves to that position? Have you "bench tested" these things (Ohm it out and compare to FSM)? Whats the exact code it's throwing? Is it only throwing a P0301 (Cylinder 1 misfire) or/and do you have a P0300 (Random Multiple)? The parts store coils for these things are shit, I can't count how many bad ones I've seen come back or just bad out of the box.
 
Jody Treadway said:
Ummmm. Touch mean this thing hasn't fixed itself in 3 months?
View attachment 267535
Click to expand...
hey easy now I stated was gonna buy ford coil but guess what it's not the coil..or plugs. freaking stupid crap that's what it is, dam ford design engineers of the hood cowl
So i read up so much stuff last night and came across MANY people who say it's water leaking into the engine bay when it rains or from moisture outside when temp gets certain low. Water and moisture leak into the coil area if they don't seal 100% and cause what seems to be coils going bad way more often than supposed to...I was very skeptical but after seeing this mentioned so many times, I decided to look into it and holy crap it worked!!
I pulled out every coil and up inside the top of each coil almost, especially pass side are the worst, there is rust at the top of the spring inside the boot. took them all out and cleaned em up, cleaned the plugs again which were fine, this time liberally put tons of diaelectric grease on both ends of coil and lots of grease on the outside of boot where it seats in the head...fired right up and purrs like a kitty. I'll be a monkey's muncle! So so far running good, but that's it for the night will know for sure on the way to work but it would roast the tires holding brake so that's usually the sign that it runs right lol. Dam what a nightmare this ford firing issue has been for 3 months now but seems that it's finally fixed.
And yes from now on I'm going with ford coils, I got that! thanks and will report if anything changes but all seems good.
 
Back
Top