Calling PotatoExplorer - let's discuss my diag of my engine surge

[Zorin]

I dug into mine, first with a scan tool, only to find a code for the EVAP Vent Solenoid, which I already knew.

The next thing I did was change my fuel filter, and this helped tamp it down, of course, I also figured out that no one had ever changed it either:

The fluid in the small dish is fuel that came out of the supply side - luckily, you can see after cutting open the filter and media that the filter was doing it's job.

After that, still faced with the issue, I moved on, and checked the wiring at the ETC, and it looked pretty good. Then, I hooked the scan tool up again to check the CAN voltage to see if I was getting any spikes from anywhere, and it looked OK as well - I was expecting a faulty ignition coil to be introducing a voltage spike into the CAN network, however, that was not the case.

After this, I took it in and had a local transmission shop drop the pan, and change the fluid and filter with Motorcraft parts. The dealer wouldn't do a pan drop, only a flush.

This, along with an adaptive reset solved my concern. It's been several hundred miles, and mine has not had one single hitch the entire time.

Tim

 

[PotatoExplorer]

Hi Tim, and Merry Christmas!

I'm glad you were able to get your issue taken care of. That fuel filter picture looked pretty nasty! Mine looked similar and seemed like the original from the factory. I will say that after I changed the plugs, COPs, fuel filter, new transmission fluid/filter, new oil/filter, new front & rear differential fluid, new transfer case fluid, and followed by a PCM reset, the beast ran incredibly better than when I first picked her up but still had the issue.

To be quite honest I've kinda given up on it. Chasing a ghost for a year gets frustrating and incredibly taxing. I've got the scan tool/program but am more or less waiting to get a second wind before trying to get back into chasing this thing. I'd also like to get the PCM updated.

 

[Zorin]

Merry Christmas to you too, my friend!

That's cool, and totally understandable. Let me know when you do decide to dig back in, I did a ton of research, and talked to a few folks about this, so I had a couple of contingency plans ready to go in case things didn't go quite this smoothly.

My next place to start digging was going to be the parts store electronic throttle I installed for the previous owner two years ago. I normally insist on better parts, but he didn't have time to wait, so we bought local - so I was going to key up the accelerator pedal sensor, throttle motor and both position sensors to look for voltage burps there.

Tim