02 XLT Misfires Under Load

[Nibsey]

Thanks in advance for any help that can be offered. Here's my problem...
My Explorer idles fine and drives fine when cold. Once warmed up it seems to get some erratic misfiring, but only when accelerating, driving up hill or when driving under a load. It idles fine, even when I step on it. These misfires feel like "percolation", like little bubbly stumbles as the engine revs through the top of each gear change.

The truck has 100K miles on it. I changed the spark plugs & cables as well as the coil pack. While it runs smoother and quieter than ever, it still has this damn misfire. In speaking with a Ford tech, he thinks that it might be a dirty fuel filter. I've added some injector cleaner for *****/giggles, but I just wanted to see if you think the fuel filter is a possible culprit. Any other things you think I should consider? O2 sensor maybe?

Again, thanks for any input.

 

[rrgone]

Welcome aboard Nibsey. Change that fuel filter and take it somewhere and get it scanned for trouble codes. Auto Zone and the like will scan it for free. If there are codes set then write them down and post them here. Check out the sticky thread at the top of this forum for good info on changing the fuel filter if you want to do it yourself. Good luck.