Need some help with low/no power

[hrasnake]

I have a 2000 X xlt 4x4 with the 4.0 OHV that I purchased from my grandmother. It had been parked for a year, she needed the money and I needed a 4x4. 114k miles on it and needed a water pump and a tune-up, simple enough. Has run great for me until the past 2 weeks. CEL came on and absolutely no power going up hills and idle drops drastically when it is in gear and the DPFE was melted. I have researched the forums extensively but have not been able to fix the issue. Seems to idle fine but this thing is crawling up hills. Doesn't seem to be running hot.

The vehicle has gotten these new parts in the last 6 months.

• Fuel Filter (Motorcraft)
• Water Pump (Delco)
• Plugs (Motorcraft)
• Wires (Denso)
• Coil Pack (Motorcraft)
• IAC (Delphi)
• DPFE and new hoses (O'Reilly house brand)
• Upper Intake Manifold gasket (Fel-Pro)
• Air Filter

I also cleaned out the throttle body extensively, plate, MAF, etc. Ran seafoam through the crankcase and fuel tank in the last 1000 miles and I have checked the fuel pump and it is working. No signs of head gasket issues (air in the reservoir, no coolant in oil or oil in coolant) Sprayed ether around

I borrowed an OBD-II reader today and these are the codes I am getting.

• P0352 Ignition Coil B Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction (new coil pack. Doesn't make sense)
• P0303 Misfire Detected in #3 Cylinder
• P0304 Misfire Detected in #4 Cylinder
• P0306 Misfire Detected in #6 Cylinder
• P0113 Intake Air Temperature Circuit High Input (changed the IAC this morning so likely an old code)
• P0102 Mass or Volume Air Flow Circuit Low Input
• P0122 Throttle/Pedal Position Sensor/Switch "A" Circuit Low Input
• P1504 Intake Air Control Circuit Malfunction (again replaced this morning)

I am at a loss at this point. My only thought is that it could be the catalytic converters clogged up but the exhaust at the pipe seems to be strong. Any help I can get would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Mbrooks420]

2nd gen issues? Try this first!

Try reseating these first. Then clear codes and try to run it again. Post back the codes that pop up, and it’ll be easier to narrow down.

 

[J_C]

Sitting for a year, the first suspect to me would be the battery is shot. Low battery voltage can cause all kinds of phantom codes and loss of power from misfires.

That it runs at all makes me wonder if one of the cells in it is shorted. Measure the battery voltage with a multimeter, vehicle off and running. Should be near 12.6V former and 14.4V latter. If it's around 2.1V low and not a maintenance free battery you can take the covers off and probe between each cell to see if one is bad. I'd wrap a piece of bare copper wire around multimeter probes to dip that into the battery acid rather than the probes themselves.

Running with a battery that has a bad cell can also wear out an alternator, perpetually trying to put as many amps into it as possible to get it up to a voltage it can never reach. If you have replaced the battery then I'd wonder if the alternator is bad.

 

[hrasnake]

I did the reseating of the connectors and even cleaned the contacts with electrical contact cleaner last week and no dice. Battery measures at 12.68 at rest and 14.42 running. The alternator is from 2016 per the sticker on it.

I also reset the trouble codes and ran it for a few minutes. Still no power but it has not thrown new codes. After work today I will take it for a longer ride and see what it throws.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Are you sure your wire order is correct?

 

[hrasnake]

Double checked the wiring order and it was correct. Thing runs like a champ until I put it in gear and then it about chokes out and when driving I am lucky to make it up the mountain I live on above 10-12 mph when I used to be able to climb it at 45.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

You listed the fuel filter as being replaced, what about the fuel in the tank?

 

[hrasnake]

Thought that too. It was 1/4 tank when it happened and I have since put new, higher octane, fuel in the tank along with some seafoam. No change. I am really at a loss here.

 

[974X4BLACKSPORT]

Get a scanner that you can read and clear trouble codes and also view live sensor data while the vehicle is running. You have to know what the sensors are doing and the information being fed to the ECM/PCM or else your shooting in the dark playing a guessing game.

 

[Mbrooks420]

Higher octane fuel is entirely unnecessary, and the seafoam won’t restore bad gas. I would have purged it out before replacing the filter.

 

[German Engineer]

Get a scanner that you can read and clear trouble codes and also view live sensor data while the vehicle is running. You have to know what the sensors are doing and the information being fed to the ECM/PCM or else your shooting in the dark playing a guessing game.

I agree with 974x4Blacksport.
Get a good OBDII scanner that can also show you LIVE DATA while you're driving. (I bought an Autel AL-619 for $120 dollars 2 years ago for example and I'm very happy with it - just to give you an example)
Otherwise it will be an endless guessing game.

From your first post it sounds like it may most likely be an electric problem, but if those codes were all old ones and didn't come up again after clearing them, then there might also be a whole other bunch of possible issues to guess. Basically anything from a simple bad ground on the battery terminal over bad MAF, or things like bad throttle position sensor to - in one of the worst cases - a bad PCM could be wrong.

So again, I strongly recommend you buy a reasonably good OBDII scanner, not just the cheapest you can find. One which not only lets you read and clear error codes, but also lets you see live data.Only those will allow you to see the actual sensor values and data you get while driving, especially while driving up that hill and losing power.

With common sense you should then be to tell if sensor data, like for example those for engine coolant temperature or throttle position or vehicle speed, RPM, or long term short term fuel trim...… etc. each show reasonable values and behave according to the driving situation (idle , cruising accelerating fast etc...) or not.

It will save you a lot of time (now and in the future) and will help pinpoint the problem/s.

Now that I think of it... somewhere in this forum I read of a bad catalytic converter possibly causing issues like that also, only clogging up under certain conditions and when the engine is warm, freeing up again after it cools down. So that might also be a possibility.
A good OBDII scanner will also help you diagnose that as well via the O2 sensors.

 

[Gary Crist]

Burned up cats or dead exhaust will do all these things.
Remember putting the potato in the ex trick? Car runs
great, no power!

 

[hrasnake]

Thanks for all the help everyone. I am planning on limping over to the closest exhaust shop and having them take a look at my cats and exhaust as a whole sometime around lunch today. I dont have the tools to test it properly at home. I tried unbolting the exhaust at the cats but even with a generous dose of PB blaster and an impact wrench, I can't get the bolts off. Looks like it either needs a grinder, which I do have but its too big to get it into the area, or I will need to cut the bolts off or a cutting torch, which I do not have.

As for the recommendation of a real-time scanner, has anyone tried one of the Bluetooth / wifi enabled dongles and ran an app for the real-time readings and if so which dongle do you recommend?

 

[German Engineer]

If you already had a code reader, you could check the values of the 02 sensors. The downstream one (or two) behind the catalytic converter should tell you if the cat works and does it's job or not. And that in turn again should give a better idea whether it's plausible for it to be clogged up or clogging up sporadically or not.
Could potentially help you avoid wasting a bunch of money in case you'd otherwise have the exhaust shop diagnose the cat and possibly open it up and it turns out not to be the cat, but an electric problem instead.


(P.S.: here's an explanation that helps understanding how you can diagnose the cat's performance from the O2 sensor readings:
"
How does a downstream O2 sensor monitor converter efficiency?

A downstream oxygen sensor in or behind the catalytic converter works exactly the same as an upstream O2 sensor in the exhaust manifold. The sensor produces a voltage that changes when the amount of unburned oxygen in the exhaust changes. If the O2 sensor is a traditional zirconia type sensor, the voltage output drops to about 0.2 volts when the fuel mixture is lean (more oxygen in the exhaust). When the fuel mixture is rich (less oxygen in the exhaust), the sensor's output jumps up to a high of about 0.9 volts. The high or low voltage signal tells the PCM the fuel mixture is rich or lean.

On some newer vehicles, a new type of Wide Ratio Air Fuel (WRAF) Sensor is used. Instead of producing a high or low voltage signal, the signal changes in direct proportion to the amount of oxygen in the exhaust. This provides a more precise measurement for better fuel control. These sensors are also called wideband oxygen sensors because they can read very lean air/fuel mixtures.

The OBD II system monitors converter efficiency by comparing the upstream and downstream oxygen sensor signals. If the converter is doing its job and is reducing the pollutants in the exhaust, the downstream oxygen sensor should show little activity (few lean-to-rich transitions, which are also called "crosscounts"). The sensor's voltage reading should also be fairly steady (not changing up or down), and average 0.45 volts or higher.

If the signal from the downstream oxygen sensor starts to mirror that from the upstream oxygen sensor(s), it means converter efficiency has dropped off and the converter isn't cleaning up the pollutants in the exhaust. The threshold for setting a diagnostic trouble code (DTC) and turning on the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) is when emissions are estimated to exceed federal limits by 1.5 times. See Troubleshooting a P0420 Catalyst Code for more info about converter problems.

If converter efficiency had declined to the point where the vehicle may be exceeding the pollution limit, the PCM will turn on the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) and set a diagnostic trouble code. At that point, additional diagnosis may be needed to confirm the failing converter. If the upstream and downstream O2 sensors are functioning properly and show a drop off in converter efficiency, the converter must be replaced to restore emissions compliance. The vehicle will not pass an OBD II emissions test if there are any converter codes in the PCM.

source: OXYGEN SENSORS
)

 

[J_C]

As for the recommendation of a real-time scanner, has anyone tried one of the Bluetooth / wifi enabled dongles and ran an app for the real-time readings and if so which dongle do you recommend?

BAFX
(Bluetooth for Android or PC, Apple products need a wifi dongle instead).

Use Torque or better still Forscan apps, either of which have a free and paid version, the free doing *most* things.

 

[hrasnake]

BAFX
(Bluetooth for Android or PC, Apple products need a wifi dongle instead).
Use Torque or better still Forscan apps, either of which have a free and paid version, the free doing *most* things.

I just ordered that dongle. Thanks for the advice. Hopefully, with a more thorough scan, I can tell what is really going on.

 

[hrasnake]

started up the vehicle during lunch and noticed a small arc from the spark plug in cylinder 6. Do you think a cracked plug could be causing all my issues and is just really acting up under load?

 

[German Engineer]

started up the vehicle during lunch and noticed a small arc from the spark plug in cylinder 6. Do you think a cracked plug could be causing all my issues and is just really acting up under load?

Well wherever that arc is supposed to be, if you can get to the sparkplug, then go ahead change it out, it's just 4 or 5 bucks and then you'll know more. I must say I can't really make all that much sense of your description of seeing a small arc, but if you're talking about an ark on the outside while the sparkplug is installed, then it sounds like the insulation might be broken and then you'd have to replace the plug either way and it's a very cheap thing to do and helps ruling problems out. I'm not sure that might cause all the symptoms described in the first post, but it sure would explain for the misfire code in cylinder 6.

Once you have the code reader and after having cleared whatever codes, I generally suggest you at least wait for a full drive cycle diagnostic to be completed, before assuming that any codes which did not come back on might be fine now.
That drive cycle is necessary to complete all the emissions related checks and potential issues could be revealed during those. The scan tool will tell you when the emissions tests are completed or still incomplete.

In case you wonder what that drive cycle is, here's a description on what driving conditions the car needs to undergo in in order to complete the emissions related tests:
Ford Motor Company Driving Cycle

 

[hrasnake]

I changed out the cracked plug and took it for a long drive. The 12mph up a hill problem seems to be gone. I did however get 303 and 304 and 113 code again so I changed out the rest of the plugs. Ngk' s this time around since I already had them here. I am still not certain about the 113 code, but its at least drivable and the dongle should arrive early next week. Thanks again for all of the assistance everyone. You are truly lions among mere housecats.

 

[J_C]

P0113 is for IAT sensor. Around '97 Ford made it a separate sensor from the MAF on the intake. I'd take the IAT out and measure resistance in water. According to member dogfriend, quote "about 37K ohm at 68 deg F, 7.7k ohm at 140 deg F":

What is the difference bet IAT sensor LOW and High Voltage?

It's only $12 and change at Rockauto:
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=929831&cc=1362451&jsn=555