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2001 3.8L Mustang Hesitation/possible miss?

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  • #578023
    JamesJames
    Participant

      I have a 2001 3.8 Mustang with about 113,000 miles. Bought the vehicle, replaced the fuel pump & battery, and it started right up. From that day, there is definitely something wrong. It idles pretty good, but when you get to around 1300-1800 rpm, you can feel vibration, almost like a slight misfire. No codes, other than the ABS light being on (pretty sure module is toast, can’t connect to it with my scan tool). I initially though it was a clutch issue, as when you were accelerating from a stop, there would be hesitation, almost like a slip for a little while, along with if you were to WOT from around 2-3K, you would feel a slight hesitation, like a slip, and then take off. So I replaced the clutch/pressure plate/pilot bearing/throwout bearing/flywheel, was original clutch, and when I had it apart, the throwout bearing was toast, so it needed to be done. After that, clutch worked better, but still had that hesitation.

      This hesitation is mainly noticed under load, going up a 6% grade, I can hear, what almost sounds like an exhaust leak, WOT accelerating up the grade. When under low load, can’t hear it.

      I have new plugs i’m putting in, again, original plugs, so 100K is Ford’s recommended replacement window, so replacing them now, but I have a very good feeling that is not the issue, but I will find out soon enough. Also replaced the air filter, but again, just because it was scheduled to be replaced anyway.

      No codes, looked at mode $06 data on my scan tool, and saw it had some misfire data recorded on #4, but was not increasing, and after I cleared the ECU, it did not add any more misfire data on any cyl’s after a quick drive, so that’s not much help.

      I looked at o2 sensor data on my scan tool, looked good. Both upstream sensors were fluctuating with the short term fuel trim.

      I have to say I am by no means an expert on using the scan tool, so some data I may be interpreting as good might be bad. I would be happy to get any readings of PID’s you want.

      Thanks all, let me know if you have any questions.

    Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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    • #578093
      college mancollege man
      Moderator
        #578134
        JamesJames
        Participant

          I have read that. Definitely some things to look into. I did change all the spark plugs with OEM Motorcraft, seems to help a bit on startup, but the main issue is still there. I did some more work with my scan tool, and found some interesting results. When looking at FORD.ENGINE.INJ(x)_f, that monitors the injector circuit for faults, I did notice on injector 1, a very rapid switch from fault to no-fault. I have attached the data, and will try to paste it here to see how it looks.

          I only posted 2 of the cyl, normal reading and abnormal reading, 4 seems normal, 1 seems odd. I suppose the next order of business is to switch injector 1 and injector 2, and see if the problem moves. Again, no code, but just my findings with the scan tool.

          Frame Number FORD.ENGINE.INJ4_F FORD.ENGINE.INJ1_F
          Frame Number Injector #4 fault (open/short) Injector #1 fault (open/short)
          Frame Number INJ4_F INJ1_F
          Frame Number
          Frame Number INJ4_F INJ1_F
          0 No Fault No Fault
          1 No Fault No Fault
          2 No Fault No Fault
          3 No Fault No Fault
          4 No Fault No Fault
          5 No Fault No Fault
          6 No Fault No Fault
          7 No Fault No Fault
          8 No Fault Fault
          9 No Fault No Fault
          10 No Fault No Fault
          11 No Fault No Fault
          12 No Fault No Fault
          13 No Fault Fault
          14 No Fault No Fault
          15 No Fault Fault
          16 No Fault No Fault
          17 No Fault No Fault
          18 No Fault No Fault
          19 No Fault No Fault
          20 No Fault Fault
          21 No Fault No Fault
          22 No Fault No Fault
          23 No Fault No Fault
          24 No Fault No Fault
          25 No Fault Fault
          26 No Fault No Fault
          27 No Fault No Fault
          28 No Fault No Fault
          29 No Fault No Fault
          30 No Fault No Fault
          31 No Fault No Fault
          32 No Fault No Fault
          33 No Fault No Fault
          34 No Fault No Fault
          35 No Fault No Fault
          36 No Fault No Fault
          37 No Fault Fault
          38 No Fault No Fault
          39 No Fault No Fault
          40 No Fault No Fault
          41 No Fault No Fault
          42 No Fault No Fault
          43 No Fault No Fault
          44 No Fault No Fault
          45 No Fault No Fault
          46 No Fault No Fault
          47 No Fault No Fault
          48 No Fault No Fault
          49 No Fault No Fault
          50 No Fault No Fault
          51 No Fault Fault
          52 No Fault No Fault
          53 No Fault No Fault
          54 No Fault No Fault
          55 No Fault Fault
          56 No Fault No Fault
          57 No Fault No Fault
          58 No Fault No Fault
          59 No Fault No Fault
          60 No Fault No Fault
          61 No Fault No Fault
          62 No Fault Fault
          63 No Fault No Fault
          64 No Fault No Fault
          65 No Fault No Fault
          66 No Fault No Fault
          67 No Fault Fault
          68 No Fault No Fault
          69 No Fault No Fault
          70 No Fault No Fault
          71 No Fault Fault
          72 No Fault Fault
          73 No Fault No Fault
          74 No Fault No Fault
          75 No Fault No Fault
          76 No Fault Fault
          77 No Fault No Fault
          78 No Fault No Fault
          79 No Fault No Fault
          80 No Fault No Fault
          81 No Fault No Fault
          82 No Fault No Fault
          83 No Fault No Fault
          84 No Fault No Fault
          85 No Fault No Fault
          86 No Fault No Fault
          87 No Fault Fault
          88 No Fault No Fault
          89 No Fault No Fault
          90 No Fault No Fault
          91 No Fault No Fault
          92 No Fault Fault
          93 No Fault No Fault
          94 No Fault No Fault
          95 No Fault No Fault
          96 No Fault No Fault
          97 No Fault No Fault
          98 No Fault No Fault
          99 No Fault No Fault
          100 No Fault Fault
          101 No Fault No Fault
          102 No Fault No Fault
          103 No Fault No Fault
          104 No Fault No Fault
          105 No Fault No Fault
          106 No Fault No Fault
          107 No Fault No Fault
          108 No Fault Fault
          109 No Fault No Fault
          110 No Fault No Fault
          111 No Fault No Fault
          112 No Fault No Fault
          113 No Fault Fault
          114 No Fault No Fault
          115 No Fault No Fault
          116 No Fault No Fault
          117 No Fault No Fault
          118 No Fault Fault
          119 No Fault No Fault
          120 No Fault No Fault
          121 No Fault No Fault
          122 No Fault No Fault
          123 No Fault Fault
          124 No Fault No Fault
          125 No Fault No Fault
          126 No Fault No Fault
          127 No Fault Fault
          128 No Fault No Fault
          129 No Fault No Fault
          130 No Fault Fault
          131 No Fault No Fault
          132 No Fault No Fault
          133 No Fault No Fault
          134 No Fault No Fault
          135 No Fault No Fault
          136 No Fault No Fault
          137 No Fault No Fault
          138 No Fault No Fault
          139 No Fault Fault
          140 No Fault No Fault
          141 No Fault No Fault
          142 No Fault No Fault
          143 No Fault No Fault
          144 No Fault No Fault
          145 No Fault No Fault
          146 No Fault No Fault
          147 No Fault No Fault
          148 No Fault No Fault
          149 No Fault Fault
          150 No Fault No Fault
          151 No Fault No Fault
          152 No Fault No Fault
          153 No Fault No Fault
          154 No Fault Fault
          155 No Fault No Fault
          156 No Fault No Fault
          157 No Fault No Fault
          158 No Fault No Fault
          159 No Fault No Fault
          160 No Fault No Fault
          161 No Fault No Fault
          162 No Fault No Fault
          163 No Fault No Fault
          164 No Fault No Fault
          165 No Fault No Fault
          166 No Fault No Fault
          167 No Fault No Fault
          168 No Fault Fault
          169 No Fault No Fault
          170 No Fault No Fault
          171 No Fault No Fault
          172 No Fault No Fault
          173 No Fault Fault
          174 No Fault No Fault
          175 No Fault No Fault
          176 No Fault No Fault
          177 No Fault No Fault
          178 No Fault Fault
          179 No Fault No Fault
          180 No Fault No Fault
          181 No Fault No Fault
          182 No Fault No Fault
          183 No Fault Fault
          184 No Fault No Fault
          185 No Fault No Fault
          186 No Fault No Fault
          187 No Fault No Fault
          188 No Fault No Fault
          189 No Fault No Fault
          190 No Fault No Fault
          191 No Fault No Fault
          192 No Fault No Fault
          193 No Fault No Fault
          194 No Fault No Fault
          195 No Fault No Fault
          196 No Fault No Fault
          197 No Fault No Fault
          198 No Fault No Fault
          199 No Fault No Fault
          200 No Fault No Fault
          201 No Fault No Fault
          202 No Fault No Fault
          203 No Fault Fault
          204 No Fault No Fault
          205 No Fault No Fault
          206 No Fault No Fault
          207 No Fault No Fault
          208 No Fault Fault
          209 No Fault No Fault
          210 No Fault No Fault
          211 No Fault No Fault
          212 No Fault Fault
          213 No Fault No Fault
          214 No Fault No Fault
          215 No Fault No Fault
          216 No Fault No Fault
          217 No Fault No Fault
          218 No Fault No Fault
          219 No Fault No Fault
          220 No Fault No Fault
          221 No Fault No Fault
          222 No Fault No Fault
          223 No Fault No Fault
          224 No Fault Fault
          225 No Fault No Fault
          226 No Fault No Fault
          227 No Fault No Fault
          228 No Fault No Fault
          229 No Fault No Fault
          230 No Fault No Fault
          231 No Fault No Fault
          232 No Fault No Fault
          233 No Fault No Fault
          234 No Fault No Fault
          235 No Fault No Fault
          236 No Fault Fault
          237 No Fault No Fault
          238 No Fault No Fault
          239 No Fault No Fault
          240 No Fault Fault
          241 No Fault No Fault
          242 No Fault No Fault
          243 No Fault No Fault
          244 No Fault No Fault
          245 No Fault Fault
          246 No Fault No Fault
          247 No Fault No Fault
          248 No Fault No Fault
          249 No Fault No Fault
          250 No Fault Fault
          251 No Fault No Fault
          252 No Fault No Fault
          253 No Fault No Fault
          254 No Fault No Fault
          255 No Fault No Fault
          256 No Fault No Fault
          257 No Fault Fault
          258 No Fault No Fault
          259 No Fault No Fault
          260 No Fault No Fault
          261 No Fault No Fault
          262 No Fault No Fault
          263 No Fault No Fault
          264 No Fault No Fault
          265 No Fault Fault
          266 No Fault No Fault
          267 No Fault No Fault
          268 No Fault No Fault
          269 No Fault Fault
          270 No Fault No Fault
          271 No Fault No Fault
          272 No Fault No Fault
          273 No Fault Fault
          274 No Fault No Fault
          #579469
          silveramsilveram
          Participant

            I have a 1997 model of the 3.8 L with 105,000 miles on her. Overall, my engine runs pretty smoothly but it does have some gimmicky shudders now and then. It’s an old beater, I don’t mind it too much.

            Here is my anecdote:

            One thing that threw me off for a quite while though has been a mysterious vacuum leak. It’s only just audible under the right conditions and only enough to throw the fuel trims off a bit. Then, just recently I think I have discovered the source…the lower intake manifold gasket because in the cold weather this year it decided to noticeably leak coolant.

            I suspect the lean condition caused by the vacuum leak is causing a slight knock in one/some of the cylinders. My engine runs smoother on high octane than regular gas which gives some support to this theory (though this could be for other reasons as well).

            A faulty fuel injector certainly could cause a mis-fire as well as your data suggest. Switching the injectors seems like a reasonable test. Though you may want to also check for a vacuum leak, it should be a quick and easy test.

            #579470
            JamesJames
            Participant

              Hello Silveram, thanks for your input.

              I do have a slight lean condition, mainly on bank 2, drivers side. I have around a 13% long term fuel trim at idle, that drops at RPM raise. I know I have an exhaust leak on that bank, I believe to be in the exhaust manifold. I have yet to get under and verify 100%, but I am pretty darn sure. I need to fix that before I can go after any other issue. I have a feeling my scantool is giving me false data on injector 1, and that there is no open or short in that injector wiring or computer driver, but it could be, have to get another, better scan tool to verify.

              Once I fix the exhaust leak on bank 1, and replace the small grommet that the PCV hose connects to that is a bit loose on drivers side valve cover, I will be able to further diagnose the issue.

              I don’t see how higher octane fuel would help if you have a lean condition.

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