Ford Triton 5.4L 3v Weird Idle Issues

[Michael Wells]

Hey y’all I figure I would put this topic out there and see if anyone else has ran into this issue. I have a 2006 Ford F-250 4WD with the 5.4L 3 value Triton V-8 with auto trans. About a week ago I was sitting at a red light when I noticed that my RPM’s would drop slightly and the engine would make a ‘sneeze’ sound every 4-5 seconds. The engine had just reached running temp. After take off, it ran fine during acceleration and at running speeds. When I stopped at the next red light, it done the same thing. After that, it ran perfectly fine, until today. Early in the morning as I was travelling down the highway, I noticed my ABS light came on. After approx 10 min, it went out. I scanned the OBD for codes and received one concerning the left front speed sensor. Then later in the afternoon, I was leaving my house and when I went to go around a curve (at 30MPH), I took my foot off the accelerator and the RPM’s dropped low and the engine stalled. I put it in neutral, started the engine, and ran perfectly fine the rest of the day. Before dark I went out and done a little cleaning on the throttle body, seems to be running fine as of right now. I wouldn’t think something from the ABS could cause running/idle issues but could I be wrong?

Anyone have any suggestions for me to check out next? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Topic

[Its me]

Check battery connections and cables… Ensure they are clean and tight and your battery is at least 12.6 volts… Also a battery load test wouldn’t hurt (free at most major auto parts stores in the U.S.)

-Karl

[Michael Wells]

Thanks I’ll stop by Advance and get them to test the battery and alternator tomorrow.

[none]

If the battery and cables turn out fine, consider this: Fuel pump driver modules are a pattern failure part on the F150s. I’m going to dare to assume that the same driver module failure happens to the F250. I snooped on the interwebs a little to find they use the same FPDM and the part number looks to have been superceded a hundred times over so it’s a fairly safe assumption.

Lower your spare tire and you’ll see it on the left side of the frame crossmember. Unbolt it and look at the back side of it. It used to be aluminum. Now it will be chalky, chunky, and have flaky white crap and it may have just rotted through the case altogether. You’ll be able to see the PCB inside and there should be signs of corrosion everywhere including the pins at the connector. That driver module can cause misfire problems, no/low power troubles, and stalling once it goes rotten. They’ve been prone to failure even if they haven’t rotted into oblivion. Even if this isn’t your root problem, it will be someday.

Here’s the first one I met:

[URL=http://s666.photobucket.com/user/imsickofmakingusernames/media/Forum%20info%20pics/0113140859b_zps62ee2263.jpg.html][IMG]http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv24/imsickofmakingusernames/Forum%20info%20pics/0113140859b_zps62ee2263.jpg[/IMG][/URL][URL=http://s666.photobucket.com/user/imsickofmakingusernames/media/Forum%20info%20pics/0113140859a_zpse57cb713.jpg.html][IMG]http://i666.photobucket.com/albums/vv24/imsickofmakingusernames/Forum%20info%20pics/0113140859a_zpse57cb713.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[Michael Wells]

Thanks I’ll check that out too. Kind of a bad location to put that at to begin with, catches all the water, mud and junk coming up off the road. One thing I forgot to add was along with the Vehicle Speed Sensor, I also got a U1900 code, CAN communication fault error. If that helps anything. Was thinking maybe if the sensor is going out, maybe it tripped that code, too.

[Michael Wells]

I lowered my spare tire and checked out the fuel pump driver module this afternoon. It surprisingly looked very clean and fresh, it’s the OE Ford one. Just in case I pulled the wire connector off and made sure that the contacts were clean.

I stopped by Advance also and had them to do a battery/charging system test. Alternator checked good at around 14 volts, but the battery came up low charge, needs to be charge to complete load test. Which that has me suspecting that the battery is starting to go out. It is my daily driver and should be at a charged state. Maybe that’s the culprit of my problem after all, its a 5 year old Advance battery. I’m putting an overnight charge on it. I have to work the next couple days so Friday when i get off I’m going to run by Advance again for another load test. Planning on forking out the $100+ for a battery. Also going to pick up a new fuel filter and put that on, looks like the factory one that’s on there. I have only had the truck for about a year, never know what a previous owner has done.

[none]

I’m not going to have any more ideas for you at this point. When you pulled the driver module, did it sit flush against the crossmember or did it have an air gap between the module and the crossmember? Ford’s revision to the module was to add a double ended bolt and the hex head acts to keep that gap between the member and module. Since the module looks clean, it might have already been replaced once.

[Michael Wells]

It looked like it was slightly raised off of the cross member

[Michael Wells]

Sorry it took me so long to get back on the forum. Last week I left the battery on slow charge for a day, but would never come to a complete charge. So I stopped by the parts store and the load test showed that the battery was bad, so I replaced it. When I pulled the old battery out, I noticed that some acid has been leaking down the side. I’ve driven around 300 miles in the past week, most of it pulling the car/equipment trailer behind it as so far I haven’t had any more problems!

[EricTheCarGuy]

Yea, system voltage is critical on modern vehicles, and with the electrical system starting and ending at the battery, a bad battery can cause all kinds of problems. Glad you got it sorted. Thanks for the updates and for using the ETCG forum.

[Author]

Replies