Hello Everybody,

Sorry I haven't been around much due to work and family health issues. But I picked up a new toy from a coworker.

It is a 2003 F-150 Super Crew 4.6L Auto 2x4 2" body lift. I paid the $350 that the wrecking yard was going to pay for it.

I made the deal sight unseen, my plan was to part it out for my 98 Expedition. Until I saw the pictures of it and didn't have the heart to tear such a nice truck apart.

The guy I bought it from said it had a blown motor and had water in the oil. He said that since he bought it, it would suddenly start losing water from the radiator and it ending up in the oil. He would bring it into the shop they would drain the oil, dump some stop leak in and top everything off. I was told this happened several times and the last time it ended up with a milkshake and died while driving it home. at that point he had enough and just parked it (about 2 months ago) planning on sending it to the wrecking yard.

Paid $75 to a friend go the 60 mi round trip to pick it up. He is an old mechanic and on the way back we made a deal that he would fix it in trade for the 91 F-250 that i have that has a busted rear end and no title.

Once he charged the battery we found that the truck ran but had a bad lifter knock and was losing water to the crank case. He drained the Oil and water and replaced the oil cooler gasket, which someone else had replaced, at some point, but they never cleaned off the old gasket. He then refilled everything and fired right up. no losing water still had the lifter knock until he got it warmed up and revved the motor.

We let it cool down and went to start it again and would start to turn over then nothing. Thinking, crap, maybe it hydro-locked. We jumped the starter solenoid and it fired right up. We found that it had an aftermarket security system that was not working quite right so I ripped it out and fixed the ignition wire and not a problem starting since. (that was a close one) I am also planning to replace the Spark plugs and possibly the coil packs and in about 500 miles we will change the oil again just to make sure it is clean.

So here we are at now.

It is idling great but there is no power when accelerating. I had the peddle to the floor and was only doing about 40. I also didn't feel the truck downshift. Also it didn't seem like the motor was bogging but just no power. I also checked and the transmission fluid and it is clean and full. When feeling the exhaust there seems to be good pressure (just by putting my hand near the tail pipe.)

So with the history of the motor as I know it does anyone have any ideas what would cause the lack of acceleration? I am thinking MAF sensor or Throttle Position sensor. The other option is one or both Cats are clogged. Maybe Vacuum leak?

The best part is that total cash I have in it right now is $350 for the truck and $75 to bring it back along with the 91 that was collecting rust.

Thanks for any input

Scott

 

Have you pulled codes yet?
The "lifter knock" on these motors is usually an exhaust leak

 

I checked and there are no codes. The lifter knock is gone it was the all water in the oil causing the lifters to float