Well I'm looking on these forums for a solution to my 2012 F150 Ecoboost 94k miles shudder / misfire problem. Here's the problems that I am having:
Problem 1) Problems started when I was towing a travel trailer at 55-65 mph in 6'th gear turning 1500-1600 rpm and approach a slight incline. The transmission stayed in 6 to climb the hill, but my wife and I started feeling shudders like we ran over something in the road, except it felt like the whole truck got hit at once instead of front axle, then back axle. I could lock out 6'th, turn higher rpm (2000-2100) and minimize or eliminate the shudder problem. No check engine light ever.
Problem 2) Well after some months went by, the next time we were towing the same trailer we experienced the shudders again as stated above. Except now evey once in a while a shudder turned into a very loud clunk - so loud and violent that we thought we either hit a cow or dropped the transmission out of the truck. Now we really got concerned. Still no check engine light.
Talked to a Ford Service Manager at a regional dealer and the first question he asked when did I last change the plugs and boots. Never. He said change them. Took it to the local dealer and got the 100K service since we were at 94K - this included new plugs and I asked for new boots and asked for the old plugs back. I looked at the old plugs and they were in very good condition - no cracks, no erosion of the elctrodes, just a little dirty in the right places. Of course, did not fix the problem.
Called the same Service Manager and asked if he would do a test drive with me and he said bring it in. During the test drive without towing a trailer - the problem was getting worse and happening without towing, he almost immediately said it was an engine misfire. He said it is probably a bad coil and he will check it out. Next day he got back to me and said all the coils are good and that the misfire is a "random misfire", which suggests that it is realted to fuel or air, not fire (plugs, boots, coils). He said this even though the PCM had not thrown a single error code yet! So I assume it was based on experience or other instrumentation. Three days later after talking to Ford Hotline, they reflashed the PCM and reset the KAM. That supposedly fixed the problem.
Drove it around town a few days and it seemed fine. Was feeling good. Hooked the trailer up and started out on what we were hoping would be a two month tour of National Parks in the West. First morning about an hour out of town we hit the Texas Hill Country area, and right on queue the original problems as identified by (1) and (2) above started happening.
We headed to Roswell NM anyway - determined that this would not affect our travel plans. However, by time we got there it was obvious we weren't going to make it much further because the problem worsened:
Problem 3) Now the shudders and loud clunks were happening in 4'th, 5'th, and 6'th gear regardless of engine rpm at about 55-60 mph.
Effectively I drove the truck towing the trailer in third gear at 60 MPH on the uphills into Roswell. The Roswell dealer was on top of it and within 2 hours told mke I had obne coil that was completely bad and 2-3 others on the way out and recommended 6 new coils for about $830. I told him to the call the original service manager as he indicated the coild were all good just 5 days ago. The next morning I get a call from Roswell Ford and they say my truck is ready - I asked did you not fix it as I hadn't approved the repair yet, they said no, they found a tsb related to programming the PCM and did that and the misfires have gone away. They got quiet when I asked about the defective coils. Picked the truck up and drove past the RV park where our trailer was and headed out 10 miles and back - no shudders no cliunks, but I wasn't towing yet.
Next morning we head North and within half an hour shortly after we leave the downtown area and get to highway speed, the shudders start happening again. They get worse and the clunking starts as we drive - just like the original problems (1) and (2) and then eventually problem (3). We decide to turn around and head home. Get 20 miles South of Roswell and the truck looses like 80% of the power slowing down no matter how hard I push the pedal and no matter which gear I'm in. Limp mode and the check engine light starts flashing.
Problem 4) Limp mode and check engine light starts flashing.
I sit on the shoulder for 10 minutes and then try to get back to Roswell - can only do 40 moph downhill and onloy 30 mph uphill. Drop off the trailer at the RV park, take the truck to Ford and they start working on it. For the first time they see a P0300 error code coming from the PCM. But they cannot find the root cause of the problem and they call into Ford Hotline, which is running really slow. That was a Friday but they said they were open Saturday for service, they just failed to mention to me that the technician working on the truck, the service rep, and the service manager were all off on Saturday. The rectionist called the technician at home and he said the Ford Hotline recommended they check the exhaust backpressure and the injector flow patterns. I get the sense they are grasping at straws. Called Ford corp customer service - USELESS! So here it is Saturday sitting in our travel trailer waiting for them to identify the problem and fix it. My truck is into the dealer for the fourth time on this same issue.
So in talking to the original Service Manager, he keeps stressing that with the P0300 error code (random misfires) that the cause must be related to fuel or air, not fire (ignition). The reason for this is that the problem is affecting all cylinders, not just one consistently. For example, if a spark plug, boot, injector, or coil was bad, we would repeatedly see that one cylinder with the bad part misfire, which has its own error code. But those cylinder specific errors have not occurred. Of course fuel and air is routed to all cylinders so if there is a problem with either, then any cylinder could be affected at any time.
While the truck was at his shop, they tested the fuel and it was fine, so based on that and the fact that I don’t add anything to the fuel tank as far as additives, and based on the fact that I don’t go to only one place to buy gas, I am going to eliminate fuel.
That leaves air!
Where does the air come from? Well we all know that, it comes from outside through a filter. Straightforward, right? Except I have an ecoboost and the “boost” part is turbochargers, which, by the way, only kick in under high load. So when this first started happening, I was wondering why, when in 6’th gear starting up a hill, did the transmission not shift down into 5th. I think now the answer to that is that instead of dropping to 5th, the turbochargers spin up to provide the extra power while staying in the same gear, as designed. So I am now believing that the problem is related to air coming from the turbochargers under high load, which is when the turbos are providing higher pressure air and higher flow of air to the cylinders.
The following paragraph is taken from an email I sent basedc on what I have learned on these forums:
[Well, I have been doing research on the problem on the internet. And I have read about a particular problem and think it is related to what I am experiencing. Essentially, the turbos compress the outside air. A natural consequence of this is that the air gets warmer. Engines don’t like warm air, they want cooler air for better performance. All manufacturers have thus introduced the intercooler or CAC, which is placed between the turbos and the intake manifold. These intercoolers cool the hotter turbo compressed air before it enters the engine. Here’s the key: A natural consequence of cooling air is that moisture is removed from the air as it cools (just like an Air Conditioner). Basically, what’s evidently happening is that the condensed moisture accumulates in the intercooler, which, of course, is sealed to maintain turbo pressure. After this accumulation happens, when there is an inrush of air from the turbos, this water can actually be blown into any of the cylinders through the intake manifold causing, you guessed it, misfires!]
Anyway, original service manager says condensate problem is only on hard accel, not on towing uo slight incline. Is that true?
So my question is, is there anyway to find out if there is liquid in the intercooler without drilling a hole? And of course, we need to find out under towing operating conditions. I doubt Ford will drill the hole, so I may have to do it myself, but if it doesn't work then I am still stuck here, truck and trailer, 10 hours drive from home.
