03 5.4 hesitation - Ford Forums

waggs · 03-19-2008, 08:36

I have an 03 XLT with a 5.4 motor and 115K miles. Here rescently I've noticed that I'm getting hesitation when cruising at a steady speed if I come to a slight incline then I get a jerky feeling. Once the road levels out then its fine. Also if I slowly increase my speed I will get the same jerky feel. I don't have any warning lights on. I've replaced my fuel filter and put in some injecter cleaner and it hasn't gotten any better. I don't see any jump in the RPM or anything. Could it be in the transmission? Please say no.. . . I replaced the trans fluid and filter @ 100K. Thanks in advance.

forgivensinner · 03-24-2008, 11:07

my 01 did the same thing, I also feared it was transmission, but it wasnt. Change your plugs and when you do, chances are your valvecover gaskets are leaking, and the way the for plugs are located on top of motor, oil runs down in the plug socket and causes them to foul (giving you what feels like a transmission issue)

RickMN · 03-28-2008, 15:11

Should we assume that you replaced the plugs at 100K? If so, did you replace the coil boots at the same time? This engine is known for eating coils. Best way to get a coil to fail is to not replace boots at spark plug replacment time or to get water on them when they're hot. Forgivensinner is also correct that oil can get down the spark plug hole and make life miserable.