99 Expedition engine is "shuddering"

[Brazen]

When the engine is running the whole vehicle vibrates. The higher the rpms, the bigger and faster the vibration.

I first noticed it about a week ago and then it went away, then came back again and went away. Now today it's done it all day.

Any ideas what could be wrong?

edit: there is also noticeably less power when the vibrations are happening, and the happen even when parked with the engine running.

 

[SAWYER]

I had a 99 Exp and we had a bad plug wire, it was causing a stuttering, shaking.

 

[Budmantom]

Hey that's not a prius... the girls here only know about green cars.



I agree with Sawyer it sounds like a plug.

 

[BUTCH1]

It's dropping a lung, first check ignition system as mentioned before or possible clogged
malfunctioning injector..

 

[slag]

A bad plug or coil (this engine uses coil over plug), would after a mile or so of misfiring, cause the CEL to illuminate.

The poster mentions nothing about having the CEL illuminated.

Sawyer. You could not have had a bad plug wire on a 99 Exp because they do not have plug wires. They have Coil over plugs that the wiring harness plugs directly onto.

Really hard to diagnose this since the OP makes no mention of CEL, any other noises he/she hears, or anything else to go by.

I was going to say it could be a plugged EGR valve (very very common on the 4.6/5.4 engine), however, that would cause the CEL to illuminate as well.


Take it to autozone and have the pull the codes. I'm going to go with bad coil as well. Hope you are handy with tools because these are a bitch to replace. Easiest if you can remove the fuel rail to get to the coils. Ford really designed the placement of these things badly.

 

[SAWYER]

Well it was some kind of ignition wire

 

[StageLeft]

It's shuddering at how much you pay to keep it going.

Sorry

 

[JulesMaximus]

Have you checked the motor mounts and transmission mounts?

 

[exdeath]

Mount wouldn't cause loss of power though.

The EEC V computer will light a CEL with a misfire code and the cylinder number, but being a '99 I'm guessing it's a EEC IV and probably doesn't?

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: exdeath
Mount wouldn't cause loss of power though.

The EEC V computer will light a CEL with a misfire code and the cylinder number, but being a '99 I'm guessing it's a EEC IV and probably doesn't?

Nope, 96 and up are EEC V, which is OBD II.

It's possible to have an engine miss and the Chicken light not be on. OBD II isn't infallible.

Those engines were notorious for the back two cylinders on the passenger side misfiring, because of coolant leaking from the heater hoses directly above them.

It USUALLY caused the engine light to come on, but not always.

I'd have it scanned anyway...there still might be a code. As I mentioned, it's not an absolute either way...you can have a code with no light, and not have a code when you DO have the light on.

My Suburban just the other day all of a sudden started running like a 3-legged dog and the engine light came on for about ten minutes, then it quit.
Went and had it scanned and...nothing. No codes. Never happened since.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: exdeath
Mount wouldn't cause loss of power though.

The EEC V computer will light a CEL with a misfire code and the cylinder number, but being a '99 I'm guessing it's a EEC IV and probably doesn't?

It could cause a shuddering though. I wasn't sure if the OP was correct when talking about loss of power. Just throwing it out there. No CEL indicates something mechanical and not a sensor at least.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Could be a Kia stuck in the intake.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Could be a Kid stuck in the intake.

fixed

 

[Toastedlightly]

See if there is fluid by the coils (should be coil on plug) and remove it if you find it We had this issue and there was water causing a short.

 

[potato28]

More info needed, but from what I can tell it's either a plugged EGR valve or screwed coil/ plug wire.

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
Could be a Kid stuck in the intake.

fixed

Laugh !

 

[TheSlamma]

Originally posted by: Budmantom
Hey that's not a prius... the guys with bigger penis's then me only know about green cars since they don't need a vehicle to make up the difference.

Fixed

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: TheSlamma

Originally posted by: Budmantom
Hey that's not a prius... the guys with bigger penis's then me only know about green cars since they don't need a vehicle to make up the difference.

Fixed

I painted my monster truck green.

 

[Brazen]

Wow, thanks for all the replies, some made me laugh, and some were good ideas to check out. The CEL is actually on, but I didn't think about it because it's been on since having a leak in the exhaust (been waiting 3 months on a Mac catback). I did go to autozone today and get it checked again, and it confirms that there is a misfire in cylinder 4.

Unfortunately, I REALLY want this fixed before a take a 7-hr (roundtrip) drive this weekend, and I'm really swamped right now, so I decided to just take it to a mechanic (I know a good one, thank goodness; taking it in tomorrow).

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: Brazen
Wow, thanks for all the replies, some made me laugh, and some were good ideas to check out. The CEL is actually on, but I didn't think about it because it's been on since having a leak in the exhaust (been waiting 3 months on a Mac catback). I did go to autozone today and get it checked again, and it confirms that there is a misfire in cylinder 4.

Unfortunately, I REALLY want this fixed before a take a 7-hr (roundtrip) drive this weekend, and I'm really swamped right now, so I decided to just take it to a mechanic (I know a good one, thank goodness; taking it in tomorrow).

Smart man, not a good idea to drive it far with it missing like that, could dump unburned
fuel charge into the cat which they don't like. LOL @ some of the answers, LUK what was
the diagnosis was after the repair is done. (I think we should start a pool)...

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Brazen
Wow, thanks for all the replies, some made me laugh, and some were good ideas to check out. The CEL is actually on, but I didn't think about it because it's been on since having a leak in the exhaust (been waiting 3 months on a Mac catback). I did go to autozone today and get it checked again, and it confirms that there is a misfire in cylinder 4.

Unfortunately, I REALLY want this fixed before a take a 7-hr (roundtrip) drive this weekend, and I'm really swamped right now, so I decided to just take it to a mechanic (I know a good one, thank goodness; taking it in tomorrow).

Easy way to check Cyl4 is swap the coil from another cyl and see if the miss moves to that one. If it does then its the coil. If it sticks to that Cyl again then change plug. If that does not do it then check the wiring to the coil and then do a compression check on the cyl.

Should be a easy fix, probable a bad coil/plug.

 

[exdeath]

Pull the coil pack and pull the boot off and take some compressed air to it and let it dry out, compressed air to blow out the plug recess, and might as well pull the plug just to check it's condition (could be perfectly dry and just have a fouled plug, indicating another problem).

 

[Brazen]

they replaced the coil on that cylinder and it's driving like new now

BTW, to all the behemoth/gas-guzzling comments: I totally agree with you, but with 3 kids and a penchant for the outdoors, the Expy is pretty nice to have.

 

[Brazen]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Brazen
Wow, thanks for all the replies, some made me laugh, and some were good ideas to check out. The CEL is actually on, but I didn't think about it because it's been on since having a leak in the exhaust (been waiting 3 months on a Mac catback). I did go to autozone today and get it checked again, and it confirms that there is a misfire in cylinder 4.

Unfortunately, I REALLY want this fixed before a take a 7-hr (roundtrip) drive this weekend, and I'm really swamped right now, so I decided to just take it to a mechanic (I know a good one, thank goodness; taking it in tomorrow).

Easy way to check Cyl4 is swap the coil from another cyl and see if the miss moves to that one. If it does then its the coil. If it sticks to that Cyl again then change plug. If that does not do it then check the wiring to the coil and then do a compression check on the cyl.

Should be a easy fix, probable a bad coil/plug.

yeah, I figured it would be an easy fix, but I've been helping a friend move (with wife and 2 kids, so lots of stuff), I just finished doing a bunch of work on the wife's car, and I'm trying to quickly get a bedroom remodeled. Also, how do I know which is cylinder 4? And the coils in the back 2 cylinders look REALLY hard to get to.

Anyway, it's done now, and it was only $100.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Originally posted by: Brazen

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Brazen
Wow, thanks for all the replies, some made me laugh, and some were good ideas to check out. The CEL is actually on, but I didn't think about it because it's been on since having a leak in the exhaust (been waiting 3 months on a Mac catback). I did go to autozone today and get it checked again, and it confirms that there is a misfire in cylinder 4.

Unfortunately, I REALLY want this fixed before a take a 7-hr (roundtrip) drive this weekend, and I'm really swamped right now, so I decided to just take it to a mechanic (I know a good one, thank goodness; taking it in tomorrow).

Easy way to check Cyl4 is swap the coil from another cyl and see if the miss moves to that one. If it does then its the coil. If it sticks to that Cyl again then change plug. If that does not do it then check the wiring to the coil and then do a compression check on the cyl.

Should be a easy fix, probable a bad coil/plug.

yeah, I figured it would be an easy fix, but I've been helping a friend move (with wife and 2 kids, so lots of stuff), I just finished doing a bunch of work on the wife's car, and I'm trying to quickly get a bedroom remodeled. Also, how do I know which is cylinder 4? And the coils in the back 2 cylinders look REALLY hard to get to.

Anyway, it's done now, and it was only $100.

So is was #4? Did they check the heater hoses above it to make sure they aren't leaking onto the coil?

Oh, and swapping those back two is NOT easy, you're right.