Ford - F150 :: 1989 - Chokes On Startup / Shudders While Driving
Jul 10, 2013
I'm a new owner of an '89 F150. It's a four speed manual trans, 4.9L 6cyl. This is my first truck and I bought a beater in hopes of learning while I fix it up. I have minimal experience (biggest repairs have been replacing disk brakes on a previous car and replacing the EGR valve on this truck), but I want to learn more.
The truck has a bypass switch and the forward fuel tank was removed. Both of these modifications occurred before I owed it. Also, the clutch is a bit grumpy. Sometimes I'm unable to get it into first (I usually "granny start" from second), and every once in a while it doesn't want to go into reverse.
When I bought the truck, it would just choke and cut off after driving for 30 minutes or so. It would restart after cooling down. My mechanic said it was a problem with the fuel pump and replaced it, and that fixed that problem.
After that, the truck began to have trouble starting. I would flip the bypass switch and the engine would rev up, then drop RPM's quickly until choking off within a couple seconds. When I flipped the switch again, it would start up fine. It would run fine after that.
A mechanic recommended having the fuel injectors cleaned. The fixed the problem for about a week, then it started again. A friend of a friend who has a home garage suggested a vacuum leak, and we found a leak in the EGR value, which we replaced.
Replacing the EGR valve fixed the problem again, for a couple days, but it came back. Meanwhile, immediately after the EGR valve was replaced, a new problem started. Periodically while I'm driving (I haven't been able to detect any pattern), the engine will just shudder or choke a bit. It feels like it's threatening to choke, but it never actually does. Once it starts, it typically does this every couple seconds until I shift gears.
I'd really like diagnosing what might be causing the choking when it starts and the new shudder when driving. I realize it could be a number of things.
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I have a 2001 F-150 4.2L 2WD LS with 102k miles. At 95k miles, the clutch slave cylinder started leaking fluid. So, I had my local garage replace it. And while they were at it, put in a new clutch. That is when the trouble started.
I cannot let the clutch out like I used too. When letting out the clutch from a dead stop,the rear end now shakes, shutters, and if it is really bad, the rear end starts bouncing. To minimize the shakes, I have to keep the engine below 1000rpm until the clutch/1<sup>st</sup> gear is fully engage. It is worst when there is a load on the truck like going uphill, or a sharp turn for a dead stop. After the truck gets rolling, I don’t notice the problem when shifting gears.
I have been babying it for 7k miles and it has not improved. What is wrong? Did I get a bad clutch job?
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I have a 1989 ford f150 xlt lariat it has a 5.0 and a 5 speed and is 4 wheel drive. Any way I am looking into rebuilding the rear end of the truck the pinion shaft has a lot of play in it up and down and both outer axle bearings seem to have lots of play in them. I believe it is a 8.8 inch in the rear. Just wondering if there hard to rebuild or what it all entails I have never taken one apart before and want to know what I am getting into. I have access to a press and a pinion and carrier bearing puller. the axle bearings i have done tons of them but never had to pull out the carrier. wondering how to set turning torque and backlash etc... and torque specs for everything.
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I got an old 1989 F-150, manual, in-line 6 engine, with an 8-foot bed. I use it for hauling landscaping equipment, as i am starting a business. i will likely start hauling trailers with it this summer, but I also just want the engine to give me more power.
What are some things I could do to up the HP, or a better truck in general. I'm not looking to make it into a 350Hp monster, just get a little more out of it. What can I replace or add that would do this?
First, the idle dies on me when i put it in neutral, or gets stuck at 2500rpms. is this a vacuum leak, or the idle-air control valve?
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I have a 89 f-150 xlt with what i believe is the m5od (4 speed with O.D) transmission and the 5.0 motor, the trans has been whining since I've owned the truck and it started popping out of reverse on me a couple months ago, now i have to slam it into gear to make it go anywhere even when I am going down the road! The clutch is fine but the trans is hanging up, anyways i have a granny gear transmission a buddy of mine gave me out of an 85 f150 that had the inline 6 if i take the bell housing off of my transmission can i put the internal slave cylinder on that transmission? Will it work or will i have to find a way to put an external slave cylinder on it?
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my park brake will work when pushed to the floor but when i pull the release lever it will not disengaged.
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I have a 89 F150 4x4 lariat with the 302 8cyl and dual gas tanks. I was driving to work and the truck died. I have spark and enough juice to turn it over so I must be getting no fuel. When I turn the key to the on position I do not hear the fuel pump whine as it primes, it's dead silent. I'm assuming the fuel pump is dead.
Are there any fuses to check? I did check the switch that goes off when in an impact and it was not tripped off so it's not the problem.
My hayes manual (which i find is wrong ALOT) says that 87-89 f150's have a single fuel pump that is external to the tanks and found along the left frame rail? Can anyone confirm? Someone told me they thought it might have 2 pumps but I switched tanks and the truck still didn't start (or make a fuel pump sound) so unless the planets aligned and BOTH pumps blew simultaneously I would assume there's only 1 pump.
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I has been quite cold in my area lately. Buy cold, I mean like 0 or a few degrees below. We also had some snow which ahs made it a requirement to drive my 4WD Ford truck with the 4.6L engine. This is a 1997 Ford F-150 light duty which is the oddball with the 7 lug wheels among others. It is 4WD with a manual transmission. The truck has close to 300k on it and I was told it had a used engine installed when I bought the truck but have never been able to verify this. The engine runs well without odd noises or clanks and doesn't burn or use oil. I have the O'Reilly brand 5W30 synthetic oil in the engine.
There has been a strange whine that comes from the engine at startup in these very cold temps. This only lasts a few short seconds and quickly goes away. I have the manual transmission in neutral so I figure it is engine related and not the transmission. It sounds like a gear noise or whine so I am assuming maybe the oil is too thick to get through the oil pump, timing chain, or similar.
This only happens at cold starts when it is VERY cold outside but I wanted to make sure this wasn't a sign of impending failure. The truck runs well otherwise and I would gladly replace the oil pump if it were going out. I was also thinking about switching to a 0W30 as the truck is mostly used in the winter anyway if the oil not being thick enough is a possibility.
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I recently bought a beater '89 F-150 (I-6, MT) with the following problems:
1) Both rear brakes seem to stick on occasion--almost like there was a "check valve" on the rear brake line. When that happens, there is a "BRAKE" and "Rear ABS" light (although the light does occasionally come on without brakes sticking noticeably).
What I noticed in Haynes is that the "RABS I" system functions in the following way: a) Upon noticing rear axle spinning slower than front axle, it actuates a valve, isolating the rear brakes b) If the problem persists, it then dumps the pressure back into the main system.
So, I wonder: Is this an ABS system acting up? If I were to (temporarily) de-power the ABS setup, would it default to "no ABS," or would I need to remove the hydraulic valves from the brake lines? (Don't really want to if I don't have to.)
2) You can select either fuel tank, get that tank's level to indicate on the fuel gauge...yet it only "draws" from the front tank.
Again, Haynes says there is a low pressure pump in each tank, feeding a high-pressure pump in essentially a small "header" tank. The "dual-function reservior" has a wholly mechanical selector, and notes that "Tank switching versus gauge conflicts can occur under certain failure mode conditions."
So: I can understand that the mechanical selector can, in effect, "stick" on one tank. But what I don't understand is how it can still draw from the front tank, with the "rear" tank selected (and presumably, that tank's low-pressure pump trying to feed the header tank.)
Is it possible that the low pressure pump--while beneficial to prevent gravitation at the main pump--isn't strictly necessary to fuel the engine? Or do I have a problem with a low pressure pump that's "always on," regardless of the selected tank?
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for the past week we have been trying to figure out what is wrong with our truck. We recently bought it and it ran fine. Then got in a minor accident just a fender bender and it started acting up so I got towed to garage. First it would run when cold, but when hot fuel pressure would drop to 28 psi.
So I put new fuel pump, it started but still did the same thing hot 28 psi fuel pressure shuts off. So I put regulator on it, then had 0 fuel pressure won't even start. So got a another regulator thinking I got a bad one, still 0. Checked relay, there fine. I'm gonna check lines and see where fuel stops at but everything is new on it.
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My Expedition started to shudder on a drive when I got it up to 55 MPH. I drove for about 15 minutes and parked well I drove it again and it started to do the same thing. Now the Service Engine Light came on. What the cause could be. (2000 Ford Expedition EB Ed. 5.4l Triton).
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Started up my 6 cylinder 2005 Ford Escape with 187,000 miles on the engine this morning and after 5 minutes a check engine light came on and the car shut off on its own. I restarted the car and then I got a dash message "Service Emissions" and the car shudders a little when driving. I am going to the autoparts store later for a OBD scanner code check.
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I have a 2007 Honda CRV AWD. The car studders/vibrates, as if driving over metal grates. Or like going over grooves in the road when moving over to the shoulder. This only happens when driving 50 mph or less. When I take my foot off the gas petal, the vibration stops, but will come back.
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vehicle shakes when driving between 58 and 62 mph. what could be wrong? seems to be from passenger side front.
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I have a 92 ford f150 that ran great up until I was driving the other day and my trucks engine just shut off, like i turned the key off. It wouldn't restart. Towed it home, let it sit, and tried again..cranks fine, still wont start. replaced the coil.. Cranked it for about 5 min off and on and it barely started.. Let it run for about 5 min and shut it off, wouldn't restart. Replaced the icm....and again, cranked until it barely started, then it wouldn't restart. Today I replaced the ignition switch, and the cap n rotor. Now It'll crank for days..but still not starting. I have 40 lbs fuel pressure at the rail, plugs, wires ,all new. new fuel pumps also....
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So for some time now my truck(2011) has a problem when I floor it while entering the freeway or even down the road..
If im cruising around 30 or 40 and floor it, it down shifts and takes off nice.. but when it goes to change gears, it chokes, not sure how else to explain it, but once past that gear, the following shift fine if im still on the gas..
Normal driving shifts ok, and if im going say 50 or higher and do the same thing, it shifts fine.. so its only when going slower and I floor it..
It has 69,000+ miles on it
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My 1985 Saab 900 turbo has been dying while being driven. Suddenly, and usually while the car is relatively hot and in traffic, the engine will die while driving. Usually it will die when at a light stopped but not always. This has never happened before the last week or so, but the car has always had trouble with cold starts and will die while idling when the ignition is first turned. This hasn't been diagnosed. At times a lot of smoke will come from the exhaust, and this has not had a trigger (too much oil, hard driving, etc) but the car did pass smog in California (the strictest state!). Just now, a light I've never seen (and I've had 2 80's Saabs) came on the dash which said EXH, which I read could be regarding the o2 sensor?
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I've had my mechanic work on this issue (the engine misses), and for the past few months thought the issue was resolved.... Truck is 27 years old and has only 75K actual miles. Here's what I have done.
Installed rebuilt carburetor - 2009New plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor - 2010Adjusted carburetor, timing, and choke - Feb 2012
I normally drive it every couple days, yet during last winter it set up for a couple weeks with 10% ethanol fuel. In early spring, the engine started missing while driving (about 1/3 of the time). After taking to the shop a couple times, my mechanic basically gave up. I believe it's time for a new mechanic. I may also give up and just get a newer truck, but not quite ready yet.
I suspected water in the tank, knowing that ethanol can attract moisture, so i ran the tank dry then bought 5 gallons ethanol free fuel (i live in the country where we can still find it). Engine started, ran great for a few months, and i thought i had solved the problem...until yesterday, when the engine started doing the same thing again just as it did when the problem originally started.
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My 1989 Honda Accord LX, with 135,000 miles on it, stalls after a few minutes of driving. Then, after re-starting, it stalls before I even have a chance to put it into drive. My mechanic replaced an electric base plate gasket in the carburetor but warned me that this repair might not fix the problem. If it didn't, I probably would need to replace the carburetor -- if one could be found for a 1989 model. Well, I still have the problem. My question: Is it worth it to invest $1,500, more or less, for a carburetor for a 22-year-old car? I've been using it strictly as a second car for the last 11 or 12 years. It seems to be in good shape otherwise.
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I have a 2002 F150. Small V6 regular cab 8 foot bed 2 wheel drive.In the last couple of months it has developed a rhythmic shake that is more like driving over a bump. It is really quite similar to driving on a road where all the release joints have been recently tarred so you go over a slight bump every second or two. I actually tried to convince myself that is what it was for about a week. Seems to be coming from the front driver seat.I previously lived in Mexico and the pot holes there would occasionally shear the bolts right at the lug nuts. Not too different than a car that was damaged like that, but I checked the lug nuts and it seems ok.The bump does not transfer into the steering wheel.Being a 14 year old ford the motor doesn't idle as smooth as my wife's new Toyota, but not bad either. If I let off the gas the bump doesn't stop. I haven't changed into neutral while it is running to see if that stops it.Tie rod?Axle? What to check or if there is a picture of something I could post that might tell you what is wrong?Planned on a camping trip this weekend with my wife. She is going to be ticked if we have to cancel.
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Once I had driven for about 15 minutes and the truck set for about 5 minutes. Then it would not start. Another time, I drove for about 20 minutes and it cut off while driving in a parking lot. I have had 2 different shops take a look at it and they cannot duplicate the problem. They have run a bunch of diagnostics and tried their selves but it always starts for them.
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