2005 Sport Trac Pre Ignition problem

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Dave S

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Aug 8, 2005
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Location
Ironwood , MI
I'm frustrated with my 2005 Trac 4x4. I have had it to the dealer multiple times for a pre ignition knock while running under a load in the highest gear. I noticed it more in the summer, (hot) months but it does it pretty much all the time. I have tried different fuels and with Premium it gets better but with 87 octane it does it all the time with all types of gas. I also notice when accellerating quickly in the morning I get kind of a whistling sound coming from the engine. (Sounds like air is leaking)



The dealer says they can't find any trouble codes and they don't hear the knock. (I think they are all deaf!) Another dealer thinks it might be carbon build up and that I should pay to have them dump some chemicals in to eliminate the carbon build up. The Truck only has 22K miles on it and almost all of it has been highway miles.



I can't find any posts with similar symptoms other than the earlier model timing chain rattle problem. I didn't think that would be an issue with my 2005.



Any suggestions would sure be appreciated. I'm not very impressed with FORD as I have two of them and both have been terrible vehicles.



Maybe FORD should be working on Quality is Job one and they wouldn't be in such financial trouble as they are today?
 
Dave,

May I suggest that the next time you go to pickup your vehicle from the dealer's and they claim they could not find anything wrong, or cannot duplicate your problem, Ask if the Service Manager can go along with you for a drive so you can point out what the problem is. They will usually agree.



Now that you got this guy in your vehicle and it's about 5:00PM or later and he wants to go home...You continue to drive further and further from the dealership until can hear the problem you are hearing. Sometimes they hear it right away, and sometimes it takes longer.



The extended drive will do a couple of things that they are probably doing wrong. The longer the engine runs, the warmer it will get and more likely the spark knock will be heard. The other factor of the long drive is that he doesn't know if you are going to ever start driving back to the dealership so he is more apt to listen a bit more carefully and actualy hear the knocking. It's amazing how a relaxing drive can improve your hearing and concentration. :rolleyes:



The problem may very well be a loose timing chain and/or bad timing chain tensioner. This is a common problem with the 4.0L SOHC engine. Ford even gave the early 2001 models and extended warranty to 60K miles to cover any issue with the timing chain, tensioners, cams, etc. If ti is the timing chain provlem, it may not be spark knock but it sounds like it. Usually the timing chain noise occurs in the 2500-2600 RPM range (give or take a few hundred RPM).



Your other option is to take your truck to a different dealer. It does not have to be a Ford dealer, so you can take it to a Lincoln/Mercury Dealer as well. I know of a lot of people who have gotten much better service from LM dealers than Ford dealers...Go figure?



PS: Your ST is equiped with the Flex-Fuel engine, capable of running on 87 octane gas or E-85 ethanol. That means your engine is equiped with a special octane sensor that adjust the timing and computer settings to operate the most efficiently on any specific blend of gas or alcohol. Perhaps the sensor is not working correctly, but is not so far out of calibration to trigger an error-code? Simply put, there are sensors that may be out of spec, but not so far out that the computer can detect a malfunction. It could even be a computer error.



...Rich







 
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Could be a gasket leaking, DID you try a leak test??? Like the propane test, or carb cleaner test??
 
Could be the gas itself. Where I live we get the oxygenated gas in the summer and the Ranger I had before would ping like crazy on 87, but only in the summer. I had to run 91 in the summer, 89 at least, the rest of the year it was fine on 87. My Trac however seems to be unaffected.

Also check the thermostat. If it's sticking or opening late, that could cause knocking. A few people on the Ranger and Taurus boards cured it by switching to a 180* t-stat.
 
Dave,

My '05 has 23,500 miles and the only thing I have had replaced, engine-related,

has been the I.A.C. valve at 16,000 miles. Other than that, engine-wise, it has ran

perfectly. Mine is approximately 80% Highway, 20% City driving.

Dumb question, I guess...You don't have a manual tranny, do you?

Timing chain is also a possibility, although I thought that Ford fixed that problem on

th '04 - '05 models?
 
Thanks everyone for the great suggestions. I'll try the Techron and maybe just run some higher octane gas since it is coming down in price now. I will be taking it to antoher dealer to see if they can find anything else out.
 
Dave,

Your Sport Trac is supposed to run on 87 octane. If it knocks excessively, there is something wrong. Using higher octane gas will only mask the problem for a while but it will continue to get worse.



In the long run, its cheaper to have it fixed now. If you let it go it will get worse and it will get more expensive to fix later.



...Rich
 

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