Need viagra for truck - in limp home mode

[BigL]

it didn't leave me on side of road but my truck had a wrench light come on then truck when in limp home mode. Had me worried that it was going to leave me stranded on the side in the cold rain with my 17m old son, but it was able to slowly get home. Hoping it doesn't take long or cost much to fix this tomorrow. Supposed to be heading out to the lease for an afternoon hunt and a few days to finish off the general season.

most of what I've read online point to a throttle body either being dirty or going bad. Truck has around 116k miles on it and only oil changes every 5-10k miles is all the maintenance ever done.

Anyone else have this happen to them before? Any pointers? Truck is 2011 F150 with the 5.0 V8.

[Toolman]

Did the PRNDL quit showing the gear? Speedo quit? Feel like stuck in 5th gear? Or No throttle response?

[Archery1st]

My bet would be coil pack on spark plugs.

[BigL]

Did the PRNDL quit showing the gear? Speedo quit? Feel like stuck in 5th gear? Or No throttle response?

Not sure if it showed the gear or not. I was on fuel efficiency and it blanked them out though. Don't really remember if speedometer was showing or not. I didn't have far to drive home. Initially it felt like I was stuck in 5th, but when I pulled over and then tried to go, it had no throttle response. I put in R to pull over more and it had normal response. Put in back in drive and was able to get it home. I'll wait for it to stop raining and warm up a little tomorrow and go for a quick drive and pay more attention.

[highspeed]

When's the last time you changed the fuel filter?

[Jda004]

Mine would go in safe mode and act exactly like what your describing. Would be going down the road then all of a sudden bam safe mode. Fixed mine by disconnecting the battery and giving the battery posts and connectors a good scrubbing/cleaning, haven't had that problem since. Always start to with simplest/cheapest thing then go from there. Hope this helps

[mikeyb_23]

I have a 04 that has done that a couple of times. I just turn the truck off and restart it, clears right up. I think it's just something in the computer that doesn't boot up or something.

[Toolman]

If it blanked and felt like it was stuck in 5th, the speed sensor in the transmission is going bad. It is a common problem on 11-14 models. I am a transmission man for a Ford dealer and see it a lot. Have it scanned. If it has a P0720 or P0722 it is bad. The internal harness is the problem and will need to be replaced. There is a TSB for it 13-6-8.

[BigL]

My bet would be coil pack on spark plugs.

Initially I was thinking that since I'm over 100k miles. After my "internet diagnosis" I'm going to go down a different path first.

When's the last time you changed the fuel filter?

Never. Oil changes every 5-10k is only maintenance done

Mine would go in safe mode and act exactly like what your describing. Would be going down the road then all of a sudden bam safe mode. Fixed mine by disconnecting the battery and giving the battery posts and connectors a good scrubbing/cleaning, haven't had that problem since. Always start to with simplest/cheapest thing then go from there. Hope this helps

Yea needs an oil change anyway so will change oil, air filter, and will clean MAF valve today since I have the spray here at the house. I'll unhook the battery and clean posts too while I'm at it.

If it blanked and felt like it was stuck in 5th, the speed sensor in the transmission is going bad. It is a common problem on 11-14 models. I am a transmission man for a Ford dealer and see it a lot. Have it scanned. If it has a P0720 or P0722 it is bad. The internal harness is the problem and will need to be replaced. There is a TSB for it 13-6-8.

I'll keep that in mind while I'm doing the above! Thanks for letting me know. Are TSB free like recalls or just there to help diagnose the problem?

[Toolman]

TSB is for diag. Only covered under warranty. I would get it scanned before disconnecting the battery. You will lose the codes that are stored.

[Slick8]

If it's a coil pack, it will be running extremely rough and have limited to no power.

I had 2 go out on my 01 5.4L at separate occasions. Luckily it was around the house and I just limped it home.

I agree with looking at all the simple stuff. While your at the parts house, have them hook it up to a scanner a day see if it's throwing the codes that toolman described.

[BigL]

TSB is for diag. Only covered under warranty. I would get it scanned before disconnecting the battery. You will lose the codes that are stored.

P0722 code was thrown. How much will that cost me to get fixed?

[Toolman]

At my shop. Usually 600-700. Might get it done cheaper at a Transmission shop. Valve body has to come off to replace the Leadframe harness.

[BigL]

I think I'm going to clear all the codes first and see if it happens again. Killing engine and restarting seemed to clear it out so I could drive normal so might as well let it do again to confirm the problem wasn't a one time glitch. Also had a misfire on startup code thrown last night when it happened. Guess the truck didnt like the cold rain!

[BigL]

Well it did it again. I haven't had the codes pulled yet but behavior was the same. Everything on dash blanked, speedometer stayed on 0, and felt like I was stuck in 5th. Pulled over, restarted the engine a was able to drive normally. Trans light was on the whole time. I guess a 2nd time in ~45 days means it wasn't a one time fluke.