2000 F150 4.6L Triton V8 Problems

[lt.meadows]

I need some help people. I inherited a 2 wheel drive 2000 F150 with a 4.6L Triton V8 from my grandfather when he passed. The truck only has 136 000km on it, was ALWAYS parked on the grass for the 11 years that my grandfather owned it, and sat for a little over a year without driving at all while he was sick.

Now I'm getting into the troubles:
- I started driving the truck in the summer of 2011. When I first started driving the truck, I noticed that there is a very high pitched squeal that only occurs when the truck is either idling or when I'm slightly pressing the gas pedal (such as going through a drivethru), but it only happens periodically and usually doesn't happen more than 2 or 3 times per drive.
- About 5 months ago, I changed the front ball joints, rear axle seals, rear brakes, and put a new differential cover on because the original one was pretty well rusted all the way through.
- A couple of weeks ago, engine started slipping (in my opinion). It revs right down like its about to stall and stays revved right down. When I get on the gas, I can feel the gas pedal shaking and actually the whole truck feels like its shaking; This also happened a couple of times while I was driving. As I hit about 70-80km/h the engine revved right down, felt very low and power and than the shaking started again. Like the high pitched squeal, this doesn't happen all the time, only periodically.

I'm not great at diagnosing engine problems and I just bought a house so money is tight right now, anything anyone could say/do to help me out a bit would be really appreciated. This truck has a great amount of sentimental value to me, and if it can be fixed, I would rather fix it than buy something new.

[RhinoZ24]

Firstoff, welcome to the Forum, and alright I'll try to help you as best I can. Eventually someone named Raptor05121 will probably post on here with more accurate solutions, thats why we call him the Professor on here lol.
The squealing you described at idle and light acceleration sounds like a belt slipping to me. Go to any parts store and pick up belt dressing spray, only a couple of bucks, and spray it on the belt while your engine is idling. See if the squealing decreases or disappears, if not come back here.
The work you did is good and great choice changing a rusty differential cover.
For the slipping engine/near stalling, it could be a number of things. If the spark plugs have never been changed, or haven't for a long time, you could be get a bad combustion in your cylinders causing a loss of power sometimes. Only a couple of dollars for new plugs and you can change them yourself to save money, not too hard. The fuel filter may be clogged, starving your engine at high speeds which might explain the near stalling at highway speeds. About $15 for a new fuel filter and its just a 5 minute job to do yourself. A dirty airfilter also causes a choking of the engine just like the fuel filter. Airfilters are pretty cheap and it takes about a minute to change that lol. The coil packs and plug wires may be bad as well, but try the other things first and see if the performance improves.
Also, do you have any check engine lights that come on when the loss of power occurs?
Thinking about it as well, you said the truck sat for a year without driving, so it may have gas deposits in the fuel system and lines. Pick up some fuel system cleaner, I recommend either Lucas, STP, or Gumout, and run some through, adding it to the fuel tank when you fill it up next time. The clogged fuel lines could also lead to debris clogging your injectors, a further cause of the sudden loss of power. But the fuel system cleaner usually cleans them, or you can pick up fuel injector cleaner from a parts store as well, adds in just like the fuel system cleaner. Both are only a couple bucks each.

Try these things and see if the performance of the truck improves, if not, or if a few issues still linger come back for help whenever you need it.
Goodluck and make sure you ask if you have anymore questions as there are plenty of people on here that are willing to help.

[RhinoZ24]

Any news?

[Raptor05121]

Firstoff, welcome to the Forum, and alirght I'll try to help you as best I can. Eventually someone named Raptor05121 will probably post on here with more accurate solutions, thats why we call him the Professor on here lol.
The squealing you described at idle and light acceleration sounds like a belt slipping to me. Go to any parts store and pick up belt dressing spray, only a couple of bucks, and spray it on the belt while your engine is idling. See if the squealing decreases or disappears, if not come back here.
The work you did is good and great choice changing a rusty differential cover.
For the slipping engine/near stalling, it could be a number of things. If the spark plugs have never been changed, or haven't for a long time, you could be get a bad combustion in your cylinders causing a loss of power sometimes. Only a couple of dollars for new plugs and you can change them yourself to save money, not too hard. The fuel filter may be clogged, starving your engines at high speeds which might explains the near stalling at highway speeds. About $15 for a new fuel filter and its just a 5 minute job to do yourself. A dirty airfilter also causes a choking of the engine just like the fuel filter. Airfilters are pretty cheap and it takes about a minute to change that lol. The coil packs and plug wires may be bad as well, but try the other things first and see if the performance improves.
Also, do you have any check engine lights that come on when the loss of power occurs?
Thinking about it as well, you said the truck sat for a year without driving, so it may have gas deposits in the fuel system and lines. Pick up some fuel system cleaner, I recommend either Lucas, STP or Gumout, and run some through, adding it to the fuel tank when you fill it up next time. The clogged fuel lines could also lead to debris clogging your injectors, a further cause of the sudden loss of power. But the fuel system cleaner usually cleans them, or you can pick up fuel injector cleaner from a parts store as well, adds in just like the fuel system cleaner. Both are only a couple bucks each.

Try these things and see if the performance of the truck improves, if not, or if a few issues still linger come back for help whenever you need it.
Goodluck and make sure you ask if you have anymore questions as there are plenty of people on here that are willing to help.

ditto

[RhinoZ24]

ditto

Nice help lmao, I was expecting another scholarly answer though lol.

[Jersey_Joe]

I concur. ^. Nice write kid

[RhinoZ24]

I concur. ^. Nice write kid

I think that was directed at me lol. So thanks, I'm learning from you guys, and just passing along the shared knowledge.

[Jersey_Joe]

Ha I thought I knew my ish till I met Alex. Unreal. Lol. And yes that was directed to u. Nice write up

[RhinoZ24]

Thanks lol, and yeah he knows so much, it's hard to believe he's only 21.

[Jersey_Joe]

Right? His knowledge and talent is retarted. Def the professional assassin !

[RhinoZ24]

Yeah haha, if only he lived closer to me, like right next door so I could get his help for my truck all the time lol.

[Jersey_Joe]

He's a click away bro

[RhinoZ24]

Haha yeah, he needs his own app though. The Truck Professor lmao.

[Jersey_Joe]

The auto professor. Lol

[RhinoZ24]

#1 selling app right there haha

[Jersey_Joe]

Yup

[RhinoZ24]

Any word?

[lt.meadows]

Sorry for not replying sooner to thank you, I forgot my password shortly after posting and just found it written out about half an hour ago. If we lived within a reasonable distance of each other I'd owe you at least a case of beer... Lol
1. The squealing was caused by worn bearings in the alternator, I replaced it and that was the end of the squealing.
2. Using what you said above, I drove the truck for a couple weeks alternating between running STP fuel system cleaner and STP injector clean. After a couple weeks of doing that I brought the truck into my buddy's dads shop where him and I replaced the spark plugs. While I was at it I did the injectors too. Changed all the filters (air, fuel, oil), changed all the fluids (engine oil, transmission, power steering), tested the electrical system in various ways, and basically did a very good, very thorough tune up (it had a probably been a long time since my truck had gotten that kind of attention lol).
All in all your advice and tips were very, very helpful. I can do the work myself, just needed a point in the right direction which you provided for me.
And now that I have my password back, I look forward to becoming a more active member of this forum community.
Thank you, and thanks to everyone else who commented too!

LT.

[RhinoZ24]

That's good to hear man, glad you got your truck all fixed up and running right. And that's what we're here for is to help each other out. I'm glad my advice got you going and helped so much. Post up some pics of your truck!