Getting that responsiveness back ...

2793 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by carringb, Mar 31, 2009

Porch40

Discussion Starter · Mar 3, 2009

Hey guys, in the last couple years I have noticed a growing lack of responsiveness from my 01 v-10 along with more pinging than when new. It all seemed to start about the time I noticed 'may contain up to 10% ethanol' at the pump and when I started doing 1-2 short trips (4 miles) per night. My daytime commute is 40 miles of highway so I would think the short trips wouldn't have any effect. Anyway, it got to the point the truck would ping on about every brand of 87 I could find and I could really feel it in the seat of the pants going up a hill almost like I was pulling my pal's 6k lb boat. Before this lethargy it had felt like I could pull a wheelie in overdrive on those same hills. Up until that point the fuel injectors had never been cleaned (63k). After reading a few articles and recommendations I decided to give the Chevron Techron concentrate a shot before going to the dealer for the $179 injector cleaning. After 2 tanks I can definitely tell the difference. Very little ping and better responsiveness. It still doesn't quite have that initial instant response it used to have though. I know at 63k it might diminish a little but I'm thinking there's still another outstanding piece to the puzzle. A friend of mine just replaced the IAC on his 2001. His was pinging a lot and was starting to do the idle ups/downs. After replacement he filled it up with the cheapest 87 octane he could find and he said it ran like a complete champ - no pinging, responsiveness was back, etc. The same gas before would cause it to ping incessantly. I have considered trying to clean the IAC as mine does not idle well after after moving the truck around in the driveway or garage, shutting it down, then starting it again.

Have you all experienced any lackluster performance from your trucks and if so what have you done to bring them back to peak performance ? I'd like to one day light mine up with a power programmer III but figure getting it running as well as possible before hand would be best.

Thanks for your thoughts

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Porch40

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 6, 2009

Pappy, yes a new one sure would be nice... 3 valves per cylinder, 5 speed trans, better ride ... sounds great! I'll have to stick with the current one though. No room in the budget for anything new.

akrewat, I'll definitley give that a try. I had forgotten the shifting until you mentioned it. When it's not running 100% it throws those lazy shifts now and then and at times hangs in overdrive seemingly forever. I'll report back as soon as it's done. Oncall 24/7 this week so am hoping sometime next week.

Thanks again for your help!

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Porch40

Discussion Starter · #8 · Mar 11, 2009

akrewat ... YOU ARE THE MAN!!

Finally got a chance to clean the MAF. Ran out of time so I didn't even get to do it properly yet it made a HUGE difference. I got the disassembly to the point of pulling out the grommet surrounding the wires when I noticed I could see the MAF. I thought, hmmm, I really don't have time for a total disassembly ... maybe I can blast it as it sits. So I put paper towels under the receiving end of the air filter housing and hosed it down good with CRC MAF cleaner.

How's it run ? I noticed right after starting that it settles into an 800 (cold) rpm idle instead of hanging around 12-1300 for 20 seconds. From there it just gets better. Throttle response is much improved. It now shifts like it used to - no hunting/thinking/lazy shifts. It pulls hills in overdrive with no ping and it actually accelerates up them again instead of bogging, pinging, then downshifting. Bottom line it's fun to drive again. I need to FedEx you a 12 pack. Thanks again!!

Charlie, yes, a friend of mine told me the same thing so I've been religeous about where I fill up - new stations only.

RightWing, between those two steps my truck launches like new again. Techron was around $40 for two tankfulls & CRC was 6.99 for the can and took 10 mins. Best $50 I have spent in years.

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Porch40

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 26, 2009

Well, been a few weeks and the truck is slowly reverting back to its previous lackluster ways. I think it might be the K&N filter. Although I haven't cleaned/oiled it for about 20k miles I'm wondering if maybe there's just enough oil left to foul things up. I was very sparing with the oil when I re-oiled it but maybe not enough. Anyway, am going to blast the MAF again and put the original paper element I removed at 5k for the K&N back on. I saw 0 improvement with the K&N originally. That was ok since I figured I wouldn't be buying a new filter again. Hmmm. Not sure about that now. I'll let you know what happens.

There used to be a member who posted his experiences with a Diablo chip. All was good until he installed a K&N. Right out of the box it fouled the MAF. I always kind of wondered if I was going to have problems. Funny thing is, right around 5k when I changed it I was using some grocery store 87 (cheap) with no problems. It wasn't much later that it started to ping on that brand and the truck got very picky about which gas it used. Maybe that was the start. Who knows. Anyway, back to paper & well see.

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Porch40

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 31, 2009

Hey guys, I think that was it. I blasted the MAF again with cleaner and installed the old Motorcraft air filter. All is good again. :icon_wink:

I figure one of the following is true -

The MAF is going and I'll eventually need to replace it or I putzed and over oiled the K&N (am thinking this is the real problem).

carringb, you are right. I noticed that even when new the K&N gasket was quite a bit thinner than the motorcraft. Now it's even thinner. I also didn't mention this before but when I went to check the MAF the first time there was a very fine very thin layer of dust in the air tube leading to the top of the engine. Maybe it was starting to leak a bit ...

Anyway, along the more positive lines, I broke down and bought a Hypertech power programmer III for my B-day. Been looking at them for ... 8 years ? Figured was time. I'll report back when I get it cranking.

Thanks for your help

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