2002 Ford F-150 4.2L V6 Automatic transmission won't drive
All of a sudden one day my truck started sputtering and balking at moving.
And for no apparent reason. It had been parked at Wal-Mart and this started
when I tried to leave the parking lot. And then it started idling real rough and
then started running real rough. Then it would choke and sputter when
starting from a dead stop. Sometimes it would completely die. And it
definitely didn't want to accelerate at all.
All this came about in a matter of an hour or two, if that. Seemed to run
better once it was in a higher gear, though. The main issue seemed to be the
truck had little to no acceleration from a start position. Like it was getting
starved for gas, but after several minutes in gear, it would start to crawl
forward very slowly, and eventually make it into like 3rd gear, and run a lot
smoother and better. But then, when at a slow speed, (like entering a
driveway or making a turn) it wouldn't climb any kind of a grade at all. Or, at
best, it would take 5 minutes to go ten feet on a really slight grade (as in a
driveway on a flat surface.)
The last time I tried to drive it (someone thought they had fixed it, yeh, right)
even after the truck got going, I could floor the gas and nothing, absolutely
nothing...it was like I had the truck in neutral and never touched the gas
pedal.
My bf used to use the truck to haul junk and vegetation and the like in my
trailer for work. He would try to haul too much at once, and the truck would
overheat for no apparent reason a lot of times. However, sometimes the
radiator would need some water, but not always. And even when it didn't,
we'd park the truck for just a few minutes, and when we took off again, it
would go for miles and miles without overheating again. What's up with
that???? And oh yeh. It cranks, but it's extremely hard to turn over, and even
harder to keep running.
Anywhos, I don't know if any of that has anything to do with the truck not
driving now, but after I noticed the acceleration issue, my old man told me
he'd let the transmission fluid go dry, and he said we needed to replace the
transmission. So, dumb old girl that I am, trusted he knew what he was
talking about and went out and bought another (used) one (I couldn't afford a
brand new one) and after it was installed, the truck did the EXACT SAME
THINGS. And right from the get go!
This makes me tend to believe it's not the transmission at all, as it would be
one hellofa coincidence to purchase a transmission 60 miles away and the
BOTH of them have the EXACT SAME ISSUE(S). Although, the truck IS
throwing transmission codes: P0443, P1451, P0174, P1409, P0171, P0161,
P0155, P1131, P0141 P0743, P0755, P0135, P0751, P1747, P1515 and
P0346 (whew).
But I also know certain other issues can throw off sensors for components
that don't actually have an issue. (By the way, the old man installed new C02
sensors, and also claims he's checked the fuel and air filters and that the
spark plugs and wires are fairly new. One more thing, the gas cap needs
replacing, it just kind of sits on the pipe).
But anyway, I was also told that if the guy who installed the new transmission
didn't clear all the codes, the ones showing could be doing so erroneously.
And so we should clear ALL codes, and then put the truck on a scope again,
to know for sure what the real codes are that are being thrown. But my bf
completely dismisses that suggestion because, well, it came out of my
mouth, as far as he knows.
Do ANY of the symptoms I listed sound familiar to ANYone? (Please God!!!!)
And are they interdependent of each other, or is my truck suffering from the
domino effect? Any ideas, ANYONE???
Please accept my apologies for the book, I'm just at my wit's end. This truck
has been out of commission for OVER A YEAR. And I've spent every cent I
have on hiring mechanics whose guesses ended up being as good as mine
(or worse, in some cases) when it came to diagnosing the issue(s). I just
thought I should be as thorough with describing the symptoms as possible.
I sure hope there's someone out there who's run into this before and knows
EXACTLY what's wrong...please oh please??? Even if it's really bad news,
because I'd MUCH rather know, than sit here hoping against hope and
wondering and wracking my brains for another year, ya know?
Thanks in advance, and just so you know, if you can help me...
I'll be your best friend forever!!!!!!