mirrormask

I have an automatic 2006 V6 that I just bought back in June from a local ford dealership. It's having major problems that ford cannot seem to figure out despite it being there for almost a month total now. I came to you guys for some advice because I am at my wits end. Now, I am in no way a techie person and have no clue what most parts of a car do or are called for that matter aside from common sense, so bear with my explanations.

Basically, while driving, the car seems to suddenly "lose power" (as my bf put it) and the wrench lights comes on. You can feel when this happens, almost like a "sag" in the engine. The car struggles to shift gears and accelerate. In the case of city driving, I have to force the gas down more than normal and it will finally shift gear. The rpms also go higher than normal for shifts. The only way to correct the problem is for me to pull over and shut the car off. Once it's turned back on the car is fine. This only happens every 5-10 days at random and first started only when the car initially was driven, such as leaving a parking lot. Now it has also occurred while idling at a red light, and twice on a major highway cruising at 50-60 mph. It also sometimes shifts harshly into reverse and park.

The car has been to ford twice for this issue and the only things they've done are replace the solenoid assembly after the car gave them that code during the first visit, and flush the transmission during the second visit. Of course I have googled it many times and the most common result is throttle body problems with the description of it "limping home" which is very accurate in regards to the loss of power. Is this what I'm actually looking at or is there something else I should relay to ford?

jimkaray

After a month and they've only changed one part? They don't seem to motivated to fix it. Limp mode is the technical term for the computer controlled loss of power. Its allows you to get off the road safely while protecting the motor as much as possible. What you've described does sound like the classic throttle body issue to me. That said the dealer should have plenty of familiarity with this issue and standard procedure is to run a list of the TSB's for the car. You can search the forum or google for the actual throttle body TSB and hand them a print out of it. Even the the warranty history shows it was done in the past I would want it done again at this point.

mirrormask

They are definitely not very concerned at all despite me explaining to them this is causing me a lot of stress and frustration. I've literally only had this car for two weeks back in June with no problems and ever since its been a merry go round of rental cars and "we have no idea"'s. The problem actually occurred again this afternoon, not even a full 48 hours later!

I've been searching for the tsb you mentioned and can't seem to find one describing my issue. Perhaps I'm looking right at it and just don't know it.. Like I said I am not good with car lingo haha. But I am assuming if I mention it to them tomorrow when I call they would be able to find it themselves?

jimkaray

I did a quick search and didn't find it either. Maybe I'm wrong and they never issued one for our cars. Anyway I still suspect the throttle body itself or also likely its the throttle position sensor. I had intermittent wrench light issues thanks to a failing tps that cleared once I replaced it. How many miles on the car and any signs the previous owner made any modifications? My guess is the trans issue was a separate problem. Were the trans issues resolved by the work they did?

mirrormask

The car has 10,300 miles and no mods. And yes the trans issue seems to have been fixed, the car is not giving them any more codes even though I'm still having the issue. :\

jimkaray

10k, that's not a typo? Well now we know why the mileage was so low, lol!
Is the original battery still in? The computer is pretty sensitive to low voltage so it might be as simple as an old battery not being able to keep a strong charge. At 10k the car has been sitting for long periods of time so it could be mice chewed on some wires too.

mirrormask

Nope no typo the guy who traded it in bought it new and kept it in his garage for shows\nice weather driving only. When i drove it home in june it only had 9,000. I thought I struck gold when I found it but guess I learned my lesson lol. And yes as far as I know it has the original battery but I can't be sure. I don't seem to be having any common issues associated with a weak battery.

jimkaray

If its in the early stage of going bad it won't start really acting up until the cold weather hits. I'd have the battery load tested and see how it holds up. After 5 years or so most batteries, stock ones included, start to weaken. Especially if it was sitting and lost charge from time to time. Check over all the wiring, grounds, battery terminal and vacuum hoses. If the battery and all else check out then even though I don't like to just swap parts out I'd start with the TPS, its cheap enough and worth a shot. It doesn't sound like anything major it just needs to be tracked down.

mirrormask

Thanks a lot for all your adivce. I hope I can get this figured out and fixed asap, I'd like to actually enjoy my car ha!

yourmom6990

Sounds to me like the car sat for quite awhile if it only has 10k miles on it. Maybe who ever had it before didn't care for it properly while it was in storage and let gas sit in the tank for too long. Could possible be a clogged up fuel filter? Sometimes people overlook the simplest things.

Also, my dads 06 has roughly 20k on it and was having a similar issue with losing power and sometimes dying at idle. Checked the throttle body and it was black. Cleaned it up and the issue went away.