Kdog2112

I went by the dealer yesterday where I bought the car from, and a tech came out and assisted me. He was talking to me, and said he could run tests on it but was going through what it could be. He was saying that if you put anything but 87 ocatane that the engine responds differently since it is not set upto take the higher grade gas (93) and that can result in the engine not wanting to turn over promptly. He told me to go through about two tanks of regular and if problem persists then to bring the car back in. Luckilly I have a full Ford Warranty bumper to bumper until 2011 on the car so either way it wont cost me anything but aggravation.

hack_239

This sounds like a complete load of garbage to me. I have an '04 and have had knocking issues almost since I purchased it new. I now have 50k and have had to run 89 or 93 almost the entire time (dang those EPA mandated requirements on "cleaner burning" fuel). For the mechanic to say "the engine is not set up to take higher grade gas" sounds like you were getting the brush-off. There is a reason many around here call them "stealerships". The engine should handle higher grade perfectly fine.

98SN95

the grade of fuel does in fact make the vehicle run different, but i dont think it makes it run bad with higher octane fuel, seems like the comp. could adjust for that.

cliffyk

My plan, since I got the car in December of '06, has been to not worry about it.[/align][/align]It's just a quirk of the engine and it's controls--I.e. it ain't broke and I sure wouldn't let a dealer try to fix it...[/align]

Kdog2112

Thats how I felt when he told me that - Im just dealing with it...other than this little thing I love the car.

Its kinda of like owning a harley...little quirks throughout but great vehicle to own overall

undecided.steve

1. I had this exact problem when, like an idiot, I replaced my fuel filter with a Fram variety.
Intermittantly the car needed to crank, and crank before kicking over and the only different was the filter.

I replaced it with a Morotcraft and the problem never returned.

I know better and realize Fram suck but I weakened

A couple of other things.

1. Don't step on the gas at all unless you have flooded the engine then floor it while you crank to clear the FI system.

2. The Fords have a well known problem with hot restarts.
It's intermittant but what generally happens is you start up the car cold, go a couple of miles to the 7-11 for some beer, come out and try to start the car and while it starts it's just not happy. Sometimes it takes 2 tries to kick in.

Solution: When you get in the car, turn the key to ON and then adjust your seatbelt, radio etc and THEN start the car and it will fire up every single time.

Apparently the fuel pump has to build up pressure on a hot restart or something odd like that.

Again, wait a few seconds for the fuel pump to pressurize the system and never press on the gas pedal while starting, it will just make things worse .

Other than that, do the basics....

98SN95

I THINK ITS THE ONE WAY VALVE IN THE PUMP, PROBLY STARTS TO LOSE PRESSURE AFTER A WHILE, RESULTING IN LOW START UP PRESSURE

cdrew217

What you're saying about the fuel pump does sound plausible........

98SN95

yup