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willald's avatar
willald
Explorer II
Jan 11, 2021

Service recommendations near Charlotte NC - Ford V10 misfire

The V10 in our 2012 Georgetown (see signature) has developed a misfire. You can only feel it at idle and when initially accelerating, a slight vibration. Engine cranks and runs OK once you get going, and neither wife nor daughter even noticed anything was wrong until I pointed out the vibrating that occurs at idle. Seems like at least one of the 10 cylinders is not hitting. Check engine light came on after driving about 10 minutes (exercising it Saturday). The smell of unburnt fuel is very noticeable in the exhaust.

Been through same thing before with a V10 in Ford Excursion that I used to own many years ago. Turned out to be a broken wire going to one of the fuel injectors. Fixed that one myself. Doubt I'll get that lucky this time. Will be looking under the 'doghouse' later today to see if I can tell whats wrong, but I'm guessing it'll be either a coil pack, spark plug, or possibly a busted vacuum hose.

Any suggestions of what else to look for, would be welcome. :)

Now, here's the main question: In case I do decide to take it somewhere to have this fixed, where is a good place for such near Charlotte, NC that will work on the Ford F53 chassis/V10? I've found two places I know that work on them, not sure which is the better option:

1. Classic Ford/Lincoln in Shelby, NC - Been there before for a warranty fix on the V10 years ago, they were great then. But, that was many years ago, and they've changed names/hands since then.

2. Camping World (Formerly Tom Johnson Camping) in Concord, NC - One of only RV dealers around here that has the facilities to do chassis/engine work on Class As, and they do a lot of it. Have never used them for chassis work, though, very leery of ANY Camping world for service work.

Which of these seems like the better choice? Or, might anyone know of a shop around this area that would be better? I realize independent repair shops are typically better, but I can't seem to find any around here that will work on these big rigs. Many auto/truck dealers, independent repair shops, and RV dealers don't have the facilities to handle (or just don't want to deal with) chassis/engine work with these rigs.

As always, all suggestions, opinions, etc. are appreciated and welcome. :)
  • BurbMan wrote:
    Man it's your lucky day! That broken wire is definitely the misfire, but had it not been for that you never would have looked under the hood and found the fuel leak! Surprised you didn't smell fuel?

    Fuel injection runs at very high PSI so you can't just use a "piece of hose", glad you are having the mobile mechanic fix with Ford parts. You might want to have him give the engine a "once over" to see if he sees any other developing problems.


    Yeah, we did actually smell fuel, but it was pretty faint, and I figured that was cause of the misfire. A cylinder not firing means some fuel is not getting burnt.

    Agree, no way I’d just use hose and rig this. Not with fuel injection pressure. I could get it towed to a repair shop using emergency road side service we have, but I’d have to first back it out of the driveway and get it on the road (they won’t tow it if it’s in your driveway or so I’m told). I didn’t even want to drive it the 100’ out the drive to do that, with it spewing fuel like that! Nah, it ain’t moving again til this gets fixed right.

    Definitely gonna have him look everything else over, yes. Does look like this fuel line rupture had some ‘help’’ and didn’t just happen. Looks like it was chewed by a rodent of some kind (can see bite marks on it), so need to make sure nothing else got chewed.
  • Man it's your lucky day! That broken wire is definitely the misfire, but had it not been for that you never would have looked under the hood and found the fuel leak! Surprised you didn't smell fuel?

    Fuel injection runs at very high PSI so you can't just use a "piece of hose", glad you are having the mobile mechanic fix with Ford parts. You might want to have him give the engine a "once over" to see if he sees any other developing problems.
  • Few more updates:

    Found a mobile repair guy, am working with him on this. Seems like a good guy. Sent him pictures of the ruptured fuel line, and gave him the VIN. He is ordering the parts from Ford now to fix it. Once he gets the parts, he will come out here and fix it. No way was I gonna drive that thing anywhere, with it spewing fuel like that.

    Will give his contact info on here to help anyone else that may need such help, once I get his permission to post such (and see that he does a good job and doesn't rip me off, hahaha).

    Noticed while looking at it again, that a wire going to one of the coil packs is broken (sounding awfully familiar, like the issue I had with the V10 Excursion many years ago, haha). Sooo, that (broken wire) also explains why it was misfiring. That's an easy fix, though, fortunately.
  • ford truck guy wrote:
    A few yeas ago I had stopped in the area for work on my way to Florida... While there I heard a noise and went toKeith Hawthorne Fordbefore they opened..

    When they arrived they asked me what was up, within 30 minutes the truck ( 6.4 diesel ) was in their shop and they diagnosed a fuel pump going bad.. It was rattling on the frame.. They did not have one in stock, nor did the warehouse BUT they found 1 at another dealer about 45 minutes away.. They sent a tech there to get I was up and running that afternoon ....


    Yep, know that place. Good guys there, I'm not surprised at all they went the extra mile to get you running again. However, I've found they don't want to work on Class A RVs just cause of liability concerns.
  • Update:

    Just opened up the doghouse and had a look. Noticed the short rubber piece of hose (I believe its rubber) that connects main fuel line to the fuel rails on top of the engine looked a bit ruptured. Tried cranking the engine, it cranked up fine, but whoa!! Fuel squirted from that ruptured connector like all get-out!! Have a picture I took of the fuel squirting from it. If I ever find somewhere to post the picture where I can link to it here, will do such and post the picture here.

    Well, anyway, the problem is very obvious, haha. We got us a ruptured fuel line. I either got to fix that fuel line myself, get a mobile mechanic out here to do so, or have it towed to a shop. No way am I driving it ANYWERE like this.

    Has anyone ever had an issue like this, done a repair to the fuel line on a V10?

    Thinking I probably gonna get a mobile mechanic out here or tow it to a shop, just not sure which yet..
  • A few yeas ago I had stopped in the area for work on my way to Florida... While there I heard a noise and went toKeith Hawthorne Fordbefore they opened..

    When they arrived they asked me what was up, within 30 minutes the truck ( 6.4 diesel ) was in their shop and they diagnosed a fuel pump going bad.. It was rattling on the frame.. They did not have one in stock, nor did the warehouse BUT they found 1 at another dealer about 45 minutes away.. They sent a tech there to get I was up and running that afternoon ....
  • Code reader will tell you which cylinder has the misfire, then I would change the coil pack on that cylinder. Yes, could be other things but on the Ford V8 and V10 99% of the time it's the coil pack.

    Like you, I've read enough here on the forum over the years to avoid CW like the plague (or the covid LOL), but like any chain, lots is dependent on local management. If they seem to be consistently busy, that says something and I might give them a try.
  • Do you have an engine check light on? If so go to auto parts store such as Autozone or O"Reillys to get code read. No code mean or could mean bad plug. I just reread post that you do have engine check light!
    Odd are there is a bad coil pack.
    Find a Ford truck dealer, even though I don't care for dealers.