I have not been driving the truck very often now that I have my new car. I have been driving it short distances about once every 2-3 weeks. Right around the time I stopped driving it every day, I took the truck on the trails and splashed through alot of large puddles, the largest probably being about 12-14" deep. After that, I didn't drive it for about a week. Since then every time I start up the truck, it idles at 3,000rpm for a little while then drops down to about 1,000rpm - so I was figuring I probably have a minor vacuum line issue and never did anything about it.

Today I took the truck for a long drive for the first time in months. When I went to start it up both times afterwards, the starter would keep on turning, but the engine would not fire up. I tried it again (both times) and hit the gas pedal, and it started up, though I had to pump the gas a couple times to keep it running.

The gas in there is probably about a month old, all the vacuum lines and the fuel pump are original, and the fuel filter and the battery were changed probably 15,000 miles ago.

Can anybody give me some insight as to what I might be dealing with and how to test it out?

EDIT:
New symptoms developed on the way home from work. Now my truck is not letting me get above 2,000RPM in anything but 1st gear. If I try to go above 2,000RPM in anything other than 1st gear, it bucks until I let off the gas. If I shift high in 1st gear, to where it's at 3,000RPM AFTER shifting into 2nd gear, I won't get any power until my speed drops and the truck gets below 2,000RPM.

So, the best way to describe it is like I have a governor on my RPMs. This has me leaning more towards a vacuum leak, but I can't hear any signs of one under the hood.

__________________

Have you checked the battery terminals for corrosion?

Negative, ghost rider - I'm at work and haven't had the time to look under the hood yet. However, I have never had a problem with battery corrosion in the past, and there wasn't any a few months ago. On top of that, the starter sounded pretty strong as it was trying to turn over, so I am 95% sure corrosion is not the problem.

__________________

John, let the 'stang sit for a week and take the truck to work, if its bad fuel, run all the fuel out of the system, put some fresh in and see what happens.

__________________
2001 Mazda B-3000 CabPlus "FX2 Off Road"| 3.0 | 5 SPD | 3 In Spindle Lift | Belltech Shackles | UltraGauge |Alpine Head / 10" Kicker Setup | Air Box Mod | Add-A-Leaf| Thrush Welded B4 Rear Wheel | Kobalt Box | Cobra 19 DX IV | Custom PA Speaker | Front/Rear Tow Receiver | 2X Aux Lights | Hideaway Strobes | Back Rack Safety Rack | Amber LED Strobes | Blue LED Strobes | 265/75/R16 General Grabber AT2's

HHmm, weird.

Hmmm, if it seems to turn over fine, then it sounds like you may have a spark/fuel related issue. As for the high idle at start-up, that may be something different, or related. Is there a noticeable ssssss sound coming from anywhere?

I'm with you on that one Travis. I've got about 6 gallons left, so I should be able to go through that pretty quick... I just don't want to get stranded at work, 50 minutes from home.

Bad gas could be the reason it won't turn over, but I don't think it would be a cause to the high idle at start up though. I'm thinking maybe splashing through those puddles somehow killed my fan clutch. I've had that go out a few times before.

Honestly, I've been lazy and hopeful that it would go away - especially with the new daily driver. With the high idle I wasn't able to hear much, I'll have to take a closer look after the RPMs drop back down.

__________________

lol, I hear ya man. My truck has a low idle when in Drive or Reverse after the truck warms up, however it runs fine when cold. My problem also happened after hitting puddles, except the puddle I hit was 2-3 feet deep.lol. Since i'm out of school for summer break, and I only have to go to work on Wednesday and Thursdays right now, i've been really putting off finding the problem. Usually spend about 10 minutes checking stuff, and then I do something else.lol.

If the fuel idea doesn't work, then definitely check for vacuum leaks. Try around the Injectors, and the PCV elbow. The 4.0's also have some kind of vacuum elbow under the upper coolant hose that likes to crack and cause a vacuum leak, so maybe yours opened up too.

New symptoms developed on the way home from work. Now my truck is not letting me get above 2,000RPM in anything but 1st gear. If I try to go above 2,000RPM in anything other than 1st gear, it bucks until I let off the gas. If I shift high in 1st gear, to where it's at 3,000RPM AFTER shifting into 2nd gear, I won't get any power until my speed drops and the truck gets below 2,000RPM.

So, the best way to describe it is like I have a governor on my RPMs. This has me leaning more towards a vacuum leak, but I can't hear any signs of one under the hood.

__________________

Idle issue could be the IAC. Did you check to see if you sucked any water up. If there is water puddled up in your intake box it'll keep sucking it in. Sounds like you need to take time to go over every hose and make sure there is no cracks or any are loose.

__________________
No ride ATM

what about that pesky pcv hose elbow...your check engine light on by chance?

__________________
2021 F150 5.0 Screw

Past:18 F150 2.7, 16 F150 5.0, 14 F150 5.0, 07 F150 5.4, 03 Ranger 4.0

Master Certified Ford Parts / Warranty Admin

Your new issues sounds like a restriction in the exhaust system. Maybe some mud/dirt got caught in a catalytic converter or your muffler. You can check this a few ways. One way is to start the truck up cold, and put your hand by the exhaust tip. If you feel very little exhaust flow, you have a restriction. A restriction is also characterized by glowing red exhaust components, like the exhaust manifolds or any of the furthermost pipes. You can pull the O2 sensor directly in front of the cat, and then test drive the truck. If your power returns to normal, then you have clogged exhaust components.

If you do have a clog in your exhaust system, not only do you need to fix it, you need to figure out why it clogged in the first place. Was there dried mud in it? Or was there a rich condition that destroyed the catalytic converter(s)? If there happens to be something else besides dried mud clogging the exhaust system components, then the underlying condition will just cause the new components to fail as well.

There's no check engine light on.

I replaced the cats only about a year ago, so hopefully that is not the issue - they are really expensive.

I can check the IAC to see if it is dirty, I cleaned that out not too long ago as well. As for water in the air box, it's been so long since I went through those puddles, that there shouldn't be anything in there - but I will check.

__________________

I actually had a buddy who got new cats put on his truck. Within two months the new cats somehow grenaded themselves and caused a restriction. It is possible, especially if your truck was running a little rich. When you replace something that fails in your exhaust system, you have to find out why something failed first, because the parts are way too expensive to keep replacing.

You high idle may be a faulty IAC, maybe stuck open, however your other problems are in no way being caused by the IAC. The IAC only controls the air flow when the truck is idling, and the throttle plate is closed. It keeps the airflow moving so that the truck doesn't suffocate and die due to the throttle plate being closed.

Hmm... then I'm going to rule out any problems with the IAC because the idle is only high at start up for a minute or two. After that, my idle is right where it should be.

I had figured the reason my cats went bad was due to running a tuner. I also have had a small misfire for years now that may have been dumping more fuel into them as well, causing them to go quicker.

__________________