Couple problems

[Supernaut]

First off I have a 2006 LS with just under 50k km's on it. I have diagnosed a few problems and just want a second opinion on it.

1) My serpentine belt keeps falling off in really cold weather (-20 celsius or more). The first time in probably -30 weather, it comes off. I go to put it back on, all is well. Drove it around in -5 to -15 weather, and it was running fine no problems. Second time, same thing, cold weather and it pops off. It has poped off 3 times in total now. It pops off seconds after starting the car, and has some sort of "knocking" noise. Could be the belt hitting something? It looks to have poped off somewhere around the idler pulley. The first time I put it back on, I checked to see if any pulleys were wobbling or the tensioner was wobbling back and forth. No issues at all. Belt felt tight. I have a feeling it is the tensioner.

2) One day when driving home, the car kicked into failsafe model. Scanned the code and it came back as something to do with the electronic throttle control. I drove around the next day and all seemed fine, no failsafe mode, no lights on dashboard. Figured the problem went away, or the weather had some sort of effect (Slushy and windy that day). What I've noticed since is I am getting terrible mileage compared to before. Also yesterday I noticed at a constant throttle a few times the RPM's would just drop. This happened going around 80km/h. I figure this is the throttle position sensor.

3) When I put my serpentine belt back on and the air intake back on, I got a check engine light. Code read P0113 air intake too hot. I am going to buy some MAF sensor cleaner right away, to see if I might have dirtied the MAF sensor. After that I figure get a new MAF sensor.

Any suggestions would be very helpful. Thanks

 

[joegr]

1. Probably is the tensioner, but do check the damper pulley (the big one at the bottom). Ford did make some bad ones, and the problems with the bad ones do show up when it is cold and the rubber between the inner and outer metal parts shrinks.

2. Both complaints are classic symptoms of one of the most frequent LS problems. Some of your COPs (ignition coils) have become marginal. You need to replace all of the COPs and all of the spark plugs (must be done at the same time). If you drive much at all like this, you will ruin your cats. Search/read this forum. There has been a lot written about this problem.

3. That's a new one on me. Make sure the electrical connector to the MAF is good. Note that there is a slight trick to disconnecting it without damage. You pull the red part back, then press on the tab. Be sure to push the red part back in after reconnecting it.

 

[1LoudLS]

I will second that 2) is most likely a coil (or two...) going bad and causing interference that the car wrongly thinks in a throttle body problem. also could/would cause symptom two

 

[T-Money]

I find it extremely odd that he's having these problems with a 06 that only has 31,000 miles. Do the mechanics/electronics of a car in Canada fail quicker than say a car from Florida due to the exposure to extreme cold? Or is this just a super rare instance of a low mileage one already having issues ?? I'm just curious

 

[joegr]

I find it extremely odd that he's having these problems with a 06 that only has 31,000 miles. Do the mechanics/electronics of a car in Canada fail quicker than say a car from Florida due to the exposure to extreme cold? Or is this just a super rare instance of a low mileage one already having issues ?? I'm just curious

Only 31K miles, but still six or seven years. I would think that the life span factors for the coils would be time plus number of hot/cold cycles, since the issue is mainly epoxy failure. If he's doing a lot of short trips, it makes sense to me.

 

[jolinc01]

1) Is your belt still in good shape? I'm with Joe on the tensioner.
2.) Coils...change them all and plugs at the same time.
3.) Is the intake secured properly? Is it cracked? Sounds like there's a leak somewhere where hot air is getting in.

 

[Supernaut]

Thanks for the help so far ya'll.

JoeJr:
I'll make sure to check the damper pulley and MAF electrical connector when I get around to it tomorrow. Disconnected and connected the connector properly according to those instructions as well. I'll let you know the results on that end.

Also on the note of short trips, work is only 15 minutes each way, which could make sense

jolinc01:
I believe the belt is all good. Quickly looked at it when putting it on the one time. Will look over it more carefully next time. Belt is still fairly new (~9 months old). Intake was installed back in properly yes, I don't believe there is any leaks, but will check.

On the coils, anyone use Airtex?

 

[scjmc]

Visteon or Motorcraft seem to be the proven replacements. I don't know about Airtex.

 

[Supernaut]

I think I figured out my MAF sensor problem. When I put the serpentine belt back on, I started the car, and rev'd the engine a few times with the air intake off, to watch the belt. Would this not cause the sensor to pick-up heat from somewhere else? I will reset the check engine light once I fix the serpentine belt issue, and retest.

I ordered a Dayco tensioner, Airtex coils, and NDK plugs. We shall see if this fixes my problems.