Weird drivability issue, P1270

[Blenderhead]

My MarkVIII started acting up about a week ago, and I'm kind of confused by it. Basically under part throttle, it will often start bucking almost like it is misfiring or something. At first I thought it was the converter locking up too early cause whenever I would either get on the gas or let off it, the problem would go away, however it will do the same thing in all gears, so I don't think that's it. After that I thought misfire, but there was no check engine light. I hooked it up to a scan tool today, and the only code in there was P1270 Engine rev limiter/vehicle speed limiter reached. I figured that was just from hitting 125 a few times on the way up to chicago, so I cleared it and took it for a quick test drive. The problem happened again, though not as bad as it had originally been, and the P1270 came back. There are no other codes in the system. I was watching the data stream when it started happening, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. The only other thing is that the car usually cranks a little longer in the morning before starting than most cars, however it has done that since I got it back in april, so I don't know if that might be related or not. Has anyone ever had a problem like this before?

 

[kustomizingkid]

Have you given the car a basic tune up since you got it?

It sounds to me like the car has a general misfire which is causing the trans to act funny, something that is very common. A misfire can give almost the exact same feel as the dreaded torque converter shudder. When I first got my Vic it had a shudder during steady cruising, but under moderate to heavy acceleration it ran great. I replaced the plugs and 1 cops on it ran smooth as can be.

 

[ford nut]

+1 on the tune up...but guessing by your posts in the past I think or hope thats been done.
Next I would check fuel pressure at idle and at part throttle were the miss is.
Your car should not crank to start.
I have no idea were the P1270 is coming from it could be unrelated to the miss.

 

[Blenderhead]

I checked the plugs before I left, and they looked almost brand new. I actually drove the car 350mi on the highway today, and at this point I am 90% sure its the torque converter. It doesn't shudder when it engages, but I think what's happening is that it just doesn't have enough friction to hold, so when I try to accelerate a bit, it just slips and shudders and feels like a misfire. On the highway holding a steady speed it drove perfectly fine, except that if I went over 80, I could watch the tach jumping around about 50rpms or so. I held 80 and turned OD off, and with OD off, it was still jumping around almost the exact same amount, so it probably isn't slipping in the trans itself, just in the converter. Also, I bought the car from a trans shop, and the guy said that he rebuilt the trans, but didn't replace the converter, which also makes me suspect the converter. Shortly after I get back to NJ the car is getting a T45, so I'm not too concerned about it. As long as I get back to NJ without killing the trans, I'll be happy, so I'm just going to set cruise at 75 so the TCC doesn't slip and generate heat, and hopefully it won't be a problem.

 

[TJKashin]

I hope your guess is right, but I thought the same thing when I had the same symptoms. I immediately went and had a trans service done at my local Ford dealer for $200. The issue wasn't solved, but the dealer told me there was a misfire detected when he hooked it up to the computer. I have a thread here called 'Misfire Dilemma' that kinda chronicles what I did.

I'm still glad I did the trans service as Ford told me that was the first time my trans had ever been opened, and that was at 128k miles. Long story short and $400+ later, it was a bad COP with a hairline crack in it, picture in the aforementioned thread. If you come through Chicago again, let me know and I can hook it up to my scanner and see what I find. Regular scan tool doesn't always find everything, I have the advanced that will pretty much tell you everything about the car right down to the position of the blend door. (assuming you have an OBDII model)

Good Luck, hope you get it resolved.

 

[Blenderhead]

I originally suspected a misfire as well, but I had it hooked up to a scan-tool, and no misfires. On the way back I stopped by to see a friend who lives in Ohio, and while I was there I picked up some lucas trans additive, just to see if it would help at all, which it didn't. The only thing though is as I got back into NJ I needed gas, so I stopped and filled up. Well when I started going again, I forgot to turn off the traction control, which I always do right off the bat, and the first time it started shaking like that, the message center came up saying "check traction control system", so now I'm wondering if maybe somehow the back brakes are pulsing on and off for some reason while I'm accelerating, even with the traction control off. Tomorrow I'll hook it up to a scan tool again and go in to look at all the ABS/TC data and codes and see if anything looks out of place there.

 

[kustomizingkid]

On my CE theres something messed up with the TC where if I'm cruising at 30 and the speed limit changes to 55 it won't let me accelerate.. its messed up.

All I know is that if I turn the LTC off it won't do it at all. I would say that you are probably chasing a bad cop, at least your problem sounds like the symptoms of a bad cop.

 

[Blenderhead]

Well I messed around with it some more tonight. It is definitely a misfire because now it will do it at idle too. I couldn't track down exactly which cylinder was missing though. I pulled all the plugs to check them, and they all look fine. I pulled the coils off one at a time looking for one time where it didn't get worse, but the change was the same for all of them. Now, after putting it all back together, the misfire is WAY worse than it was before. The only thing that sucks though, is IT STILL WON'T THROW ANY ****ING CODES! The scan-tool doesn't even always see the misfire! And even when it does, it doesn't have a misfire monitor on it, so all it will tell me is "yes, the vehicle is currently misfiring." Thanks a lot you $10K piece of garbage, I could have told you that from across the parking lot!

Sorry, I'm just pissed that as soon as I fix one thing, something else has to come up. I'm just going to order a complete set of coils and hope that fixes the problem. Or at the very least, hope that maybe my car's computer will wake up and throw a code for me.

 

[kustomizingkid]

Have you checked other various sensors and such... whats the fuel pressure at, maf and o2's working etc....

 

[ford nut]

Thats a good bet.
Coils sounds like the problem since it got worse since you messed with them.

These cars can get you soooo pissed I have been there more then once.
You will get it fixed I know its a PITA.

 

[Blenderhead]

MAF, O2s, TPS, crank, and cam sensors all are reading properly. I didn't check the fuel pressure, however since the misfire is worse at low rpms than it is at higher rpms, that rules out a low fuel pressure issue. What really bothers me is that the car ran great since I got it back in april, and 2 weeks ago I repainted the front bumper, so now that I finally have the car looking good, it decided it doesn't need to run right anymore.

 

[kustomizingkid]

It's really nice having a know good coil do test for a bad one with...

I've experienced where the car will run equally :q:q:q:qty every time you unplug one, but when you go and rplace that one at a time with a know good one and you do find the bad one its like magic and the car runs right again.

 

[TJKashin]

It's really frustrating, I had the exact same issue and I was ready to sell the car over it cause I was so pissed off. Ford wanted $109 to scan it for me and actually give me the results, I instead opted to buy the AutoTap setup with enhanced Ford parameters which led me to a misfire on Cyl 7. It was called "Low Word of Cumulative Cylinder #7 Misfires" in the parameters and was at 33 after about 5 minutes of operating temperature. I moved the COP around just to see and it followed. Checked the COP and found the crack in the side, replaced it with a new Visteon COP I got from AutoZone (I know, substandard parts but a quick $41.99 fix for now) and voila, the car was purring like a kitten again.

http://www.autotap.com/enhanced_parameters_ford.asp

There is a list of all the parameters I can read on Ford with this setup, which is the same as what FORD's computer will read. $145 on Ebay for the basic tool, $99 upgrade to Enhanced parameters. Was well worth being able to scan whenever I needed for $250 vs the $109 per scan at FORD. An invaluable tool for me since I do most my own work and have a few Fords in the corral =)

 

[Blenderhead]

Well, it was the coils. I got home at 8 tonight, and the box was sitting on the front porch, so I pulled the nose of the car in the garage and changed them all out, and now it runs like it should again. I got 8 new aftermarket coils off ebay for $105 shipped, so it didn't cost too much to fix. Next project, T45. I think I'll also swap in the 3.73TL diff I have sitting in the shed behind the shop to see how I like it.

 

[TJKashin]

Congrats, glad you were able to find and fix that issue, I know it drove me nuts for a week or 2 while I narrowed it down.

Keep us posted on that T45 project, inquiring minds wanna know =)

 

[kustomizingkid]

I still stand by hating COP's...

Good luck on the T45 swap, are you doing to build a shift box to move the shifter back?

 

[ford nut]

Did the P1270 come back ?
Still crank at start up ?
I knew you would get to the bottom of it.

TJKashin had it nailed.
Its love hate with these cars your back on the love side.

 

[Blenderhead]

It still cranks at startup, but like I said, it has done that since I got the car, and I have logged 8K miles on it since the end of april with no issues other than this most recent one. I haven't checked to see if the P1270 came back, but it has also been raining here so I haven't wound out first gear either. I'll check on that this weekend. As for the love-hate thing, after having dealt with SCs for a number of years, these cars are a walk in the park.

As for the T45 swap, I never liked the idea of the shifter extension box. About 3-4 years ago I did a T45 swap on a 94 cougar that I had, and I basically just modified the shifter handle and the center console, and it was good. For the lincoln, I decided I wanted the shifter coming out in the factory location though, so I built this...
http://www.putfile.com/pic/8425324#

That setup will require cutting the floor, but it will all hide under the center console, and the shifter will come out in the correct location. Plus, by doing it this way, I can adjust the shift throws, and I don't have to cut a hole in the back of my transmission case or worry about any sealing issues or anything like that. Also, this setup cost me about $20 and about an hour or 2 to make, which is way better than the $400 that the extension box costs.

 

[kustomizingkid]

Thats a pretty slick setup!