GEN 2 Serious engine hesitation

Not sure how best to describe it, but I experienced what I would call severe hesitation and lack of throttle response as I took of from a stop today. The truck was warmed up, I'd driven about 6 miles / 10 minutes across town first thing this morning. I stopped at a stop sign (I try to do that once in a while), and when I went I take off I initially thought the engine had quit altogether. I was in sport mode and probably ended up with the throttle about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to the floor, as the truck slowly sputtered through the intersection. Over the course of another 30 yards or so, it seemed to sort itself out. I was only a fraction of a mile from my office, so I pulled in, parked and didn't think much more of it until I went to drive home this evening. The drive home was ok, but throttle response still seems "off" and sluggish.

Any ideas? I already drilled a bunch of weep holes, so I know it's not that...


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In all seriousness, this is condensate misfire. You will have to drill the 1/16" intercooler weep hole. Your problem will be solved.

Was your traction control kicking in? You might have started to slip the tires in the back and the computers pulled power. Or it's the condensation issue.

Take it to the dealer. It's a warrantied truck.


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Might be contaminated fuel. Filled up recently?

What grade fuel are you using?

Oh boy, here we go again. There are a dozen threads about this exact issue already. The only thing that happens, is people argue about which grade of fuel to use. Just save yourself some time and start putting diesel in it.

Not sure what the dealer put in for the first tank, but all 6000+ miles since have been the highest grade of fuel available at the pump. In SoCal she gets 91, but when I road trip I treat her to the finer things in life.

I probably filled up about 4 days ago and currently have about 3/4 of a tank.

It definitely wasn't traction control kicking in. It just felt like it wasn't getting fuel.

I'm going to take it to the local dealer, but wanted get some input from everyone here first. I didn't buy the truck from my local dealer, because like all dealers I contacted in SoCal they wanted ADM. their sales staff left a lot to be desired, so I guess I'm about to find out what their service department is like.

Hopefully it threw a code if some sort and this doesn't become a process of the dealer needing to duplicate the problem themselves.

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CFIT said:

Not sure what the dealer put in for the first tank, but all 6000+ miles since have been the highest grade of fuel available at the pump. In SoCal she gets 91, but when I road trip I treat her to the finer things in life.

I probably filled up about 4 days ago and currently have about 3/4 of a tank.

It definitely wasn't traction control kicking in. It just felt like it wasn't getting fuel.

I'm going to take it to the local dealer, but wanted get some input from everyone here first. I didn't buy the truck from my local dealer, because like all dealers I contacted in SoCal they wanted ADM. their sales staff left a lot to be desired, so I guess I'm about to find out what their service department is like.

Hopefully it threw a code if some sort and this doesn't become a process of the dealer needing to duplicate the problem themselves.

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Click to expand...

There are some wonky algorithms in the ECM that make it so you can induce a delayed throttle. Ford is running seemingly very complicated fuel/throttle/ignition mapping combined with very low rpm lockup of the torque converter (for the sake of fuel economy) and also not closing the throttle body while at 0% throttle (to reduce engine braking or to get their anti-lag effect). IMO, this is what is causing the delays that some people have mentioned.

In 10k miles, I've had it happen maybe 2-3 times. If you are rolling at a low speed but not totally stopped (with no TC lockup), and you stab the throttle to 3/4 (but not full throttle) it can seem heavily delayed. Or if you give it a boot of gas from an idle, back it off to 0% (TC unlock), and then on it to 3/4% again, it seems the delay built into the gets compounded and it can seem like its left flat footed.

There is no shudder or indication of misfire, it's just like you are calling for 75% throttle and get about 10-20 % before the computer catches up.

IMO, just drive it. If it happens again, take it in, but I would bet dollars to donuts there will be no code and you end up waiting on the service dept to tell you it's fine.

CFIT said:

Not sure what the dealer put in for the first tank, but all 6000+ miles since have been the highest grade of fuel available at the pump. In SoCal she gets 91, but when I road trip I treat her to the finer things in life.

I probably filled up about 4 days ago and currently have about 3/4 of a tank.

It definitely wasn't traction control kicking in. It just felt like it wasn't getting fuel.

I'm going to take it to the local dealer, but wanted get some input from everyone here first. I didn't buy the truck from my local dealer, because like all dealers I contacted in SoCal they wanted ADM. their sales staff left a lot to be desired, so I guess I'm about to find out what their service department is like.

Hopefully it threw a code if some sort and this doesn't become a process of the dealer needing to duplicate the problem themselves.

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Click to expand...

The dealer is going to tell you they don't know or can't duplicate. They do know the problem - condensate in the intercooler. They just won't fix it correctly.

Your solution is extremely simple and is something all ecoboost owners have had to do for the last 6+ years. Drill the 1/16" weep hole in the intercooler and problem solved.