03 EX coughs

[mooch01]

I hve been getting the same type of coughing that I read other people complain about. My EX 6.0 will get this hiccup sound when doing speeds on the highway considered just cruising anything 70 - 80, with revs around 2000. As soon as the highway goes a little incline or i want to pick up just another notch of speed it coughs, spits out puffs of black smoke then settles down.
someone on another thread said it was normal..no way. feels like a miss and it has been progressively getting worse. now yesterday my wife tells me she tried something ( wish i thought of it she's not going to live it down) she had to do a two hour trip down to Glassboro on open highway and when the truck started coughing my wife tried to put it in cruise control and low and behold! it never coughed, bucked, spit, missed the entire time on CC. she hit the brake to get out of CC and it started again.
So can someone tell me if there is a throttle position sensor, actuator, gizmo from your foot pedal that the CC doesn't use? I think this will solve mine and many other peoples problem if it is just some sending unit or component at my foot pedal, it does seem like it is an electrical problem?? help i can fix almost anything but I have 0 experience with PSD s.. help!

[mooch01]

hello?? anybody out there got any ideas??

[GS247]

I’m not to familiar with the pedal assembly and I’m only speculating, but isn’t there a pedal positioning sensor?

Im just thinking out loud.

I would run by Ford and get a parts diag of the pedal assembly.

[VeeDubTDI]

There should be two sets of sensors in the pedal that are redundant (if one fails, the other takes over). You may be having some issues with your accelerator pedal. I'd start by scanning the computer and checking for codes. If that doesn't tell you anything, I'd try and capture some live data from the pedal itself and make sure that it's functioning properly. If you don't have an AE, try to find someone who does and borrow it for a couple of hours.

[mooch01]

well, i wanted to make sure before i went down the wrong path so I had my wife try it again on a good stretch of highway that changes grade. sure enough even when it is in cruise control the bucking and coughing was there. so i think that I should stick to my original thoughts on this and look into egr and turbo cleaning issues, possible FICM repair. i have a long weekend off and will be working on it at least two of the days. i will keep you all posted and thanks for the help.

[CT Performance, Inc.]

Typical of a 6.0 turbo ..drive it hard and get a SCT with Cales tunes..cured mine 99% of the time

[scottinal]

My Ex was doing exactly the same thing. It was the egr valve. I tried cleaning it but that didn't help. A new valve fixed the problem.

[mooch01]

yea, I saw your thread scottinal, i think i may go down that path because cleaning it did make a huge difference for a couple weeks. thnks i'll keep you all posted. tomorrow or friday is going to be a long day. or maybe not.

[mooch01]

just so you guys know if it happens to you...The EGR VALVE fixed the problem. found it dirt cheap on seebay...Ford part for $95 + 10 shipping...three days of driving and it hasn't coughed, hesitated, nothing...only thing left to try is towing my trailer...next weekend.