My 1990 F150 4x4 5.0 has started the annoying habit of being difficult to start and when it does, I need to babysit it until it warms up for about 5 minutes or it will die. It sounds like a fouled spark plug and the engine gets smoother after a minute or so of running at high manual idle. I replaced the plugs and checked the wires/cap/roter for usual signs of wierdness but it all looks good. I was expecting one of the old plugs to look fouled or a bit darker than the rest, but they all looked good. Maybe a tad on the lean side (very clean/white electrodes and no scaling or oil residue). No check engine light. (Where IS the plug to pull the codes on this truck?)
Now what? Injector leaking down after sitting for > 1 hour maybe?? How can I test the injectors? What is the average cost of a new one? Besides de-pressuring the fuel rail, what other precautions are there?
It really sucks because I cannot use my remote starter anymore!
Thanks!
-Dje