shockjockey
 

Hi ford forum this is my first time on a forum my 19 year old son says its a great resource. Any help would be appreciated. I have a 2006 e 250 van 4.6 86,000 miles on occasion during warm up van will start running really bad , check engine light flashes , if I turn off ignition and restart its fine. When I pull codes its showing #3 &#5 cylinder misfire my first thought would be to replace #3&#5 coil but , if its a bad coil why would turning off ignition & restarting correct it ? Any help would be much appreciated ! Thanks

Hi and welcome.
Since no one has responded yet, maybe some info will help.
When the check engine light flashes it means there is a serious condition where the engine is misfiring and polluting.
Some additional info would be most helpful like when the spark plugs were last changed, if anyone has done any work recently in the engine compartment etc.
If extra fuel is managing to get into those cyls while parked it could cause a rich condition on startup. Sometimes a vacuum leak will cause similar problems. A little maintenance history may shed some light on the possible cause.

misfire
 

Thanks hanky!
I have had this van for 2 years put 20,000 miles on it & done nothing but oil changes ( every 2,000) miles . flushed coolant, tranny, & differential. Its my work van ( electrician) & it is heavily maintained. I also have 24 years experience in auto industry. Just not as full time line tech. Anyway, I never thought of plugs as I assumed they were irridium, and were good to 100,000 I will replace plugs that's easy enough . I will keep you posted. I always try to use OEM parts, but, do have recommendation on plugs ?
One other thing, when I bought van & flushed coolant I also replaced thermostat , the one that was in there was a 180 but should be 195 as per ford, this van spent its first 7 years in phoenix az. I did replace it with a good 180 thermostat. I always wondered if I'm not getting enough fuel burn off due to lower temp .
Once again thanks for your help !

Welcome..

How many miles on the clock?

I'd stay with Motorcraft plugs. On the thermo, I'd stay with OE temp. as well. Were you having a high temp condition or just reduced the range due to AZ temps concerns? If the plugs are higher mileage and going to be changed, move the coded coils to another position making note of the swap and see if the fault codes follow the changed position. If not, you've eliminated plugs, and coils for the coded cylinders. Or, you could try the swap prior to plug changes if lower mileage. Does it use any oil?

Like hanky mentioned, a flashing CEL indicates a rich condition severe enough to damage the Cats if left unchecked. Possible hanging injectors and over fueling as well. Being its intermittent, would seem to point towards engine control, ignition, fuel metering etc.

misfire
 

Thanks hayapower
It has 86,000 uses zero oil and runs awesome 99% of the time.it had the 180 thermostat when I bought it it came from phoenix , I bought it used & live in st. Louis.I will buy motor craft plugs & move the 2 coils to different positions. Thanks so much.

Still gathering info, If the suggestions offered so far don't eliminate the problem, does the engine run poorly when first started intermittently , both when cold and hot or only when cold? Please disregard this post if problem has been solved.

The problem only occurs in between cold and normal operating temperatures. It never happens when I first start it, nor when its fully warm.

I just replaced all of the sparkplugs with motor craft plugs gapped to .055". I moved coil number 3 to cylinder 4, and coil number 5 to cylinder 6. I will update if the problem persists, thanks everyone!