I have an 01 with 100,000 miles and am having an issue my mechanic hasn't figured out. I would like any imput as I know there is something wrong and I don't want my wife to get stranded somewhere with my son in the car.

Several issues which may or may not be related:

Situation 1 - I set my cruise control at 55mph and am driving on a smooth straight road. The engine will seem to "hiccup" for a brief moment. Almost as if it got choked for a brief second.

Situation 2 - While driving at 35mph it seems as if the engine is stuck and will not shift into the next gear. This does not happen everytime I drive but on a daily basis. I have watched my RPM's at 35mph. When it is running at what I think it is normal it is at 1700 rpm but when it is stuck it stays at 2000rpm. Sometimes I have actually noticed it change from 1700 to 2000 while at this speed but I do not notice a change in performace.

At first these issues seemed to happen when it was wet outside but that is no longer the case.

My mechanic told me that since it is intermittant and the check engine light is not on, he could only just start guessing and replacing parts which would just cost me money that may not be necessary to spend.

Overall I feel as if it is just working really hard to go these days and the gas mileage has dropped as well.

In the past 2 months I have had my transmission fluid and filter changed (oil was not burnt), new spark plugs, wires and fuel filter. I have also ran 2 bottles of injector and valve cleaner through my gas tank.

Any suggestions for me to check out would be appreciated.

PS - I had my steering rack replaced as well and it is creaking when I stop and go. My mechanic said there would be a break in period. Is this true and if so how long?

 

the only thing ive ever ran into that gave me those type of problems if i remember was in the fuel pump. the fuel pump itself is prolly not bad but what i had before was a little rubber hose inseide the gas tank connected to the pump had a split in it and was causeing the engine to do a little hec up at first as described and it would also seem to make the tranny do the hesitation between gears. when i thought about it after the it was fixed it kinda made since it ran fine then when it would get higher in rpm's it would open the split in the fuel hose inside the gas tank and cause it to temperarily lose needed pressure to maintain excelleration. i am know professional auto tech but i have been around check out my pics on the thread beneth yours it says WHAT NEXT?? i have just redone a 91 XLT. as far as how to check to see if your problem was the same as mine i would probably be doing a fuel pressure test from time to time and see if the pressure either drops off quickly or see if there is different readings from day to day before you go ripping out your fuel pump out because of my expeirence. it sounds alot like the same problem i had but there is no gaurantee it would be the same fix..best of luck to you

 

i didnt see the rack question before. it could be there is a break in period im not sure myself, but i think maybe if there is a bushing or somthing not tightned enough thats holding the steering rack in place it will keep on squeaking. so make sure your auto guy agrees to recheck it if it has not stop making noise within a fairly short period of time so you dont get stuck messing with it yourself, besides if somthing was left the least bit loose it wont matter about break in time it will probaly be totally broke if its left loose to long! hope you get your stuff figured out good luck