I have 209,000 miles on a 3.7 engine, plugs changed 20,000 miles ago, that was 3 years ago, now that I am retired not too many miles put on. When I turn the key it wants to run but sputters for as much as a half minute, not always, otherwise runs fine. Ant thoughts about the cause, been like this for a year.

Could be many things, I would search it on the web and see if any one with same truck has had same issue. Is it throwing a code? That would help.

Not a Ford guy at all, but is the fuel pressure regulator okay? If it is leaking down, could take a bit to build proper pressure.

Any check engine light?

No lights or codes, would fuel pressure create a code, would think so?

Not positive but think I seen somewhere that a fuel issue won’t possibly throw a code but I may be wrong. If you can check fuel pressure, they aren’t that expensive and simple to do. My fuel pressure regulator was bad in my rodeo but it ran bad the entire time.

Ten years ago, when I quit working on cars, fuel pressure would not set a code.

Find the regulator, there should be a vacuum hose on it. Pull the hose off. If gas drips out of the vac hose, the regulator is bad. Even if the hose smells like gas, the regulator is bad.

Does it start fine if you cycle the key a few times before cranking? This will give the fuel system time to pressurize.

What K snow said. When I pulled vacuum hose off my regulator gas poured out of it. The air filter compartment also smelled like gas.

i had a squirrel eat a hole in my gas line , tiny little hole not much more than a pin prick actually through

it would get air in the fuel rail and sputter and die the first time I started it , then be find , of course I was leaking gas

dribble dribble

could start it up again if it was only a couple minutes running in to the store and then back out it started fine

but let it set an hour and same rough start

sputter sputter spitter pop a.most want to run and die , then try again and it would go

I replaced the section of gas line and have been good again. but that is the way leaking air in to the gas line sounds or if your not getting the pressure you need

And southeast WI (I used to wrench in Milwaukee) gasoline is horrible on fuel systems. As a drivability tech, 90% of the repairs I did were fuel related (regulators and pumps specifically). When I moved to Sheboygan county (non-reformulated gas), I performed very few fuel system repairs.

hardly anyone buys Ethenol free 91 any more they get 4.50 a gallon for it

the E10 87 octane or if you want to save the 5-10 cents a gallon E15 88 octane is the most common thing

of course the cursed 5 Milwaukee , Racine, Kenosha , Ozaukee and Waukesha can have nothing but the Ethanol gas

but it does make you wonder when the last time he filled the tank was with how few miles he put on I would run it real low keeping a can of new gas in the back of the truck 5 gallons worth if and when the fuel light comes on fill up with fresh new gas.

but I would guess given it goes away in a minute or 3 air in the lines some how and when it gets worked out it isn't an issue

check the condition of the lines they rust out around here

and don't be cheap and put E85 in it if you have been doing that

get E10 87 or even spring for the 91 no E this time.

We have ethanol here in Sheboygan county also, that's not the root cause, though it isn't good. It has to do with the "reformulated" gas that the 5 county area uses. Not sure what the difference is, but that crap is horrible. I will not buy gas in those 5 counties.

20,000 miles in 3 years?
You can get some issues with machinery when you dont use it enough.

No check engine light? Mines been on since about 200K, lol.

WI has emissions testing requirements for '95 and newer vehicles, every 2 years. Your check engine light is an automatic fail.

only SE WI , no one gives a rip about us in SW WI

I had a jeep cherokee with the 4.0 that did something similar. Changed injectors and problem went away. Had one leaking bye i guess

The 3.7L doesn't use a return style fuel system with a vacuum regulator, it uses a PWM returnless system. (at least on Tauruses and Explorers. I assume its the same in the F150s.)

If it were in my shop, with no codes, I'd be looking at fuel trim and misfire data right away for clues, suspecting a vacuum leak that seals up once it warms up just a little. But it could be a myriad of issues.

Thanks everyone who responded, I did run a tank of the better gas in it a while back, when I went to start it at the gas station it was struggling to start but the rest of the tank it did not have the issue. So if it is just the gas I have to buy here in SE Wisconsin it is an easy fix, but what loosegoose said about a myriad of issues makes the cheap guy in me say live with it.

My work truck (2017 F350 gas job) does that only when it’s hot outside. Premium doesn’t help. No dash lights. Almost like the starters not disengaging or fuel pressure issues ….. I’m getting and A service tomorrow, maybe I’ll get em to check it out