Hi.

The wife's 6 Cyl EF has three distinct driving styles that can be in operation any time the car is driven:

1. Normal

2. Very touchy accelerator - all accelerator movements seem to be magnified, car goes great

3. Shocking - engine misses regularly, and at times badly, coughs and splutters - engine miss is very noticeable at all speeds. Would stall at idle (in drive) if I hadn't turned idle speed up a fraction.

Car always had an intermittent miss that used to only be noticed after long freeway trips.

Cruise control died years ago.

were told by the workshop that did the head gasket two years ago that electronic throttle was receiving intermittent signal from the ecu only.

New Fuel pump about six months before the head gasket.

Has anyone come across similar issues?

What sort of steps would be advisable to track down the root of the problem?

Cheers, and thanks in advance.

Sounds like the ecu could be playing silly buggers.
Things to check:
-Spark plugs (what do they look like) clean them then check them immediately after it begins to run like a pig so that you can rule out overfuelling or underfuelling
-Leads (how old are they? Remember to very gently twist and pull to remove. Leads can be very fragile at times)
-Coil pack (May be an intermittent issue with the coils causing the problem)
-Map sensor (have a go at swapping one you know is working in to test it)
-Crank angle sensor (may be sending incorrect signals at times throwing out timing)
-Fuel filter (check how it looks too. Maybe even hack it open to check it for large chunks of stuff)
-Fuel rail/injectors (check these after the spark plugs ie: once you know its underfuelling [if so])
-If you get the chance, take it to ford (or anywhere with a diagnostics unit) and check if it is spitting out any error codes (this makes it SOO much easier to find the problem.
-Clean your throttle body
-Check the PCV (little valve on top of rocker cover middle/front right) This may be dumping oil into your intake manifold.
-Hows the oil look?

I thought the efs were cable throttle and mechanical cruise control? I fixed the cruise in my nf lane by replacing the battery and re-doing the alternator and battery earths.

GOOD LUCK!

Cheers

Sam