[aigel]

I had such symptoms when my head gasket went on the 4.6 in my 97 F150. Only once the truck was warm did the cooling system build enough pressure to push coolant into the cylinder.

That said, mine did throw a code and CEL. The CEL blinks when there is a miss. I have no doubt a 5.4 has the same functionality in 98.

My bet is also ignition. What I would do is buy one or two coilpacks and start switching out one cylinder at a time until you find the bad one. What I mean is not to buy 8 but just one or 2 and move them through until your replaced the bum one.

G