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Ford Expedition Maintenance and Repair

1936 messages,  Last post on May 21, 2013 at 11:24 AM

You are in the Ford Expedition Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Expedition, SUV

    
 
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Messages Page 188 of 195

#1862 of 1936 Re: Major Ford Flaw?? [hatecarprblms] by bronsonb

Mar 23, 2010 (6:08 am)

Replying to: hatecarprblms (Mar 19, 2010 7:41 am)
Does the passenger window control work? I had a similar problem in my 2004 Expedition where the driver's controls wouldn't work for the rear driver's side passenger window, but I could control the window from the passenger's controls. I remove the window switch from the driver's armrest, took it apart, and cleaned it all out. Put it back together, and it now works like a charm. Some dirt had built up under the contacts and caused it not to work. Why THAT switch and not the driver's window, which is used MUCH more, I do not know.
 
I guess I'd start there and see if that helps. If you google "Expedition Door panel removal," you should be able to find directions for getting the door panel off and taking a look at the switches.

#1863 of 1936 Looking to buy 04-06 Expy, what maintenance items should I care most about by cheapdad000

Mar 24, 2010 (8:57 pm)

Looking to buy 04-06 Expy with 75-100K miles. What items should I be most concerned with prior owner having maintained? What part failures should I anticipate over the next 3-5 years of ownership? I will be turning my own wrench for most simple repairs - tune-up items, O2 sensors, alternator, suspension components, not comfortable yet digging into the engine for head gasket type work or any transmission type work. Have the engines/transmissions been reliable on these vehicles? Are they prone to any mysterious electrical gremlins?

#1864 of 1936 Re: Looking to buy 04-06 Expy, what maintenance items should I care most about [cheapdad000] by alwaysfords2

Mar 26, 2010 (5:45 am)

Replying to: cheapdad000 (Mar 24, 2010 8:57 pm)
The plug change inteval is 100k. It is a big job for a DIYer, people report it taking 8-10 hours. There is a big issue with snapping plugs off in the head which makes the job take a lot longer. This typically happens in #4 and #8, which are the hardest to work on. It is a $300 job at the dealership. Tranny service interval is 30k, so depending on what you find you should see if the proper number of services have been done.

#1865 of 1936 Re: Looking to buy 04-06 Expy, what maintenance items should I care most about [cheapdad000] by wedo43

Mar 26, 2010 (8:43 am)

Replying to: cheapdad000 (Mar 24, 2010 8:57 pm)
Plan on replacing the coil packs per many of the threads here. You can get them on Ebay for about 10% of what the dealership will charge. These and new plugs a chore but not to bad if you have swivel socket gear.
One thing I had to replace to the tune of about $1,500.00 was the intake manifold. Freakin thing is plastic, rots from the same moisture that affects the coil packs, and eventually leaks antifreeze.
I've warped front disc rotors on every Ford SUV I've owned. I finally replaced this one's with Powerslot Rotors and Hawk Performance pads. Costs were higher than the cheap Chinese junk you get from local auto stores but about the same overall to have someone else do you brakes for you, ie you'd break even if you used these and did it yourself. The thing about them though was I got 90K miles or so out of the pads!
I've got 160K on my '03 and that's about it. It's been a really good truck and baby bus.

#1866 of 1936 Re: Looking to buy 04-06 Expy, what maintenance items should I care most about [wedo43] by cheapdad000

Mar 26, 2010 (12:45 pm)

Replying to: wedo43 (Mar 26, 2010 8:43 am)
wedo,
  Thanks for the feedback/advice. Did the intake manifold replacement include any other services - as the parts themselves (manifold/gasket/etc.) look to be ~$200? I can't believe they made it out of plastic. Is the engine setup a 1 ignition coil per cylinder? I have dealt with that with my Mazda MPV, and in order to get to half of them (and the spark plugs), you need to pop off the intake manifold. Any tools I need (like swivel sockets) I get really cheap at Harbor Freight.

#1867 of 1936 Re: Looking to buy 04-06 Expy, what maintenance items should I care most about [alwaysfords2] by cheapdad000

Mar 26, 2010 (12:47 pm)

Replying to: alwaysfords2 (Mar 26, 2010 5:45 am)
always,
  Thanks for the feedback. Is the tranny service a drop the pan and change the filter - or just a cycle fresh ATF fluid through the system? Does lathering the plugs in Anti-sieze prevent future plug snappings?

#1868 of 1936 Re: Looking to buy 04-06 Expy, what maintenance items should I care most about [cheapdad000] by alwaysfords2

Mar 26, 2010 (1:23 pm)

Replying to: cheapdad000 (Mar 26, 2010 12:47 pm)
You should always drop the pan and do the filter in my opinion. I always go to the dealer because their flush equipment will do a complete change of all the fluid. You should be able to tell if the pan has ever been taken down if you find a rubber plug in it. The plug is from when it was built and if they did changes by dropping the pan they would have taken it out and chucked it. Antisieze does help. then again the next change is 100k away.
 
It is one coil per cylinder. Some people change them all with the plugs, some do them as they fail. The ebay equivalents have gotten good reviews on the other forums I frequent and are as pointed out, around 13% of the cost of dealer parts. The other thing that goes bad is the boot on the coil pack, and not the actual coil pack. Those are a few bucks each and can often times be the solution to a CEL.
 
I had a '99 previously, and currently have an '03 and an '04. The 03 is the best car I've ever had. The '04 is my wife's best car ever.

#1869 of 1936 steering gone bad by dano126

Apr 04, 2010 (2:17 pm)

I've got a 2005 Expedition, bought with 64K on it. Its been a very reliable SUV. At this point its got 96,600 miles. The other day the steering was feeling different. After turning, the steering wheel seemed slow to return. This happened for a couple of days. I took it to my local Ford dealer and they flushed the power steering system. This didn't seem to make a difference right away. The following day, it was magically better, like it was never bad. Thinking too soon, the day after that it was back to the lag in return steering. Now its worse, when turning, it is easy then hard, easy then hard, then fails to want to return. There is no noise associated with the actions of the steering system. I've talked with a mechanic, he told me to open the reservoir to the pump, while running to see if I could see the fluid circulating...which it was, until the wheel was turned all the way to the turn stops and held there, then you could see that the fluid appeared to stop moving.
Another thing he told me was to pull the presure side line off the pump and there would be a spring and screen. Check the screen to make sure it wasn't gunked up. He also said something about a check valve, but by then, my cell connection was degrading.
So, if anyone has any information about the Expedition steering system, please don't hesitate to contact me. By the way, I checked Auto Zone for a rack...$376.00!!!!YIKES...but looks like I could do it my self if thats the problem.
Thanks,
dano126

#1870 of 1936 Engine problems by Richardlu

Apr 21, 2010 (8:08 pm)

I have a 2005 expedition with no compression in number 5 cylinder. I took it to the dealer to check out and he said I needed a new engine after doing some test. He wanted 7000 dollars for a engine with 12000 miles on it, mine has about 90000. I then took it to a friends garage and he pulled the heads and the problem is a weak valve spring causing one of the valves not to seal. I called the dealer service manager to give him a peice of my mind and he said they had so many problems with that engine, that they had found that when they repaired a leaking valve that over fifty percent of the time they ended up having to go back and replace the engine and it ended up costing much more than just replacing the engine to start with. I'm having the heads redone at the machine shop but after talking to the service manager I can't decide wheather or not I need to just trade the expedition off or take my chances. The block looks like new.
  Has anyone else had this type of problem?

#1871 of 1936 Re: steering gone bad [dano126] by kam7

Jun 10, 2010 (5:27 pm)

Replying to: dano126 (Apr 04, 2010 2:17 pm)
Hi! Ever find out what the problem was with your steering? I'm having the same problem. Mechanic flushed power steering lines but still have the same problem. Worried about safety. Anything I can tell my mechanic to look for?

Messages Page 188 of 195

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