18th Feb 2010, 10:13

I have a 2000 EB Expedition with the 5.4 engine. Bought used with 139,000 miles a couple of years ago, mainly used for towing a 16' livestock trailer.

Since we've had it, we've had to replace the front and rear air suspension sensors, some sort of line under the hood rotted and was replaced, and had the plug blow out on the #8 cylinder. The dealer helicoiled it, but I understand that can be just temporary.

Biggest problem is the electronics going silly... shut the engine off, pull the key out and the blower motor comes on. Unhooking the battery works, but when you hook it back up, the radio comes on. Something, as yet undiagnosed, is draining the battery, so I've added a cut-off switch (about $21) to the battery, so when we stop anywhere or park at home, I have to reach under the hood to throw the switch, and then again when we are ready to go. Pain in the arse for sure, but beats being stranded.

All in all, we like the truck, same for our '94 Ranger, but the little problems with both are a pain. My in-laws have two Chevy trucks, and they have just as many, but different, problems with them.

26th Feb 2010, 23:33

Would love more comments on the 2000 Ford Expedition 5.4 Triton Eddie Bauer Edition. Just purchased one. 167... miles, hoping to get one year out of it, no repairs.

28th Feb 2010, 10:51

I have a 5.4 liter Ford Expedition EB that I purchased a year and a half ago. It only had 76,000 miles on it. It runs great. It had suspension issues so I bought a new set of tires and replaced the shocks. I still feel that there is more wobble than normal, but I know it's a big SUV. My ABS light is on and I've never tried to fix it. I understand that it may just be a sensor. My next task is replacing the PCV valve. Has anyone replaced this before or had similar issues? -John.

22nd Apr 2010, 21:05

My 2004 Ford Expedition EB with 5.4 engine started to run rough all of the sudden. Not even 64,000 miles yet and had to replace the ignition coil (Cyl # 7).

Overall has been a good comfortable truck that we do not want to get rid of. It has been relatively trouble free.

However, after reading about all these problems with vehicles like ours, I am scared to keep it. Paid almost $250 for this repair including $50 for diagnosing the problem. With 7 more cylinders, it could be $2,000 pretty soon. What should we do?

22nd Jun 2010, 18:50

I own the 2004 Expedition XLT with the 4.6L engine with just over 100,000 miles.

About six months ago, the truck went from running fairly well to running poor, not even exceeding 25mph. I limped it over to a friend mechanic who ran a computer check on it. He said I had 4 cylinders randomly misfiring. He told me the OEM coil parts were expensive and to replace all 4 coils would be hundreds of dollars. He mentioned that one was misfiring a lot more than the others, so I asked if he could just replace the one. Ended up costing about $100. The truck went back to running fair, but now I knew I needed to change all the coils to get it running better, and the plugs of course should be changed.

So I waited, and waited, and finally had the money to purchase all the coils and plugs. I decided to check Autozone before I went to a mechanic. I discovered the Duralast coils were only $42 each. I purchased all 8 coils and plugs for about $400.

Now the tricky part. I popped open the hood and discovered what a nightmare this change was going to be. The coils and plugs are buried so far beneath hoses and pipes that I could only see one! This was going to have to be a weekend project.

So now I'm waiting for this weekend to begin the project. I will post my results here. I may even post links to pictures if I remember to take some.

I actually googled to find advice on changing the coils, unfortunately the only thing I can find is all the people having problems with them. Wish I would have done some research before purchasing this Expedition. However, a $400 do-it-yourself repair isn't that bad if you can handle a few tools.

Email: john at disctribution.com

30th Jun 2010, 15:29

After several hours (days) of troubleshooting, even toying with the idea of removing all plugs and cops to see if one was damaged or defective, I finally found the problem, at least I think I did.

Using the advice of a Ford mechanic, I bought CRC throttle body cleaner and completely cleaned out the throttle body. I then unplugged the IAC valve and removed the 2 8mm bolts holding it in. I sprayed and cleaned the IAC and surrounding areas. QUITE a bit of black gunk had built up over time. This stresses the value of changing your oil on a regular basis, as the gunk was most likely the gases passed by the PCV through the throttle body.

After reassembling everything, I started her up and noticed the problem was significantly worse. I drove it around for awhile hoping the computer would set a new reference to match the cleaned IAC valve, but instead the Service Engine Light came on. I was actually happy to see this light, because that meant I would see the OBD-II code. The code was there identifying ignition engine control problems. One of the suspected parts was the IAC, the other suspects were insignificant because I had already checked everything.

I started shopping for a new IAC. Autozone had one for $100, but had to order it. So did Oreilly's, Advanced Auto, and anywhere else I went. Nobody carried them in stock. I went to the Ford dealership; they also did not carry the part. Awesome. Ford, unlike the others, said they would have someone drive the part right over from their warehouse an hour away. I ended up paying an extra $40 to have the part in an hour instead of the next day. The only reason I did was because I am driving 1400 miles TONIGHT.

Anyway, the new IAC showed up and I installed it. Started the engine, and for the first time in a long time, the engine just purred. No lumping, loping, jumping, and most importantly, not stalling.

So my lesson learned here is, although it was a HUGE coincidence that the IAC valve went bad at the same time I was changing the plugs and coils, I shouldn't ignore the symptoms. I had suspected the IAC in the beginning but ignored it because "what are the odds". The odds... are good. Another thing I learned was cleaning internally housed IAC's is a bad idea, it can cause complete failure, as in my case.

13th Jul 2010, 00:22

I have a 2001 f150 with 286,000 miles, 4.6 original motor and tranny. The ignition coils have been my only problem. I've replaced maybe 8 or 9 in 5 yrs. I can't really complain with the miles I've got out of my truck.

I would just like to give a little advice. I've noticed a lot of times a coil goes out when I drive in the rain or over a large puddle. So try not to drive during hard rain or don't spray too hard under fenders at the car wash. Also o-Reilly's coils cost 1 or 2 more dollars than at Autozone, but they offer a 1 year warranty, while Autozone offers none. Also there is no need to remove the fuel lines when replacing them because you're only asking for trouble if you're not a mechanic. It's a pain to put them back in.

Another thing is when you take your vehicle to get the codes checked when it's misfiring, the code reader may tell you it's an EGR problem. If it feels like a misfire, it's most likely a coil. Don't do what I did and throw away $400 replacing the EGR valve, press switch, sensor with no results. It would have been more than $400 but I did it myself.

If you need any advice on doing it yourself I'd be more than happy to help.

astrosfan9@gmail.com.