2000 Ford Expedition XLT from North America - Comments

I have a 2000 Eddie Bauer 4x4. I purchased this truck Brand New with 11kms on the clock (I'm from Canada). All I've ever done is regular maintenance by the book. Changed wear and tear items only and had the cruise control repaired under the recall. 468,500 kms later (291,000miles) later and no problems at all. I regualrly use it to tow our family trailer around and make regular visits to a lot of far away places (hence the high kms). It's the BEST SUV I've ever owned. Before this I owned a 94 Suburban and spent about $7000 on over and about the regular maintentance objects (major parts were a transmission, and 4wheel drive components that went bad). Anyways, Expeidtions are the best in my opinion. Basically, treat your vehicle with respect, don't push it over the limit and it'll be a good vehicle for a long time.

Purchased used 2000 Expedition XL 4.6 L AWD trade-in with 74,000 miles as is (a warning I ignored) from a Ford dealer in Newark, Delaware. After 4 weeks the overdrive light started blinking while traveling in hilly areas. Another Ford dealer diagnosed the problem as "the fluid is old and burned and that caused transmission to overheat. You need a new rebuilt transmission for $3,400. We'll throw in a new radiator because you have a sludge build up."

I went to Benchmark transmission who stated that burned fluid is an effect, not a cause of the transmission overheating (and yes, I needed a rebuilt) and diagnosed the initial problem as a broken fluid pump in the transfer case that caused the transmission slippage and eventual overheating.

The worrisome part - Benchmark stated that the transmission used with 4.6 l engine is too light and will commonly fail before 100,000 miles. Funny, I remember owning a 1977 Pontiac Ventura and 1983 Dodge Omni with over 100,000 miles on their original transmissions and NO problems whatsoever. Maybe Ford ought to start building their truck trannies to their 1983 specifications???