general problems of the 2003 Ford Expedition - part 2

We moved it around in our shed at about 10pm on 6/16/12 and we awoke at 4 am to our shop, machine shed, and chicken coop engulfed in flames. We lost over $100,000 in property. The fire marshall determinded that our Ford Expedition was to blame and that it started under the hood, somewhere in the electrical. We only had liability only on 2 of the 3 vehicles in the shop along with our motorcycle and trailer so they were not covered by insurance. I think Ford should of compensated us for the items we did not get paid for. They should do a recall on this vehicle, and compansate the people that had fires with this vehicle.

After making a complete stop at a traffic light I made a left turn and began to accelerate when I heard a loud pop which at first I thought was a tire blow out. The engine was running so erratically that I could feel it in my steering. We inspected the vehicle for a flat when we noticed every tire was fine. I opened the hood and removed the top cover to the engine to discover a spark plug laying on top of the engine and the coil that was once attached blown off of the plug and damaged off to the side still connected to its electrical source. This cold have caused a fire. For the record these plugs were the original factory spark-plugs. Via the internet I have discovered this website to file a complaint.

While driving at highway speeds the engine cuts out/dies.

At 4:40am, was woke up by the police and fire department who responded to a call in of our vehicle, a 2003 Ford Expedition being on fire. Based on the information received from the fire crew chief, the fire had started in the engine compartment, on the driver's side, and appeared to be electrical in nature. The car had last been used the prior night at 8pm, when we returned from eating dinner, and had remained idle since that time. Upon hearing our story, several friends mentioned that they had read stories about Ford vehicles that had an issue with the cruise control switch causing fires, even in vehicles that had remained idle for several hours. I checked and it does not appear there were any recalls for my vehicle's year, but had been for the prior year's (2002). . Read more...

Driving on interstate 70 mpg vehicle stalls then proceeds, this happened several times over a course of 1 year. One later incident engine died but restarted. Several months later completely dies. After several hrs vehicle restarts. Ford mechanics claim they cannot make a diagnosis. It will never stall or quit when it's in the shop. I'm afraid this vehicle will be someone's death trap.

One of my spark plugs blew out of the head with only 47,000 miles on my 2003 Expedition. 4 hours to fix it. Now I have to go back and torque the other 7 plugs and hope the piece of crap doesn't spit out any other plugs. This is my last Ford!.

My 2003 Ford Expedition will be driving fine, then all of a sudden it will die in traffic and have had several close calls of being rear ended. One other time it died and while coasting after it died, it started again causing vehicle to lunge and my wife almost rear ended someone else. The vehicle is at the repair shop and it is diagnosed as a pcm that is and now has a hard failure.

I have an 2003 Ford Expedition SUV, the spark plug in the #3 cylinder head pops out every 5-8k miles. Resulting in a loss of power, per the 3 dealerships I have spoken to as well as the b. A. R Ford is aware of this problem and refuses to fix it. Per the b. A. R. It is an casting/manufacturing defect. Im worried that I will be on the freeway and loose power, and get in an accident due to not being able to exit the free way under my own power. The problem goes back to the 2000 model year. I have had the car worked on at the Ford dealership 2 times to correct this issue,and it is currently broken again. The dealer ship refuses to fix it as an warranty on their repair done on 8/13/09 or as an factory defect from Ford direct. Don't know where else to turn, any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Live in chicago IL. (20 minutes outside) and my Expedition was left outside. It got cold (48 outside) over night, and my Ford was dead in the morning, (dome lights wouldn't even turn on). I jumped it, and noticed that the climate control was inoperable (doesn't even light up). I took it to Ford, and they had thought that the unit burned out. Cool, I can buy one on e-bay for about $40. 00 instead of 326. 00 that they quoted me. . . I left feeling a little better, knowing what the problem was. . . . Then something strange started happening. . . The 4wd high/low is flashing in 1 minute intervals at the same time. The driver seat is adjusting on it's own, while I am driving, and cannot be stopped, leaving me crammed into the dash/steering wheel, the back up aid is not working, when I exit the vehicle the radio stays on, I have to re-open the doors and close them again to turn it off, and I still have the problem with the climate controls. Call me stupid, but this sounds a little more indepth than a climate control burning out. After reading countless issues with the Expedition (including the cool feature of auto ignite, where it decides to burn it's self to the ground after being parked for 3-5 hours due to electrical fires) I am not sure I am very fond of this truck anymore. I am not encouraged by everyone on this having similar electrical problems, and not having Ford be able to identify the problem causes grave concern, seeing how my wife and 3 kids (who are secured in their car seats) are driving in a fire laden death trap, or worse, my wife getting pinned against the steering wheel from the seat going haywire, then hitting another car and the air bag going off. . . . This is serious, I need you to investigate this a little more closely, please for my family's well being.

While driving on the highway my car shut off. I came very closs to being killed or serious injuried. My mechanic couldnt find the cause. This happened about 10 times in 7 years. Can you help me?.

For the past few months I have been having problems with the mirrors and windows on my Ford SUV. I took it to the dealer they claim they could not find out what the problem was. They were able to fix the broken gear shift and jam radio. One month later I wake up to my truck on fire after sitting for seven hours.

My 2003 Ford Expedition is shutting off while I am driving, nearly causing me to lose control and be rear ended. It happens when I least expect it and the dealership is baffled. All their expensive diagnostic equipment can't even track down the issue. So far they have replaced some fuel parts and my fuse box but it still shuts down unexpectedly. I am $900. In the hole already, let alone I am going to have my first grandchild within a week, and I have this tank that shuts down on the middle of the highway. It sounds electrical and I am in fear of catching fire.

Rear view mirrors fail to return to correct position after backing up causing a driving hazard. This has been an on-going problems since purchasing this vehicle - new in 2003. Dealer has looked at it and stated they could not duplicate the problem and no service bulletins existed as of March 2006. Other intermittent electrical problems exist - 1. Passenger side rear door - automatic lock doesn't always operate. 2. Interior lights stay on as if a door has been left open, even when all doors and hatches have been checked to ensure they are completely closed.

Consumer is having problems with air condition making noise, power windows only lower, radio volume gets louder when accelerating seat control buttons are inoperable. Water leaked from the sunroof, even though it was closed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer on 3 separate occasions due to brake and rotor noise. The consumer experienced lack of power when attempting to accelerate. The consumer was unable to hear the radio separately when the dvd was playing.

Orange wire under the third row seat, this wire started smoking. We left the car. This wire burned into. Flames were coming out from under the seat, and it smoked up the vehicle. Parked the car, and the car had not been moved since. This happened 6:30 pm, and all the dealerships were closed.

The door ajar light came on and stayed on. Could continue to go around the vehicle opening and shutting the doors and the light remained on. Consumer could not start the vehicle since the light came on, and had to get a jump to start it.

Car stops running while driving a speed. This has happened 4 times in the last 9 months. The dealer cannot correct problem until it is reproduced.

2003 Ford Expedition- after it rains I am having many different things happening within the electrical system. The doors won't lock, the radio won't light up any more, the interior lights won't shut off, the front windows won't work, mildew smell in the car. The electrical problems alone can cause a fire but with the doors not being able to be locked is a completely different story and I am concerned for my families safety. I heard from the dealer and others that Ford will not issue a recall for this ongoing problem.

While making a stop, the check engine light appeared on the dashboard and remained on. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection numerous times, but the mechanic could not duplicate the problem. While applying the brake pedal, the vehicle failed to stop completely. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, and the mechanic determined that the brake rotors needed to be replaced. When stopping, the motor starts shaking and the vehicle would shut off. When turning the vehicle, it would not respond until attempting 2 or 3 times, then finally a lot of smoke appears. The suspension appeared to be loose and one sensor on the wheels did not respond.

#1 nothing out of the ordinary #2 car had be parked for almost an hour when a passerby knocked on the door to say that the car was on fire and she had already called the fire department. #3 fire was put out. Car was a total loss. Also, the car parked in front of mine was burned when the fire spread and that car was totalled as well. It belonged to my friend, olivia jackson oke, whom I was visiting and my car was parked directly behind hers in her driveway. I filed a claim with my insurance and so did olivia.

During a recent trip to denver, the temperature dropped below 20 degrees and the back-up warning began malfunctioning. At the same time, the advance trac light illuminated and although I cycled the switch, the system would not come online. The back-up warning system either emitted a constant tone, even though nothing was behind me or I could get right next to something and it failed to alarm. I took the vehicle into the dealer where I purchased the vehicle and was told that since it is an intermittant problem that only occurs when it is cold, that there is nothing that they could do, as their shops are heated to about 68 degrees. This vehicle also experiences problems with the side mirrors moving of their own accord. The direction is not isolated to a single direction. Sometimes they move up and other times down. Mostly with the passenger side, but it has happened in both. In some cases it is only a minor change and at other times it is quite drastic. The dealer states that the minor changes are because I sit in the seat differently each time I sit in the vehicle and the major changes in settings cannot be duplicated and therefore, they cannot fix it. Aside from this, I asked the dealer if there were any outstanding recalls and was told no. According to the vehicle page that they provide, there are 8 recalls for this vehicle and they claim that they have notifed me of these recalls. The recalls are: 01v310000, 02v154000, 02v018008, 02v317000, 03v074000, 03v094000, 03v251000, 03v317000, and 03v362000. When I look these up on your site, they show that they do not belong to my vehicle as most are for rvs, which makes this all the more confusing.

The seats, mirrors & gauges all will readjust while you are driving down the road. My wife already had a near miss on the interstate when this happened. The Ford dealer. Andy mohr Ford says he can do nothing and the engineers are working on a fix. I have called the Ford customer service and wrote them 2 letters. It has been going on for 5 months now and no one will address the problem. They say it is a problem with all 2003 Expeditions so I would think it would be a priority to fix.

The vehicle had an all-inclusive computer console on dashboard which controlled the functions of rear/side view mirrors and memory seats, etc. The console did not function properly, which caused the side view mirrors to be incorrectly positioned while driving. Dealer diagnosed defect with system, but advised there was no remedy or parts which existed to correct.

There is a rattling noise in passenger side door. And at time it is hard to close. When the vehicle reached 43 mph a humming noise could be heard. The humming continued when the vehicle reached 59-72 mph. The technicians replaced the drive shaft twice but the noise continued. There was a roaring noise which came from the wheel area. The dealer adjusted the park brake shoes. The was noise the steering wheel was turn right or left. The technician added a wheel additive. The passenger door was difficult to close. The dealer adjusted the striker. The front windshield weather strip was loose. The dealer resealed it. The was rattling in the center of the dash. The dealer removed and reinstalled a cluster and reinstalled the insulation. The driver side seat belt twisted.

Consumer complained about electrical system problems. Every time vehicle passed by radar weather station that was located near the airport driver's seat would recline back to the furthest position.

The driver and rear view mirrors erratically repositioned each time the doors were unlocked or if the vehicle was put into reverse . Also the driver seat repositioned on its own, and became stuck in that position.