Eight problems related to manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe have been reported for the 2003 Ford Expedition. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2003 Ford Expedition based on all problems reported for the 2003 Expedition.
This is the 2nd time it happened to my 2003 Ford Expedition. While driving heard a loud popping noise, followed by continuous popping loud popping noise like a broken exhaust muffler, sounded like a motorcycle. After investigating, found out that the #3 spark plug popped out (ejected) of the head cylinder, broke the spark ignition coil. When this happened, I smelled fuel, and saw smoke coming from under the hood, so I did not drive the car and towed the car home. I had to replace the ignition coil and spark plug and reinstalled the spark plug but it seemed to be still loose, so I took it out and put thread lock and reinstalled it but did not tighten it to the max and did not start the car till after 24 hours so the thread lock will hold it in place. Yesterday the same thing happened to #8 spark plug, it also broke the coil, and when I tried to install the new spark plug, found out that the threads on the head cylinder will not grab the spark plug, and now I am stuck without a car. When I asked around, people said this is a common problem on the Ford expedtion. This is dangerous and could kill someone if the engine caught on fire, because I smelled gas and smoke. If this is a common dangerous problem on the Ford expedtion, how come there is no recall for it???? are we waiting for someone to die due to engine / vehicle fire to do something about it? please look into this issue ASAP and let Ford fix this dangerous problem. Spark plugs ejecting out like this? I noticed that there are only 4 threads on the head cylinder holding the park plug, but the spark plug has 10 or 11 threads and ofcourse only 4 of those threads are being held by the head cylinder. This is a dangerous problem waiting to hurt or kill someone, please ask Ford to fix this big problem, thank you. . . .
After accelerating from a stop, a loud bang was heard. What had happened? a spark plug blew out of the aluminum head, taking the threads with it. I was not aware that fuel would continue to blow out of the spark plug hole which could have been ignited by the ignition coil or exhasut manifold. Ford is aware of this issue, but has not recalled the defective aluminum heads, but rather offered a repair kit to fix the stripped threads when this issue occurs. This could have been a very different ending if the fuel would have ignited.
Oil leaking from head gasket on passenger rear of head. . . . . Leaks onto manifold where a fire can start. Ford mechanics know that there is a problem. The mechanics say that there is a flaw in the casting in the head. There are numerous complaints of this happening.
I have a 2003 Ford Expedition with the triton 5. 4l engine. I had the spark plug eject from the #7 cylinder. In my case the garage that I took it to had to remove the cylinder head to helicoil the cylinder. It took 5 weeks to get my truck back and cost over $1200 to fix. I had to replace 2 coil packs, a spark plug, the head gasket, intake and exhaust manifold gaskets, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket and timing chain gasket.
While driving my 2003 Ford Expedition down the freeway @55 mph noticed a loud pop and a weird noise. Stopped vehicle, popped hood and inspected. Found #5 coil hanging by harness and #5 plug sitting on manifold. Plugs are original as the truck has on 76,000 miles. No other damage noted. Will helicoil the hole using a kit for this specific problem.
My 2003 Ford Expedition blew a spark plug out of the engine today. After reading about events leading up to this failure, my auto was acting exactly like all the others. A slight ticking sound while the engine idles. While driving 20mph, a slight loud bam occurred and the engine began to idle hard. The car was towed 70 miles to a repair center near my home and I now am to decide on a new manifold or a coil repair that is risky. How a company can operate with critical engine part that are so poorly designed is beyond my imagination. The internet is filled with complaints of spark plugs popping out of engines in f150s and explorer/expeditions. It is a shame that such a simple thing as engineering a thread deep enough to hold a spark plug in place for the life of a car is too challenging for a car company. This repair should be the responsibility of the manufacturer. They were able to handle replacing millions of firestones and should be held to a standard close to their reputation as a tough vehicle. Without recourse, Ford will find it acceptable to cut corners and engineer sub par part.
My wife was almost to the end of the off ramp to the 210 freeway and heard a loud pop and then an awful noise. It sound like she blew a hole in the exhaust manifold. It turned out to be the #3 spark plug being ejected from the engine. We purchased the vehicle from the dealer and have never changed plugs. We were fortunate that it happened local and not on the road for vacation. The truck was towed and repaired and a tune up down. An expensive day and needless time off work for a problem that seems to due to bad engineering. A tapered spark plug and 1/4 thread lock in the head is not a safe and Smart design. A 3/4 thread lock would be much better.
Upon starting the vehicle, large amount of oil smoke came out from the tail pipe. Vehicle was serviced 4 times by the dealership, in which a diagnostic test was performed. No failure code was found. Dealership indicated that this was a normal characteristic of the vehicle.