Problems with 2000 Ford Expedition ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

The events leading up to the failure included startup of the vehicle and on the second occurrance merely driving the vehicle - a 2000 ford expedition eddie bauer 5.4 ltr triton v8 with 90000 miles. the failure was of 2 separate spark plugs being blown from the cylinder head (both on the drivers side) a total of 3 times. the consequences was having the vehicle towed to a repair shop. the most recent repair was a recurrance of the same blown plug which happened in 2005. to correct the issues, the spark plugs were replaced and reinserted with repair kits to hopefully prevent future blowouts. additional consequences are that i no longer trust ford or my vehicles reliability. in researching this issue online, this is not a rare occurance and there have been vehicle fires where the spark plug has ruptured the fuel rail which sits directly above the spark plug holes. consumeraffairs.com has this report: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/03/ford_spark_plug_fire.html. do we need to wait until some actually dies before action will be taken to have ford do the right thing and repair this obvious defect?

I took my 2000 ford expedition xlt in to huntington beach ford to be serviced due to r.p.m. fluctuation and a service engine soon light. they conducted a diagnosis and stated i would need a i.a.c. part. the new i.a.c. did not fix the problem so i took it back to h.b. ford and they stated i would need a d.p.f.e. sensor. i had them replace that which did not fix the problem because the service engine light illuminated and the r.p.m. fluctuation was still evident. i went back to h.b. ford and they diagnosed a new throttle body. i gave them the o.k. to replace the throttle body. they called me a couple days later to inform me that that did not solve your problem so i will need to pay an extra $400 for a diagnostic fee so they can check all the wiring. the manager has stated they believe it is coming from the wiring system? why do i have to pay for everything else when they cannot pinpoint the problem? *nm

Dt*: the contact stated while the vehicle was parked in a parking lot unattended, a fire erupted from underneath the hood and the engine compartment area without warning. the fire department was alerted, and extinguished the flames. the police were alerted, and a report was taken. due to the extensive fire damage, the vehicle was deemed a total loss. the vehicle was towed to the dealer to await inspection. the manufacturer was alerted.

I was going to the lake when i heard a pinging in the engine on the drivers side. i stopped to check the oil level. there was plenty of oil. i drove to the lake and had a great day of fishing. on the way home, i heard the pinging again but the pinging was not there on acceleration. after driving almost total of 400 miles that day, i stopped by the gas station to put gas in, after putting gas in about 2-3 miles from home, the spark plug, coil shot out of the head - went home to check - just to my shock found no threads in the head. i also had a friend that this happened to so i was thinking it was just a one time incident but it also happened to me. i will have to find out what ford states when i take it in and how much it will cost. *jb

On 05-04-06, was driving 35 mph down a city street during normal driving conditions when there was a loud explosion, then my 2000 expedition began to sound as if it was sputtering or missing. wife screamed, kids started crying, i swerved as i thought initially it was either an explosion or engine blowing up coming through the floor board / firewall. the expedition was then slowly driven to the house (was only a few blocks away luckily) and called a local mechanic to make an appointment to bring in vehicle for inspection and repair. found it was #7 spark plug blown out of the head, coil was damaged etc. the mechanic then repaired the engine for me and i got it back after a week. the repairs included the top half of the engine being disassembled, the head taken to a machine shop and being repaired, then the remainder of the engine being cleaned up and reassembled. also had to have the coil and coil mount replaced etc. (not a mechanic, there is an entire list if items ordered for replacement during this period of time) and just received the suv back today. my wife is now totally scared to drive the expedition as she is now weary of the quality of the engine since we have now found that spark plug(s) flying out of ford engines are a common thing. she has had nightmares of the incident and has been afraid to drive due to the explosion and how violent the entire ordeal was. *nm

Two weeks ago i replaced the spark plugs on my 2000 ford expedition and yesterday while driving to work i noticed a loud clanking noise. after investigating, i found that the #2 spark plug had been blown from the cylinder head. the expedition has 10300 miles on it and has been very reliable.*jb

This is not a formal complaint, yet, but an attempt to prevent further complaints and bring to attention a defect in a vehicle i own in an attempt to get help to fix this defect before it happens! preventative measures must be taken! i was made aware of a blog at http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_spark.html that list 67 individual and separate accounts of the spark plugs in ford expeditions that are blowing out of the heads!!!! it has been reported here before and it seems that the heads are not equipped with enough threads to hold the spark plugs!!!!! it seems only a matter of time before i will get a phone call from my wife saying that she is stuck on the highway with spark plugs blown out. please investigate this defect before someone gets hurts. i have three small children who ride in this vehicle everyday! please help before they are victims of a defect that can be fixed!!

I own a 2000 ford expedition with a 5.4l engine. i had heard of the problem with these engines blowing spark plugs out of the passenger side head. i had all of the spark plugs replaced in january 2005 by a ford dealer to prevent a spark plug from involuntarily removing itself from my engine. on january 4th, 2006 a spark plug blew out of the engine's head on the passenger side. my wife was turning onto the highway at the time. after contacting ford and my ford dealer, i realized that ford has not taken ownership of this well known problem. i have replaced my engine with a used engine that has lower miles. *nm

Ford has recognized a loss-of-power problem with its expedition and f-150 models in the 2000-02 model years with the 5.4 l. engine. simply put, in ambient temperatures over 100 degrees f, the engine computer will alter timing (in a misguided attempt to reduce engine temperature) which radically reduces engine power. ford has a purported "fix" under its tech bulletin no. 02-12-3, dated 06/24/02, authorizing reprogramming of the computer and installation of some body plugs. problem is that the problem remains after the tech bulletin work is performed. on my 2000 expedition, i continue to experience power loss of roughly 30% in stop/go driving and the hot summer temperatures in the phoenix area. this poses an extreme risk in city traffic, such as when you attempt to clear an intersection or avoid an accident. i've had several close calls this summer, "post-fix", when temperatures hover around 100 degrees--i hit the gas, and barely move. *nm

Blown head gasket. after purchasing the vehicle w/55k, at 69k the head gasket blew. ford refused to help, cost $1800 to fix it. *nm

Dt: while driving vehicle suddenly heard a loud popping sound followed by a strong odor of gasoline. stopped immediately, and had vehicle towed to firestone dealer ,who informed consumer the spark plugs blew off the cylinder. the threading around the spark plug was too thin, this had a defect. then, had towed to ford dealer where has a premium warranty, but this was not covered under warranty. no repairs as of yet, it is still at the dealer with over $3,000 worth damage to the engine. *ak

Dt*: the contact stated that there was a pup-pup noise coming from under the hood as the engine was started. upon inspection, the source of the noise came from the spark plug. the spark plug suddenly blew out and was only attached by a hanging wire. the vehicle was towed to a dealership who determined the engine repair should be performed.

Dt: the vehicle was running rough, and the service engine light appeared. took vehicle to the dealer, and they said manifold was cracked.*ak

Normal driving and heard loud noises under the hood. turned out to be a blown spark plug in the passenger side head. i managed to pull off freeway after several miles and have it towed to dealer. have just read about a lot of ford truck owners experiencing the same issue with some experiencing it more than once! i am not happy. truck at cars101 service dept now in hopes that it can be repaired but from i've been reading i'm not sure. *jb

(1) air bag light stays on after vehicle started. (2) dealer stated air bag would not deploy in accident unless sensor replaced. (3) sensor has been replaced once and wiring harness has been replaced once. (1) instrument cluster odometer flickered then failed. (3) instrument cluster replaced. (1) engine knock (2) 5.4 engine failed at 32,000 miles. (3) engine replaced under warranty. (1) transmission slipping at 55,000 miles. (2) transmission slipping. (3) transmission replaced. (1) transmission began slipping again at 76,000 miles. (2) high rpm before shifting into next gear. (3) body assembly replaced under extended warranty. *jb

Vehicle was parked inside of a parking lot and it caught on fire. no injuries reported. driver called the fire department to extinguish the fire. vehicle was towed and totaled by the insurance company. *ak

The vehicle was parked when all of a sudden the engine caught on fire. the cause has not been determined at this time. *tt

The driver's vehicle was parked inside of the garage without warning the vehicle caught fire. no injuries to report. the fire department was called out to extinguished out the fire the fire. the vehicle was towed by the insurance company. please provide additional information. *nm the fire started without warning. *tc

I own a 2000 ford expedition. i bought it in 2002 from magarity ford. it had 21000 miles on the vehicle. i have not had any problems with the vehicle until this point. was driving home on 1/6/2004 on rt 55 in new jersey. the engine light came on and i came off the highway.the truck was shimmering, and i could hear a tapping noise. i stopped at pepboys and the mechanic was nice enough to look at the vehicle. however when i turned it on it would not start. i had it towed to ther dealership which was 1/2 mile away. holman ford in glassboro, nj. i was told that the engine needed to be replaced. it would cost $5400 which i did not have. there was oil in the truck and i recently recieved an oil change. i had another mechanic look at it and he said there was oil in the engine, but it was not lubricating. he had a camera that looked inside and he reported that it was destroyed. ford refused to do anything ,and deniedc any wrong doing. i am paying a $585 car note and insurance on a vehicle that does not work. the car is out of warranty and they claim that there is nothing that they can do.*ak however different consumer websites have experienced the same problem. i met someone on wed. that owns a 2001 expedition. his engine went last month and he can not afford to get his fixed either. it is not a coincidence that expedition owners are having this problem. my daughter's teacher had a ford car and experienced the same problem last year. all of this being said, i need help. i can not afford to pay this car note, insurance and rent cars to go to work. i am struggling and frustrated at ford's lack of responsibilty and poor workmanship.

Rolling up driver window-clicking noise/ticking in front end during slow turns-slowing down/engine vibration and roaring on acceleration/accelerator sticking while using cruise control/electrical problems(i.e-windows rolling up and down w/out prompting, door locks inoperable, running board lights flashing on and off or non-functioning, illuminated temp. and compass flashing or non-functioning, fan in a/c running for no reason w/vehicle off and keys out of ignition, indicator lights in dash flashing on and off, wipers operating w/out prompting, rear window wiper non-functioning, stereo only working in park and reverse or not at all, electrical clicking noise under the dash, left blinker faster than the right)/black foam substance coming from a/c vents/thumping noise right wiper when in use. the problems have been reported to ford dealer and they stated it was a bad gem module and told us that it was getting wet. they stated to disconnect the battery when the vehicle is parked. these problems are worse when it rains. they also stated that this will happen if it is humid. we live in florida, i don't think that we should have to disconnect the battery everytime we park the vehicle. but if we don't, we have all of this going on when the vehicle is off and then the battery goes dead. i was driving on the highway and all of these things started happening at one time, it was raining. i almost lost control of the vehicle trying to get the wipers to function and get the vehicle off the road until all of this stopped. i bought the truck used from a local dealer back in november of last year. the problems began almost immediately. as the problems have gotten worse, i looked this up on the internet and found that ford knew about the problem with the gem module, just as they knew about the cruise control problem and they are doing nothing to fix it. as i stated above, their answer to the problem which they knew existed, is to disconnect my battery everytime i park the vehicle. *nm

My vehicle went on fire. i believe this is a problem with ford expeditions. recently my cruise control started acting up. after reading about an ongoing investigation about 200 ford vehicles, i believe mine is the same situation. the truck was arked for more than 12 hours and all of a sudden it was on fire. ford defect!!!!*ak

Fire in the engine compartment of drivers side toward the rear of the engine compartment near the windshield after having been parked for 1.5 hours. two days earlier, brakes were squeaking. no trouble with cruise control, but did not use often. will e-mail bruce york pictures. *ak *tc

I do not know if this is the place to voice this complaint, but since i have tried contacting ford via email with no response, i did not know exactly where else to turn. we have a 2000 expedition. the timing chains went out and we replaced them. the vehicle was driving just fine before we replaced them--just noisy. so we had them replaced. we received the truck back on the 12th of october and drove it approximately 20 miles (that's being generous). it was running fine then sounded like you hit a rock. the engine blew. lucky for us that it was on a side road and not on 465 which we drive every day. can you imagine what could have happened at 55+ miles per hour in rush hour traffic? i believe that this is a defect in the engine design because i have since learned that it happens alot in these engines. i feel that replacing the timing chain should not constitute replacing the engine. since it has happened in ford dealerships as well, i believe that ford is aware that this is a problem and has chosen to ignore it. a four year old engine should not give out because the timing chains have been replaced. i have been in contact with customer service at ford and with a dealership in our area--speaking to them is how i found out that this has happened in dealerships also. please advise me on where to go from here if i have contacted the wrong place. i have filed a complaint with the attorney general's office in indiana also.

2000 ford expedition eb 5.4lt 4x4 , speed control defect, when driving vehicle gets too hot , a lot of electrical defects like , signal lights , radio lights , mirrors , miles counter, won't work , i check every fuse and relays all ok, a/c problems etc . *tr

While driving 60 mph consumer heard a loud noise coming from the front of the vehicle. consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and drove it to the dealer for inspection. mechanic determined that the engine blew out, and needed to be replaced. *ak

While driving vehicle stalled. vehicle ran very rough. also, hesitated as if didn't have fuel in it. then it lost power. this was an intermittent issue. *ak

Took vehicle into dealer for one problem, and it was diagnosed with $4100 in problems including a leaky head gasket (leaking on right side) at 57,000 miles. our mechanic tried "rad seal" as a temporary fix for the leak...still waiting to see if it worked. *ak

Vehicle caught fire while parked in the driveway. there was no warning. the fire department arrived but was unable to determine the cause. the vehicle was towed to the dealer and they too were unable to determine the cause. provide further details. *nm

The engine caught fire unexpectedly while it was parked. the cause was undetermined. *jb

While the vehicle was parked a fire started under the hood. the fire was put out. the dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem. *ak the fire originated in the engine compartment. *sc *jb

Spark plug failure at 67,000 miles, well below manufacturers recommendation of 100k miles. also, spark plug coil failure. *ak

The spark plug went out while the consumer was driving. consumer replaced the spark plug, drove to the dealer, who stated the head was blown and replaced it. currently, the engine blew out. consumer stated the spark plug left the engine again.*ak

Spark plug blew out with no warning, before recommended time to be replaced. threads are stripped, head along with related components needs to be replaced. sparks were observed directly at fuel intake where fuel vapors were at considerable danger of being ignited. vehicle could have exploded with an entire family including 3 young children riding in vehicle at time of incident . *la

Engine oil leak. repaired twice under warranty, third time they couldn't find the same leak. *la

Problems with headlights blowing out, replaced bulb, still no high beam. lights completely went out one night. had to have family member follow me home. battery detached to get lights inside off. lights originally went off when i plugged my cell phone in for charging; something that i have always done in my prior vehicles. vehicle cutting off, shop states that it is due to problem with emission. ac runs hot when vehicle keep turning off. vehicle acceleration is bad. vehicle even when running on interstate appear to be having difficulty maintaining speed, appears to be wanting to cut off. vehicle cuts off in middle of traffic for no particular reason. started putting premium gas, but gas smells are bad when i run vehicle in garage to warm up. shop thinks that once charge ac may improve. *la

I bought a 2000 ford expedition ,the car is less than three years old and the engine "seized". my vehicle is over 36000 miles so is no longer covered by warranty, however, the car was regularly maintained and the engine always had oil. the engine shut off in the middle of the highway with no warning. i believe this vehicle is defective and dangerous. i contacted ford and they were unwilling to help. i am stuck with a $6000 bill to replace the engine.*jb

While driving on highway at approximately 70 mph the vehicle's gauges began flashing erratically and the engine stalled immediately. dealer diagnosed that engine had failed and consumer had to replace.

While driving, the engine stalled which caused the vehicle to lose brake power and, power steering. a loud noise came from the engine. the dealer had been notified, however they were unable to duplicate the problem mr *cb *jb

While driving 70mph engine just cut off.*ak

2000 ford expedition v8 4.6l xlt stalls when gas is at 1/4 tank and at a forward angle (downhill). this happens when going 55 on the freeway, come to a slight decline and vehicle stalls and dies. could cause an accident. i can not sell this car and get a new ford, knowing some could get hurt. we don't let our kids drive it. *tr

No summary listed for above vehicle. *ak

I purchased my new expedition in october of 2000. on 5/16/02 i took it in for my second annual inspection (44,000 miles). i had also asked them to look into a small oil leak on my vehicle. i thought that perhaps the plug wasn_x0012_t fully tightened at my last oil change. needless to say i was shocked when i was informed that i have a defective head gasket. i was even more shocked when i was informed that the repair estimate for the head gasket was $2100! i was informed that because my car was out of warranty there is nothing they could do. i asked them to hold off on that repair until i could do some research regarding this issue. i did some research and found that there have been 3 service bulletins issued for this specific problem. numerous complaints regarding this issue have also been logged on the internet.*ak

Engine cam bearing are worn. dealer notified, and informed consumer that engine needed to be replaced. vehicle at dealer. feel free to provide any further information.*ak

Vehicle stalls out and dies on an incline. dealer has not been able to duplicate or correct the problem, and has put a box to record the stalling. please provide additional information.*ak

Vehicle started stalling at 24000 miles. vehicle has stalled numerous times at any speed. taken to dealer 9 times. dealer replaced transmission and pcm module, did not remedy the problem.*ak the fuel pump, fuel pump sensor and processor have been replaced, however the problem still exists. *slc

Injector in cylinder #5 was held wide open which allowed raw fuel to saturate catalytic converter, which ended up running out of exhaust. dealership has examined vehicle, and was going to replace engine block without renewing any warranty on vehicle. *ak consumer is requesting that ford buy back the vehicle, consumer stated that while driving, the steering wheel began to shimmy and the check engine light illuminated on and off several times, mechanic informed consumer that vehicle could have blown up due to the bent piston rod and stated that once the injector sticks open, the engine computer does not shut the engine down but leans to other cylinders out and keeps pouring the fuel to the stuck injector straight in the catalytic converter, consumer is also angry because a rebuilt engine is being put in the vehicle instead of a new engine. *slc

While driving 65 mph vehicle unexpectedly shutsdown without warning, cause unknown. also, vehicle will at times restart. . please give any further details.*ak

Consumer heard a pinging noise coming from engine, called dealer to make an appointment, closed appointment, it was thursday, and on wendesday night engine shutdown without any warning. took to dealer, and they said oil had not been changed for a year. consumer stated oil light never came on. consumer felt warning lights may be defective. *ak

New vehicle submitted to dealer for engine oil leak warranty service at odometer 3973, 9402, 9565, and 11,864. all major gaskets replaced in course of warranty service. on fourth warranty service visit, problem was diagnosed as warped block. remanufactured engine installed. requesting dispute settlement board hearing for relief in the form of full refund based on breach of purchase contract for new vehicle and substantial impairment of market value resulting from installation of remanufactured engine. submitted as replacement for odi id: 753031 for better clarity of problem.*ak

Ever since we purchased a 2000 ford expedition and drove the vehicle off the lot, a fan has been turning off and on whether the vehicle is on or off. we took it back to the dealer when it was still under warranty, but nothing was found. now, the fan is turning on more often and it is louder than before. we are afraid that it may short out and cause a fire. we have noticed that the rear of the vehicle raises every time the fan turns on and vehicle lowers throughout the day. we are also afraid that we may have an accident while traveling on the highway. *nm