Ford Expedition
- Thread starter carolinagirl
- Start date
Cletus_Vandam
New Member
Current Expedition Owner
I read your post heading and I thought to myself, hey I know the answer to this one...
My wife drives our 'ped to work everyday. About two months ago, she calls me and tells me the same story... heard a pop and then a ton of noise. Luckily, she was able to drive the vehicle back to the house.
My brother-in-law works for Ford as a mechanic, so I called him for some assistance in determining what the problem was. First thing he thought of w/o even looking at the truck was the plug popping out of the head. If he thought of this w/o even looking, I would say it was a pretty common problem.
Well, the plug wasn’t the problem, the noise was coming from inside the engine. We collectively thought a spun bearing, broken rod, or sucked valve. Any of these considering the engine was run for an extended time after the problem occurred, likely meant a new engine. So went set out to but a remanufactured engine and pulled the engine one weekend. Before making the commitment to trash the engine I pulled the valve cover and head from one side to find out that it did in fact drop a valve (exhaust side). The valve head pretty much vaporized into several small pieces that went out the exhaust and into the converter etc. The stem of the valve hit the combustion chamber of the head and created a pretty deep impression. The piston and cylinder were basically in perfect condition-what a surprise. So we changed our plans to replace the head and put it all back together. Did all that and replaced the timing chains since we were already there and we haven’t had any problems since. Cost us over $1200 in parts and all of this on a 2001 with 66,000 miles which we are still paying----THIS SUCKS!!!
We bought the vehicle used from a local dealer about two years ago. We did a CARFAX report on it and found it was an executive fleet vehicle for Ford in Dearborn. We thought :we shouldn’t have any problems out of a vehicle that gets regular maintenance from the factory”…. Yeah, well we were wrong. Within a month we noticed an oil leak. Talked to my brother-in-law then and he told me that this was a common problem with the 4.6 motors. Luckily the dealer took care of this problem under their warranty. The ticket for the replacement of the head gasket was over $1000 labor and parts.
Having a family member who has to fix all of these problems pretty much gives me an uncensored report on the problems. Call it luck or unlucky, all I know is that we will certainly do a lot more looking (and talk to the BIL) before buying a vehicle simply based on the blue oval, size or whatever. We bought the Expedition because of our liking Ford and we needed the size.
I read your post heading and I thought to myself, hey I know the answer to this one...
My wife drives our 'ped to work everyday. About two months ago, she calls me and tells me the same story... heard a pop and then a ton of noise. Luckily, she was able to drive the vehicle back to the house.
My brother-in-law works for Ford as a mechanic, so I called him for some assistance in determining what the problem was. First thing he thought of w/o even looking at the truck was the plug popping out of the head. If he thought of this w/o even looking, I would say it was a pretty common problem.
Well, the plug wasn’t the problem, the noise was coming from inside the engine. We collectively thought a spun bearing, broken rod, or sucked valve. Any of these considering the engine was run for an extended time after the problem occurred, likely meant a new engine. So went set out to but a remanufactured engine and pulled the engine one weekend. Before making the commitment to trash the engine I pulled the valve cover and head from one side to find out that it did in fact drop a valve (exhaust side). The valve head pretty much vaporized into several small pieces that went out the exhaust and into the converter etc. The stem of the valve hit the combustion chamber of the head and created a pretty deep impression. The piston and cylinder were basically in perfect condition-what a surprise. So we changed our plans to replace the head and put it all back together. Did all that and replaced the timing chains since we were already there and we haven’t had any problems since. Cost us over $1200 in parts and all of this on a 2001 with 66,000 miles which we are still paying----THIS SUCKS!!!
We bought the vehicle used from a local dealer about two years ago. We did a CARFAX report on it and found it was an executive fleet vehicle for Ford in Dearborn. We thought :we shouldn’t have any problems out of a vehicle that gets regular maintenance from the factory”…. Yeah, well we were wrong. Within a month we noticed an oil leak. Talked to my brother-in-law then and he told me that this was a common problem with the 4.6 motors. Luckily the dealer took care of this problem under their warranty. The ticket for the replacement of the head gasket was over $1000 labor and parts.
Having a family member who has to fix all of these problems pretty much gives me an uncensored report on the problems. Call it luck or unlucky, all I know is that we will certainly do a lot more looking (and talk to the BIL) before buying a vehicle simply based on the blue oval, size or whatever. We bought the Expedition because of our liking Ford and we needed the size.
K
Kizzy
Guest
Same year, around the same mileage. Interesting. And most warranties end at 60K.
Wickedwrench
Stubborn and opinionated
I've see this way too much since the 1999 model year. Not a nice thing to happen at all.carolinagirl said:
carolinagirl
What's it 2 U
Kizzy said:
And both of us are still paying on it. 
We bought it for the same reasons, also. We needed the space and the size. My husband is 6 '2 and most other SUV's were too small up front for leg room. Of course, we were trying to support American made cars, which bit us in the butt!To make things even worse, we purchased and extended warranty on it when we bought it, but the warranty company recently went out of business and we are out a warranty and our $800.
Wickedwrench
Stubborn and opinionated
Are you the original owner? If so (and the selling dealer is close) take it into them and request an AWA claim. I've put more heads on those critters for that problem than enough on AWA claims.(AWA means After Warranty Adjustment)carolinagirl said:
To make things even worse, we purchased and extended warranty on it when we bought it, but the warranty company recently went out of business and we are out a warranty and our $800.
K
Kizzy
Guest
Consumer Reports did an article, several years ago, on extended warranties. I have always thought they were a waste of money, my father swears by them, but to me, it seemed as if my things only broke AFTER the warranty period. Anyway, the article, basically came to the same conclusion. Warranties can be a huge rip-off. Pay attention to the fine print, they do not cover everything, they also like to claim "normal wear and tear" as a disclaimer to get out of fixing a good majority of problems. 
I love how you go into Circuit City and by say a DVD player for $199.00, then you go to check out and they want to sell you a 3-year warranty for $89.00.
I flat out say, "I'll take my chances."
I love how you go into Circuit City and by say a DVD player for $199.00, then you go to check out and they want to sell you a 3-year warranty for $89.00.
I flat out say, "I'll take my chances."
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carolinagirl
What's it 2 U
Kizzy said:
I think they are a waste also, but my husband insisted he get one. You can bet I got my "I told you so in" when we got the news about the company going bankrupt!carolinagirl
What's it 2 U
Wickedwrench said:
We are the original owner, but we bought it from a Ford Dealer in NC.
Cletus_Vandam
New Member
Buying Used American=TROUBLE
He is a breif history of my buying experiences:
Bought a new 1993 Toyota P/U. It now has ~170,000 miles on it and I just replaced the clutch. I've replaced shocks, tires, timing chain and the radiator. All together maybe $2000 in parts.
Bought a 1996 Dodge Ram P/U used with 24,000 miles on it, and it was one year old. At 62,000 mi. the transmission imploded. Dealer said awh.... too bad it didn;t happen inside the 60,000 mi. warranty. That was nice of Ralph wasn't it? Cost to replace transmission and convertor $2200.
Bought a 2001 Ford Expedition used with 44,000 miles on it. It was two years old. First month, head gasket replaced due to oil leak. Get it back and it leaks worst than before. Take it back, gasket replaced again. No cost it was under the 30-day warranty. Then two months ago, it sucks a valve. Cost =$1200.
Considering the american crap that I've bought recently versus the Toyota truck that has had typical maintenance issues, I can tell you my next SUV is going to be a Toyota.
One think I can't stand to do is sit back and stroke a check for a $1000 for replacement parts right after stroking another check for the car payment. I thinkl the above is a good representation as to why Americam vehicles don't hold their value, while the foreign cars do better. American car mfr's. just can't seem to get their crap together when it comes to building a quality vehicle.
He is a breif history of my buying experiences:
Bought a new 1993 Toyota P/U. It now has ~170,000 miles on it and I just replaced the clutch. I've replaced shocks, tires, timing chain and the radiator. All together maybe $2000 in parts.
Bought a 1996 Dodge Ram P/U used with 24,000 miles on it, and it was one year old. At 62,000 mi. the transmission imploded. Dealer said awh.... too bad it didn;t happen inside the 60,000 mi. warranty. That was nice of Ralph wasn't it? Cost to replace transmission and convertor $2200.
Bought a 2001 Ford Expedition used with 44,000 miles on it. It was two years old. First month, head gasket replaced due to oil leak. Get it back and it leaks worst than before. Take it back, gasket replaced again. No cost it was under the 30-day warranty. Then two months ago, it sucks a valve. Cost =$1200.
Considering the american crap that I've bought recently versus the Toyota truck that has had typical maintenance issues, I can tell you my next SUV is going to be a Toyota.
One think I can't stand to do is sit back and stroke a check for a $1000 for replacement parts right after stroking another check for the car payment. I thinkl the above is a good representation as to why Americam vehicles don't hold their value, while the foreign cars do better. American car mfr's. just can't seem to get their crap together when it comes to building a quality vehicle.
B
Bruzilla
Guest
I think that you need to look at car problems as a whole rather than on anecdotal evidence. The truth is that you don't hear from car owners with no problems, only the ones that do have problems, which tends to make certain cars seem worse than they are.
I have a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria with an aluminum head 4.6L, that has 299,046 miles on it as of yesterday. Over those miles I have replaced the alternator, water pump, and fuel pump. Total cost for parts was about $220. I've also replaced the ball joints and connector rod ends, total cost about another $200, and I'll soon be replacing the universal joints for about $70. So I've gotten just under 300,000 miles out of a car with less than $500 being spent on unplanned maintenance. My sisters Toyota Camry has been pretty much living in the shop since she bought it, and she didn't have much better luck with her Land Cruiser. That's not to say Toyotas are bad, just that she's a had a run of bad luck with them.
I worked for Ford for nine months last year, and I never saw any vehicle come in with a blown spark plug. If this did happen, I would think that the problem would more likely be with the plug than with the engine. The advent of Coil On Plug (COP) engines eliminated plug wires, that were the single biggest point of failure on older engines, and were the main driver for frequent tune ups. I have had numerous spark plug failures over the years, and I don't think that plugs get the type of quality manufacture that will consistently support 100k mile driving. I still change my plugs once a year even on my newer CV that has a COP engine. I saw a lot of foreign cars get traded in while I was at Ford, and most all of them had problems. I also saw a lot of eroded plug wires, old oil baked onto dip sticks, fuel injectors with 80k miles that had never been cleaned, etc. These weren't problems with the manufacturer... they were problems with the owner.
I have a 1995 Ford Crown Victoria with an aluminum head 4.6L, that has 299,046 miles on it as of yesterday. Over those miles I have replaced the alternator, water pump, and fuel pump. Total cost for parts was about $220. I've also replaced the ball joints and connector rod ends, total cost about another $200, and I'll soon be replacing the universal joints for about $70. So I've gotten just under 300,000 miles out of a car with less than $500 being spent on unplanned maintenance. My sisters Toyota Camry has been pretty much living in the shop since she bought it, and she didn't have much better luck with her Land Cruiser. That's not to say Toyotas are bad, just that she's a had a run of bad luck with them.
I worked for Ford for nine months last year, and I never saw any vehicle come in with a blown spark plug. If this did happen, I would think that the problem would more likely be with the plug than with the engine. The advent of Coil On Plug (COP) engines eliminated plug wires, that were the single biggest point of failure on older engines, and were the main driver for frequent tune ups. I have had numerous spark plug failures over the years, and I don't think that plugs get the type of quality manufacture that will consistently support 100k mile driving. I still change my plugs once a year even on my newer CV that has a COP engine. I saw a lot of foreign cars get traded in while I was at Ford, and most all of them had problems. I also saw a lot of eroded plug wires, old oil baked onto dip sticks, fuel injectors with 80k miles that had never been cleaned, etc. These weren't problems with the manufacturer... they were problems with the owner.
Cletus_Vandam
New Member
No More Used!!!
I don't disagree with what you're saying. However, I have to say that out of the last five cars I've purchased (three new/two used); one of the used cars had to have the transmission replaced and the other had to have a head replaced (both of these vehicles had less than 70,000 miles on them). While the three new cars needed nothing other than typical PM.
I know it's "luck of the draw" when it comes to buying a car, especially a used one... But the most recent (and last) used car I bought was a Ford executive fleet vehicle. I understand these get all they typical periodic maintenance on them required by manual... After all that, the motor still dropped a valve at 66,000 miles on it. It's easy to sit back and say "I can see how that could happen, it is just a valve spring that broke..."; but that doesn't make the having to stroke the monthly payment at the same time your stroking that check for $1000 for a new head any easier....
I can just tell you that I will never buy another used car again.
Bruzilla said:
I don't disagree with what you're saying. However, I have to say that out of the last five cars I've purchased (three new/two used); one of the used cars had to have the transmission replaced and the other had to have a head replaced (both of these vehicles had less than 70,000 miles on them). While the three new cars needed nothing other than typical PM.
I know it's "luck of the draw" when it comes to buying a car, especially a used one... But the most recent (and last) used car I bought was a Ford executive fleet vehicle. I understand these get all they typical periodic maintenance on them required by manual... After all that, the motor still dropped a valve at 66,000 miles on it. It's easy to sit back and say "I can see how that could happen, it is just a valve spring that broke..."; but that doesn't make the having to stroke the monthly payment at the same time your stroking that check for $1000 for a new head any easier....
I can just tell you that I will never buy another used car again.
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K
Kain99
Guest
Crazy as it sounds..Hollow is right. Ford even has this solution listed for the F150.Pete said:
B
Bruzilla
Guest
Cletus_Vandam said:
You're not looking at the "big picture." Let's take a new 2005 Ford XLT Expedition and a used 2002 XLT Expedition with about 50,000 miles on it and compare them. The new Expedition will run you about $35,000 once all is said and done. The used will run you about $20,000. With decent credit and interest rates, you're looking at about $630/month for the 2005 and $360/month for the 2002 (assuming the 2002 is a certified vehicle which gets about the same financing rates as new... the best way to buy used BTW.) Over the life of the loan, you're paying $37,800 for the 2005, and $21,600 for the 2002, for an overall cost delta of $16,200.
Assuming that you do the smart thing and keep the vehicle for five years, and keep it in good condition, the value of your 2005 will be about $13,000, and the value of your 2002 will be about $8,000. So over the same time period and during the same course of driving, your cost of ownership for the 2005 (not including increased insurance costs) will be $24,800, and $13,600 for the 2002, resulting in a delta of $11,200.
The bumper-to-bumper warranty on your 2005 is for 3 years/36,000 miles, so anything that happens after the warranty, even though the vehicle was bought new, comes out of your pocket. I haven't factored in extended warranties as you can get them on the 2002 as well. So, you really only have no-worry driving from your new car for three years.
So after all is said and done, if your 2002 crapped a valve and cost you $1,000 out of pocket to fix, on top of your payments, you're still saving over $10,000 dollars by buying the used Expedition. If you think it's hard to
stroke a check for $1,000, think about how hard it is to flush $10,000 down the toilet for nothing... 'cause that's what you're doing.
carolinagirl
What's it 2 U
Well, today it happened Again. Another farken spark plug blew.Anyone know a good cheap shop that does heli coils?