2000 Ford Expedition problems

What is wrong

On certain pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles equipped with speed control, the speed control deactivation switch may overheat, smoke, or burn.

Risk

A fire at the switch could occur.

Remedy

By letter dated september 12, 2005, owners were instructed to return their vehicles to their dealers to have the speed control deactivation switch disconnected. Owners who have had their speed control deactivated are being notified that parts will be available and advised to make an appointment to reconnect the speed control beginning in february 2006. Owners who did not have their speed control deactivated are being notified to have their system remedied beginning in february 2006. Owners are urged to avail themselves of the free disconnect service as soon as possible because of the significant risk of fire. Owners may contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673. (note: also see recalls 05v017 and 06v286)

Recall number 05V388000 · Recall details

What is wrong

On certain sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks, the speed control deactivation switch may overheat, smoke, or burn.

Risk

This condition could lead to a fire. Fires have occurred while the vehicles were parked with the ignition 'off.'

Remedy

As an interim repair, owners will be instructed to return their vehicles to their dealers to have the speed control deactivation switch disconnected. As soon as replacement parts are available (early april 2005), owners will be instructed to return to the dealers for installation of a new switch free of charge. Owners may contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673. (note: also see recalls 05v388 and 06v286)

Recall number 05V017000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Certain pickup truck, van, and mini van conversions equipped with southern comfort built running boards that contain certain courtesy lights manufactured by american technology components, inc. These units contain a courtesy light or lights that might overheat when the wire harness is exposed to excessive moisture and road salt.

Risk

This overheating condition can cause the running board to melt or cause a fire.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the wiring harness on these running boards. Owner notification began march 7, 2003. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact southern comfort at 1‑800‑745‑6096.

Recall number 03V094000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Certain 4x2 sport utility vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 120, "tire selection and rims for motor vehicles other than passenger cars." the rear tire pressure is incorrectly listed on the label for 4.2 vehicles.

Risk

Customers may inflate their rear tires based on the incorrect tire pressure information on the certification label.

Remedy

A supplementary label will be sent to customers to place near the certification label to identify the appropriate rear tire pressure. The customer may also have the dealer install the label on the vehicle, if they so desire. Owner notification is expected to begin during september or october 2002. Owners who do not receive the free label and installation instructions within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332.

Recall number 02V239000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Vehicle description: passenger cars, sport utility vehicles, and light and medium duty pickup trucks. A switch located in the plastic cover of the wiper motor gear case could malfunction and overheat, potentially resulting in loss of intermittent wiper function, loss of wiper park function, complete loss of wiper function, or ignition of the plastic cover material. Switch malfunction is most likely to occur when the intermittent setting of the wipers is being used, or when snow or ice obstructs the blades from returning to the "parked" position at the bottom of the windshield. These vehicles were built at the following assembly plants: atlanta plant from 2/11/00 through 7/31/00; chicago plant from 2/14/00 through 8/4/00; kansas city plant from 2/26/00 to 9/4/00; kentucky truck plant from 2/18/00 to 8/31/00; michigan truck plant from 2/23/00 through 8/3/00; norfolk plant from 2/21/00 through 7/27/00; wayne stamping and assembly plant from 2/25/00 through 8/15/00; and wixom plant from 2/15/00 through 8/8/00.

Risk

Loss of visibility while driving increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy

Dealers will inspect the date code on the wiper motor. Motors built with the suspect time frame will have the wiper motor gear case cover replaced. Owner notification began august 20, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332.

Recall number 01V258000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Vehicle description: certain sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks, and passenger vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of fmvss 225, "child restraint anchorage systems." the affected expedition/navigator owner guides do not identify the locations of seating positions equipped with tether anchorages, and do not provide instructions for securing child seats to these tether anchorages. The f150 sc owner guides do not provide the procedure for securing child seats to the tether anchorages. The taurus/sable owner guides do not identify the center rear seating position as having latch compatible lower anchorages.

Risk

In the event of a crash, the child seat may not be properly attached increasing the risk of injury to the child.

Remedy

Owners will be provided with owner guide inserts revised to provide the required information, and instructions for affixing these inserts to their owner guides. Customers will also be advised that if they prefer, their dealer will affix the inserts to their owner guides.

Recall number 00V396000 · Recall details

What is wrong

Vehicle description: multi-purpose vehicles. The trailer hitch assembly to the frame attaching bolts could lose the clamp load.

Risk

The trailer hitch could then separate from the vehicle.

Remedy

Dealers will replace the trailer hitch mounting bolts and nut plates.

Recall number 00V073000 · Recall details

Consumers alleged that when it rained or snowed, water leaked into the vehicle around the windshield.moisture flowing through the seal that surrounds the front windshield follows a path through the seal into the generic electronic module (gem) and fuse box, and may cause the electrical components in the vehicle to malfunction.overall, the number of reports alleging wiper failures and lighting failures is relatively small.in reviewing a large sample of the 1503 complaints for windshield leaks, odi's analysis reveals that 0.04% of the total vehicle population reported improper windshield wiper operation and 0.01% of the total vehicle populationreported lighting failures.the warranty claims reveal that approximately 0.10% of the population has been serviced for wiper malfunctions and 0.08% for lighting malfunctions as a result of windshield leaking. Odi's analysis of the field performance statistics and available technical information has not established that a defect trend exists in the malfunction, failure or intermittent operation of the front windshield wipers or headlights.see the attached summary report.

EA05015

On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it is possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect is very low.in view of the foregoing, it is unlikely that the federal safety agency would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.

DP05005

Odi has received 39 reports alleging that water leaks around the windshield causing electrical failures, including but not limited to the windshield wipers and the headlamps.ford reports that water entering the vehicle can wet the power distribution box (pdb) and the generic electronic module (gem).these components control various electrical systems in the vehicle.this investigation has been upgraded to an engineering analysis, ea05015, to allow further investigation of the issue and to assess the nature of the potential safety consequence.

PE05033

In its letter dated january 27, 2005 to odi, ford indicated that it would conduct a safety recall (the federal safety agency recall # 05v‑017) to remedy an overheating speed control deactivation switch in approximately 738,490 subject vehicles.the vehicles affected by the recall are certain 2000 model year (my) ford f150, ford expedition and lincoln navigator equipped with speed control and certain 2001 model year f150 supercrew vehicles built through august 7, 2000.since opening pe04-078, odi has identified other reports of key off engine compartment fires in ford vehicles with similar speed control deactivation switches that were not the subject of this preliminary evaluation or ford's recall 05v‑017.ford's response to the odi information request letter dated december 3, 2004, provided an additional 107 allegations of key off engine compartment fires that were also in vehicles not subject to this investigation or included in the ford recall 05v‑017.an engineering analysis (ea) is warranted to determine if a safety defect trend exists relating to key off engine compartment fires in vehicles outside the scope of this preliminary evaluation.odi will expand the scope of it's investigation at the ea phase to include the 1995 through 2002 model years of the ford f150, ford expedition and lincoln navigator vehicles.

PE04078

In december 1999, ford issued technical service bulletin 99-26-3, entitled increased wheel nut and stud size-service tip,for 2000 model year expedition, navigator, and certain f-150 vehicles, built on or after november 27, 1999.these vehicles have increased wheel stud and nut diameters from 12mm to 14mm.the wheel nut torque was increased from 100 ft-lb. To 150 ft-lb., respectively.odi has received three reports of wheels separating from 2000 model year expedition vehicles, including two crashes.two additional reports allege broken studs and/or loose wheel nuts.loose wheel nuts can allow the wheel to wobble and cause wheel stud breakage.there are no similar odi reports on 2000 model year lincoln navigator vehicles.the failures appear to be attributed to improper wheel nut torque; however, there is no evidence that there are torque quality deficiencies at the assembly plants.due to the mileages the incidents occurred, it is most likely that improper wheel nut torques were applied during servicing, because in all cases when loose wheels were re-torqued to a least 100 ft-lb., there were no failure re-occurrences.

SQ00016