The contact owns a 2003 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated and the front end of the vehicle was shaking abnormally, vibrating, and the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that while driving approximately 50 MPH, there was a loud booming sound coming from the engine compartment and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the spark plug had ejected from the engine cylinder. The engine cylinder was rethreaded, and the spark plug was installed; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 230,000.
2003 Ford Expedition engine problems
171 complaints (28% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 100,070.
- owner complaints
- 171
- of this car's complaints
- 28%
- typical mileage
- 100,070
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine43
- Engine: gasoline6
- Exhaust system4
- Cooling system3
- Exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe2
- Exhaust system: emission control: crankcase (PCV)1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
Ford Expedition engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Ford Expedition engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
Stalling 47Loss of power 17Won't start 15Engine failure 14Check engine light 13Misfire 10Knocking 5Overheating 5
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
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
What 2003 Ford Expedition owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
My Ford Expedition started randomly stalling and it stalled in the highway. The engine just shut down in the middle of the highway and it was such a scary a life endangering experience. This total loss of power in the middle of the highway when vehicles are traveling at highway speeds can cause death very, very easily to the occupants of the Ford Expeditions suffering this defect. I have been reading in many forums ( I have included the link to one of many forums) this is a common defect [XXX] ) many have Ford Expedition owners have experienced and have been very concerned and shocked that there was not recall. The issue is that the R303 relay (non serviceable fuel pump relay) fails very commonly on Ford Expeditions. In my Ford Expedition, the relay was melted. The fuel pump relay fails and cuts all current going to the fuel pump causing the engine to stall. This is a life-threatening risk caused by a defective fuse box with a defective fuel pump relay (R303). There were no warnings, the Ford Expedition just stalled randomly. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
The contact owns a 2003 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the engine was misfiring, and the contact smelled a burning odor inside the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to drive to his residence. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while driving. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic on five occasions where it was diagnosed that water was leaking into the ignition coil. The independent mechanic installed silicon around the boot to prevent water from leaking into the coils; however, the failure persisted. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact it was not a known failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 196,000.
This vehicle has a faulty engine. The aluminum that Ford used to create the top end is too thin to support the pressure of the engine. As a result spark plugs explode from the engine at random with no warning. This has happened 5 times even after replacing all spark plugs, numerous coils and having kits installed by a mechanic sold by Ford to address the issue. $475 per kit from Ford. This is an enormous safety issue. The last one that blew out was on the highway with my two toddlers in the car.
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....
Fuel pump relay shorted out in motion. Highway and city streets. Steering locks up engine just dies in motion. Super dangerous and scary replaced fuse box and same thing happened again. No power steering engine just dies in motion. So scary on highway 75 MPH.
This has happened 3 times, first time stopped at a red light, when foot was put onto gas to go vehicle instantly lost power with no stuttering or stalling and had to put in park turn key over to go again. Second time, going 65 down the highway vehicle suddenly acted like it lost power and speed decreased, pulled over to side of highway and put in park and started right up. Third time, going 65 down highway started to act like it was losing power and showed dash lights as if all power was cut short and then gained all power back without having to pull over and restart.
The truck would just turn off while driving at 55 or 60 miles an hour , no steeringwas on highway ,no brakes put in neural to get to side of road with cars all around me .this has happened 3 times, then it would not start at all when fulled up with gas, had to be towed, then when I was down to 1/4 tank ,would not turn over, had gas in it too, but would not start, had to be towed in shop now again 3rd time ,had problems with the door agar going off had senor replaced still comes up
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford expedition. When the contact started the vehicle, the engine made an abnormal popping sound. The sound was a distraction to the contact's driving. The vehicle shook from the beginning of the ride to the end and the maintenance required indicator illuminated. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 150,000.
Check engine light came on while driving home and the engine shut down 4 times each time the battery would die instantly. We had to keep jump starting it to get home. 2 days later the check engine light started flashing. Scanned it came back p0304 cylinder 5 misfire. Changed spark plugs and coils. Engine light went off.ran obd2 scanner to double check codes. Code p2503 charging system low voltage . Took battery to advanced auto parts had them test it. The coca should have been 650cca and was at 11cca so bought a new battery. Next day took son to school less the 2 miles ran fine on my way home it died 3 times this time I would wait a few minutes then restart it. Check engine light never came on started searching on line and and calling mechanics. So bought new alternator. Started the truck to warm up after 5 minutes it shut down again waited a minute and started back up did it again. This time the battery light came on. So after searching many people were saying the fuseable link was bad so went to ford had one ordered installed it to day. Battery light still on started it ran for 5 min and died again. So now I bought new spark plugs, coil packs, battery,alternator, fusible lin. Now obdii code b1676- battery pack voltage out of range tester battery fully charged tested alternator it's at 14.7 which it supposed to be.
Questions about the 2003 Ford Expedition engine
Does the 2003 Ford Expedition have engine problems?
Owners have filed 171 complaints about the engine of the 2003 Ford Expedition, 28% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 2003 Ford Expedition engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 100,070 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2003 Ford Expedition engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Ford Expedition have bad engine?
The Ford Expedition model years with the most engine complaints are 1999 (274 complaints), 2003 (171 complaints) and 2006 (162 complaints).
Other 2003 Ford Expedition problems
Electrical 104Brakes 87Airbags 59Tires 57Transmission 50Fuel system 38Visibility 38Body 32Acceleration 20Steering 20Suspension 20Seat belts 14Lights 12Locks 11Seats 11Wheels 6Driver assistance 5
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