2003 Ford Expedition: engine knocking or ticking

Filed Sep 8, 2014 · Electrical · 141,000 miles · SC

My 03 ford expedition would not start and was making a ticking sound. Found out it was a relay switch changed it and it started but it keeps blowing about every 3-4 weeks.

Filed Mar 16, 2012 · Engine · 100,000 miles · OK

While driving at a low rate of speed, my expedition made a loud pop and then strange knocking noise. Upon further inspection I noticed I had blown out a spark plug and my coil pack was blown apart as well. When I called a local ford dealership (thomas ford, stillwater ok) the man laughed and said "no it is not a recall, but absolutely should be as this is a very common occurrence in the triton motor." I ask that you re-look back into this "common" problem as this is a terrible thing to overlook.

Filed May 24, 2010 · Engine · 63,000 miles · CA

I own a 2003 5.4l ford expedition ed bauer with 63,000 miles. My 2003 ford expedition very recently blew the #3 spark plug in may 2010. I purchased the expedition in 2006 with only 14,000 miles. The spark plugs on the vehicle are the original spark plugs from the factory and have not been replaced. The expedition started making a knocking sound. On may way home from work, as I tuned into the freeway entrance, the engine made a loud popping sound followed by a rattling soung. I continued to operate the vehicle for approximately 3 miles and then exit the freeway. There was also a smell of gasoline coming from the engine. Since I was not far from the ford service center (galpin ford in north hills, ca.), I continued to operate the vehicle to the service center for repair. A day later I received a call from the service technician indicating that the #3 spark plug blew out of the head. The technician mentioned that the enginene needed a new head since they could not repair the problem. Total parts and labor...$3834.00. After reading comments from this website, this is clearly a manufacturer defect that should not continue to be overlooked by ford.

Filed Sep 5, 2009 · Engine · 117,000 miles · IL

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.

Filed Jul 18, 2009 · Engine · 99,876 miles · AZ

Driving from las vegas to phx we were at wickenberg, az a loud pop occurred and knocking sound from the engine. The smell of gas was present and wouldn't run properly. The ford dealership in wickenberg was luckily open and instructed us that the spark plugs had blown out in the 1st and 2nd cylinders. They did also tell us that this occurs often in and there is a temp fix for it. They tapped out the head and inserted a steel sleeve for those 2 cylinders. Taking 2 hours it was fixed and we were on our way very happy to have it fixed but not happy at all at ford for having such a blatant design flaw. This needs to be fixed.