2003 Ford Expedition: sudden loss of power

Filed Jan 19, 2024 · Electrical, Engine · NM

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)

Filed Sep 8, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 248,000 miles · MO

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.

Filed Aug 20, 2019 · Electrical · 25 miles · NY · crash

I have a huge problem with my 03 ford expedition shutting of randomly it is very dangerous on highways you lose power steering and all power to motor almost caused accidents many times I believe many people have this problem and it all relates to the fuse box please make this a recall so many people can get hurt or even killed

Filed Apr 7, 2016 · Fuel system · 189,000 miles · TX

I was having problem my car of it losing power until one day it just lost power completely at a stop light I was lucky I was waiting for the light to turn green so I quickly put on my emergency blinkers and I was luckily no one hit me from behind this was around 8:30 p.m. My car had to be towed to the mechanic well it was at the mechanic I went ahead and google what happened with my car and I came across a whole bunch of complaints from the cars doing the same thing my car was doing but I found out a lot of people ended up wasting a lot of money to figure out at the end what the problem was if you're traveling on the freeway and this happens you can be in serious trouble I think this should be a recall and investigate on this part

Filed Jan 14, 2016 · Driver assistance, Electrical · 149,000 miles · GA · crash

While driving on the highway at 70 MPH, the vehicle just suddenly lost power and shut down. I managed to get the vehicle to the side of the road. After a few minutes it started and I continued on, after a few miles the same thing happened again. I got it started again and was trying to make a rest stop a few miles away. While pulling into the rest stop the vehicle lost power again and resulted in a collision because of no steering or brakes. The loss of power happened 8 times that day. While looking for answers about the problem, I found on the nhtsb website that other vehicles of the same make, model and year also experienced this same problem that turned out to be a problem with the fuse block. I took it to a ford dealership to have it checked out. They said it was a fuel pump issue. That would not cause a loss of power. I took it to another mechanic who did find that it was indeed a faulty fuse block. The same mechanic told me that this was not the first time they had come across this problem. This is a dangerous condition that needs to be rectified before someone loses their life in an accident because of this. The loss of power occurs without any warning or check engine lights or codes.

Filed Aug 3, 2012 · Engine · 135,000 miles · TX

Was driving on with family at posted 70 MPH speed. Car lost all power with no warning light or error codes. I had no power steering or power brakes. I managed to pull steering wheel to get off hwy. I turned key off. The car started right back up with no problem. Drove another 2 miles with same results. It was night and out of town. The car started right back up with still no error codes. Drove home with no problems. Took in to mechanic next day with no help. Was told to bring in when service engine light comes on. They can't fix with no idea why and still no error codes. Left there drove towards home died again on way home in town. No error codes.

Filed Dec 29, 2011 · Engine · 117,201 miles · TX · fire

My wife was driving with our infant son and our teenage daughter in our 2003 expedition xlt 4.6l 2x4. She heard a loud pop and the vehicle lost power and started smoking and shaking violently. She thought the expedition was going to blow up. We had the expedition checked out and the cylinder number 7 spark plug blew out. The aluminum threads in the head gave and the spark plug blew out, the injector kept spraying raw fuel and the coil ignited it. When all this happened it burned the ignition coil, coil boot, spark plug and the coil harness. Now we were told we would have to have the cylinder head replaced. We love our expedition and I considered buying a new one, but I don't know now.

Filed Jul 1, 2010 · Engine · 90,000 miles · UT

Driving our 2003 ford expedition thru the desert to green river utah. Loud pop and car shuddered and lost power. Pulled over immediately and had it towed back to price ut. Ford dealer said spark plug blew out of cylinder head. $2000 to re-thread head, $3000 for new cylinder head or $5000 for a new motor. Since our motor had 90,000 miles on it we opted for a new motor. But after researching all the other people who blew spark plugs out of their motor's head I do not feel safe driving this vehicle anymore. Come to discover this has happened to many people who own this type of vehicle with the aluminum cylinder head. This is a manufacturers defect that should be recalled. The public is being sold a defective motor and having to pay unnecessarily when it breaks down. Ford needs to recall these defective engines and fix the problem. These motors are not "built ford tough".

Filed Jun 2, 2010 · Electrical, Engine · 49,688 miles · CA

I have an 2003 ford expedition SUV, the spark plug in the #3 cylinder head pops out every 5-8k miles. Resulting in a loss of power, per the 3 dealerships I have spoken to as well as the b.a.r ford is aware of this problem and refuses to fix it. Per the b.a.r. It is an casting/manufacturing defect. Im worried that I will be on the freeway and loose power, and get in an accident due to not being able to exit the free way under my own power. The problem goes back to the 2000 model year. I have had the car worked on at the ford dealership 2 times to correct this issue,and it is currently broken again. The dealer ship refuses to fix it as an warranty on their repair done on 8/13/09 or as an factory defect from ford direct. Don't know where else to turn, any help or direction would be greatly appreciated. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Mar 2, 2010 · Engine · 77,000 miles · CT

Ford spark plug ejection, 2003 ford expedition 5.4l triton engine. "consumeraffairs.com" has 317 pages of complaints regarding this issue. Ford does not acknowledge a problem. I have had two (2) blow-outs, costing me $1,200.00 I would like to see a petition for recall started, based on potential fire and safety issues. In my case, I was traveling at 60 MPH and lost power while in traffic. I had to carefully pull off highway with very little engine power. This is a serious issue which needs to be addressed. I now own a vehicle that I can not take on a long trip, for fear of having the engine explode again. Hopefully, it will not take a fatality or serious injury to have someone review this problem and take action. The february 21,2007 memo from dot, ref: dp05-005 review is in need of updating. The numbers are now much greater than previously reported. Please review this problem. Ford simply says " not my problem". [xxx]

Filed Jan 19, 2010 · Engine · 82,000 miles · NV

My 2003 ford expediton was making a slight tapping noise all day as I drove around town. When I hit my home town I was a .10 of a mile from my house and a huge banging noise occured. The vehicle lost power and I could smell gasoline vapors. From inspection under the hood I noticed the coil assembly above in the right rear cylinder was broken and the spark plug was laying on the motor. It had blown a spark plug. I had purchased an extended warranty when I purchased the vehicle. I had the car towed and was told they would inspect for repairs. The car was sub-letted out to a ford dealer. The ford dealer said that a helicoil repair was what was once accepted but their dealership no longer performed that procedure because it was only a temporary fix. Ford put out a service bulletin that said the best repair is to replace the head but a helicoil type repair would suffice. Because of this temporary fix announcement and ford's inablilty to admit there is something wrong with the triton motor built between 1997 and 2008 my extendede warranty company will not make the best recommended fix. Ford needs to be held accoutable. I do not want to put my family of five at risk of breaking down and possible engine fire because of this defect.

Filed Jan 2, 2009 · Engine · 89,000 miles · AL

In less than seven days, two spark plugs blew out of my 2003 ford expedition engine. It is a 5.4l triton engine. Both occurrences were while driving normally down the interstate. The consequences were sudden loss of power while driving on the highway both times. I went from driving 70 MPH to 45 MPH in a matter of seconds with my wife and 9 month old baby in the vehicle! Ford knows about the problem and has issued a repair report, but not a factory recall. The issue is a flaw in the engine design or manufacture; thousands of others have reported the same issue (a quick google search of "ford 5.4l spark plug blowout" demonstrates this). Had there been traffic behind or beside me, we would have caused an accident or worse. Since ford knows of the issue, they ought to pay for the repairs or replace the engine at their expense. I no longer trust my vehicle. The repairs for this one issue have cost me approximately $1,000 to date, and there is no guarantee it will not happen again.