2017 Ford Expedition: stuck in gear or won't shift

Filed Mar 27, 2026 · Transmission · AL

While towing our RV trailer, we received a wrench light and the vehicle when into limp mode. When we tried to slow down and take the next exit on the interstate, the transmission tried to shift from 6th gear to 1st gear, causing the rear tires to screech and slow the vehicle dramatically. This could have caused a rear collision due to the abrupt slowing of the vehicle. The problem could only be reproduced when towing a trailer for an hour or more, so the problem was not reproduced by a mechanic or service center. No one else has inspected the vehicle. The only warning light was the wrench light on the dash. There was a code stored when checked: P0735.

Filed Oct 17, 2024 · Transmission · NE

While driving, the speedometer began to bounce around. This caused erratic shifting. At one point the speedometer went to zero while we were still moving. I pulled over put it in park and it would not go into gear. During this the air bag light came on. After turning the vehicle off and back on again, everything went back to normal. Over a period of days, it would do the same thing again, but not as bad as the time listed above. The speedometer will bounce around while driving and cause moderate shifting issues. I took the vehicle into a shop, and they ran the code as being Output Speed Sensor. After research, it appears Ford had a recall on output speed sensors for 2014 F-150 vehicles (Recall Reference Number 24S37) which use the 6R80 transmission. I contacted my local Ford dealership and Ford corporate via chat, and both told me my 2017 Expedition was not covered under that recall. Since my vehicle uses the same transmission, I inquired as to what they did to fix the output speed sensor issue. They could not provide me with that information. I have several videos of the speedometer bouncing around, but am unable to upload them here.

Filed Jul 13, 2024 · Acceleration, Fuel system · OR

In 2022, around mileage of 67000, our SUV was climbing a steep road when it suddenly made a pop sound & went into limp mode with the wrench light showing and the engine sounding rough. It felt like no fuel was getting to the engine & the gas pedal was non-responsive. The RPMs didn't change when the gas pedal was pressed. The grade was so steep, we barely made it to the side of the road without rolling backwards into traffic behind us. After turning the engine off and sitting about 10 mins, we tried starting the engine again. The car seemed to have reset itself! It ran fine; the wrench light turned off, and the gas pedal was responsive again. (At the time, we were on vacation at the coast and had traveled from our home at about elevation 3500'. We had also recently had to buy gas from a small no name gas station, so we feared we may have gotten bad fuel). From there, we returned home without re-occurrence, and we used fuel cleaning additive to our Chevron fuel for the next 2 fill ups. Then, approximately 600 miles later on a flat grade, it happened again without the pop sound. We immediately went to our Ford dealer who found no error code but found our purge valve stuck open. They recommended we replace it, which we did, and we operated the vehicle for 2 years without re-occurrence and using only Chevron gas. Recently, it happened again! Luckily, we weren't on a steep grade this time or on the freeway, but if a car would have been behind us, we would have likely been rear ended, especially had we been on the freeway. Once again, we shut the engine off, and it reset with the wrench light disappearing, so no diagnostic code got thrown AGAIN! Based on many complaints, this appears to be a common problem. It's very dangerous as the car immediately losses power to a crawl no matter what speed you are traveling at the time. It seems to be the electronic throttle body in instances where the SUV can stay running, so a code can be obtained before it resets.

Filed Nov 21, 2023 · Electrical, Fuel system · KS

Electronic throttle body will go into a limp mode and has no power to accelerate. This happens while driving down the street or highway and you might have enough power to pull to side of the road or street and not get run over. I have seen other reports of this and Ford extended their warranty on some vehicles to 10 years or 150,000 miles. These are mainly the eco boost motors. My vehicle has 88,000 miles and is regularly serviced. One occurrence was on a road under construction with no place to pull over quickly when this happened.

Filed Sep 19, 2023 · Transmission · OR

Vehicle sudden power loss. No fuel getting to engine vehicle must be stopped it is in limp mode. Turned off and restarted and vehicle runs. Happened 15 different times. Still ongoing possi le contaminated throttle body?

Filed Jul 13, 2023 · Fuel system, Transmission · WI

Driving through a mile-long tunnel on an interstate highway (speed limit 55 mph), the vehicle ceased to respond to the gas pedal and would not accelerate or maintain speed. Attempted to shift gears but that produced no change - it was as if the transmission was stuck in neutral, but pushing the gas pedal did not increase the rpm. As we exited the tunnel at approximately 30 mph, the driver attempted to pull over and stop the vehicle, and found that the power assist for the brakes was not working, making stopping difficult - the driver had to push the brakes very hard, multiple times, to stop the car. We did contact 911 dispatch when we thought we were going to likely impede traffic, as the tunnel only had two lanes traveling the same direction. However, no intervention was required as we reached the end of the tunnel and were able to pull over before the call was completed. The vehicle was towed to a dealership and they diagnosed a fuel pump and/or fuel pump module problem, but have ceased to respond to our calls for the past 48 hours, so we have no further information. The check engine light turned on when the car was restarted, but then later turned off, without any repair work having been completed.

Filed Sep 22, 2022 · Engine · TX

When you accelerate truck . Some time it start flashing engine check light and goes into limp mode as u left of pedal . Engine will start like miss fire No power . It will go back normal after about 20 seconds of. Releasing acceleration. Engine check light will be on unless you go get clear with computer

Filed Sep 8, 2022 · Engine · GA

The throttle body failed, causing the vehicle to go into limp mode while on a stretch of interstate hwy. The engine decelerated from 65 to below 5 mph immediately, causing cars and transfer trucks to have to swerve recklessly to avoid hitting me at full speed. My family was in this auto with me, which makes this even worse. From a quick search on the internet, this is a known problem and there hasn't been a recall. Will someone have to eventually die before Ford hales the problem? I now have my Expedition in the shop for repair and I'm on the hook for the cost to repair a known problem! FORD, be a responsible company and value your customer's safety!!

Filed Aug 3, 2022 · Transmission · WA

While driving, the vehicle suddenly went into a "limp mode" where it lost almost all power and a Power Train warning light came on. This happened once on July 14th and then again 5 times on August 2nd, 2002. The car was not drivable after the consecutive incidents so it had to be towed to the dealership. It was determined the Throttle Body had failed and needed to be replaced and because the car was about 2,500 miles beyond the power train warranty terms the repairs cost $790.

Filed Oct 12, 2021 · Transmission · IN

While driving today my vehicle lost power and went into limp mode. the warning wrench came on. This is very dangerous, especially on the freeway. There is no where to get off and the vehicle slows to a stop in the middle of traffic. I turned the vehicle off and restarted it to reset the warning. I did get home, very bad situation in the middle of traffic without any warning.

Filed Oct 11, 2021 · CO

Throttle body failed and vehicle unexpectedly lost power while driving home from the airport at night. I did not initially realize it went into limp mode. The wrench light illuminated on the dash and I had to stop in the travel lane of a busy 45 mph street. I could not pull to the shoulder due to traffic. Other motorists were visibly angry and honking at me. After a little time I tried putting the vehicle in park, shutting it off and tried starting it again. It started with no issue and then died again a few blocks later, fortunately that time it was in a better location with no traffic. I took the vehicle to a Ford dealer the following morning, where I already had an appointment for preventative maintenance including new coolant and spark plugs. I suspected the throttle body failed after researching the issue and found a history of similar problems with other Ford products. The dealership also diagnosed a throttle body failure and charged me for a repair, which involved replacing the throttle body assembly. It is my understanding that Ford has extended warranty coverage on other models and that there may have been a recall campaign involving other models. My 2017 Ford Expedition XLT appears to have had the same issue. This problem could have been EXTREMELY dangerous if it happened on the highway or if a less experienced driver was operating the vehicle. The failure was sudden and unexpected.

Filed Aug 25, 2021 · Acceleration · TX

The electronic throttle body gets stuck closed. The engine stalls or goes into limp mode. At highway speed I then have to try and navigate a dead car to the shoulder or am stuck in the middle lane with cars going past at 70+ mph. This is a known defect in fords engine and other years/models are recalled. 2017 Ford Expedition needs to be added immediately. This is dangerous.