rackops
Member
Greetings all!
We're on our 4th Expedition and this one is a 2007 EL 2WD Limited.
We love Expeditions and have never had an issue in the past. This one is apparently our "special" one...
When I bought it (with ~70k miles) it spent a couple days in the dealer's (a Chevy dealer) shop because of an "ignition issue". I was a dummy and that should have set off bells and whistles right there, but we really wanted an EL for our dogs (and kids) and for whatever reason, they were nearly impossible to find at that point in time. Anyway, they fixed said "ignition issue" and we bought it (still banging my head...)
Fast forward to now (we bought it two years ago) and it has 102k miles on it. Since we bought it, it has gone to two different Ford dealerships twice because this reoccurring problem.
The problem is this: when driving between 35 and 45 mph, the car feels like it's hitting rumble strips. Very consistent...not hesitating or anything, but just like hitting rumble strips in the road. Yet the roads are smooth. I have noticed the tachometer going up and down by about 200 RPM when it does it. In the mid 50s, the car has periodic rumbles, but they are more noise than anything else, and they come in predictable cycles...e.g. rumble - silent - rumble - silent - rumble up to the low 60s and then it runs just fine.
The first time it went into the shop, it had a check engine light and it came back as a bad #4 fuel injector. That was replaced under warranty. The next time it went into the shop...guess what...it was the same issue and the injector was replaced again.
For a while, the issue seemed to go away. Then, about eight months ago, it reared its ugly head again. BUT...this time, there's no check engine light. We let the car sit for a couple months and I was finally fed up enough to take it to yet another Ford dealer (we had moved in the process) to check out the rumble. Ironically, it didn't do it until I had driven it for about an hour to the dealership and finally it started doing it again.
So it was in the dealership for a couple of days and I fully described the issue to them - "don't accelerate too hard, keep it right at 40 mph, etc." to duplicate the rumble. We've dealt with this dealership before and they seem competent, so I was pretty shocked when they came back and told me they couldn't find anything wrong!
If I weren't upside down on the loan, I would have kicked the car to the curb right then, but I have to pay it off before I consider it. Sigh. So I'm stuck with it for right now. I put 450 miles on it yesterday and at freeway speeds, it runs like a charm. Same goes for speeds under 30. Just in that 35-45 zone, it gets really funky.
I did a search in this forum and found a thread about the torque converter as a similar sounding issue, but I don't think that's the problem. Or, it might be, but it just doesn't seem like it would be. I still think it's an ignition problem, though my father in law believes it's a transmission problem...but I can't wrap my brain around that since it's so predictable. Of course, we aren't car people (ships, yes. cars, no) so either one of our opinions are worth...well...you know...
Anyway, any help is appreciated! I'm truly at a loss with this one!
Thanks!
Dave
We're on our 4th Expedition and this one is a 2007 EL 2WD Limited.
We love Expeditions and have never had an issue in the past. This one is apparently our "special" one...
When I bought it (with ~70k miles) it spent a couple days in the dealer's (a Chevy dealer) shop because of an "ignition issue". I was a dummy and that should have set off bells and whistles right there, but we really wanted an EL for our dogs (and kids) and for whatever reason, they were nearly impossible to find at that point in time. Anyway, they fixed said "ignition issue" and we bought it (still banging my head...)
Fast forward to now (we bought it two years ago) and it has 102k miles on it. Since we bought it, it has gone to two different Ford dealerships twice because this reoccurring problem.
The problem is this: when driving between 35 and 45 mph, the car feels like it's hitting rumble strips. Very consistent...not hesitating or anything, but just like hitting rumble strips in the road. Yet the roads are smooth. I have noticed the tachometer going up and down by about 200 RPM when it does it. In the mid 50s, the car has periodic rumbles, but they are more noise than anything else, and they come in predictable cycles...e.g. rumble - silent - rumble - silent - rumble up to the low 60s and then it runs just fine.
The first time it went into the shop, it had a check engine light and it came back as a bad #4 fuel injector. That was replaced under warranty. The next time it went into the shop...guess what...it was the same issue and the injector was replaced again.
For a while, the issue seemed to go away. Then, about eight months ago, it reared its ugly head again. BUT...this time, there's no check engine light. We let the car sit for a couple months and I was finally fed up enough to take it to yet another Ford dealer (we had moved in the process) to check out the rumble. Ironically, it didn't do it until I had driven it for about an hour to the dealership and finally it started doing it again.
So it was in the dealership for a couple of days and I fully described the issue to them - "don't accelerate too hard, keep it right at 40 mph, etc." to duplicate the rumble. We've dealt with this dealership before and they seem competent, so I was pretty shocked when they came back and told me they couldn't find anything wrong!
If I weren't upside down on the loan, I would have kicked the car to the curb right then, but I have to pay it off before I consider it. Sigh. So I'm stuck with it for right now. I put 450 miles on it yesterday and at freeway speeds, it runs like a charm. Same goes for speeds under 30. Just in that 35-45 zone, it gets really funky.
I did a search in this forum and found a thread about the torque converter as a similar sounding issue, but I don't think that's the problem. Or, it might be, but it just doesn't seem like it would be. I still think it's an ignition problem, though my father in law believes it's a transmission problem...but I can't wrap my brain around that since it's so predictable. Of course, we aren't car people (ships, yes. cars, no) so either one of our opinions are worth...well...you know...
Anyway, any help is appreciated! I'm truly at a loss with this one!
Thanks!
Dave