2000 expedition shaking

[Bubba13]

Hi everybody. I'm looking for some help and just starting out on learning about automotive repair for myself, so I'd like to say thank you in advance for any help I can get and for patience if I sound like I have no idea what I'm doing (because I don't, yet). I have a 2000 Ford expedition that I plan on keeping for as long as I can, once I get all these kinks figured out. I have recently had the water pump, thermostat, radiator hoses and serpentine belt replaced; as well as the engine and radiator flushed... New tires and alignment set, and I'm keeping up on regular oil changes and all of those general maintenance things. I'm trying really hard to take care of this vehicle, I really like it and want to keep it around; I just seem to have bought it right when everything started going out. The newest development is 4 days ago when I started it up to head to lunch, it started shaking. It shakes at idle, shakes when I hit the gas, calms down a bit as it accelerates and then starts again around 55mph. At that point if I let off the gas it will settle down again, but resumes after a few seconds of pressing the gas again. The best advice I've been given so far is that it is possibly/probably a vacuum leak... So my questions are: 1. Any other thoughts or opinions? 2. Is it safe to drive the vehicle at freeway speeds for about 15 miles(to get it to a friends shop)? Sorry for such a long post, I just want to be thorough and hopefully have enough detail to get somewhere on this. Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

 

[Solefly87]

Hi everybody. I'm looking for some help and just starting out on learning about automotive repair for myself, so I'd like to say thank you in advance for any help I can get and for patience if I sound like I have no idea what I'm doing (because I don't, yet). I have a 2000 Ford expedition that I plan on keeping for as long as I can, once I get all these kinks figured out. I have recently had the water pump, thermostat, radiator hoses and serpentine belt replaced; as well as the engine and radiator flushed... New tires and alignment set, and I'm keeping up on regular oil changes and all of those general maintenance things. I'm trying really hard to take care of this vehicle, I really like it and want to keep it around; I just seem to have bought it right when everything started going out. The newest development is 4 days ago when I started it up to head to lunch, it started shaking. It shakes at idle, shakes when I hit the gas, calms down a bit as it accelerates and then starts again around 55mph. At that point if I let off the gas it will settle down again, but resumes after a few seconds of pressing the gas again. The best advice I've been given so far is that it is possibly/probably a vacuum leak... So my questions are: 1. Any other thoughts or opinions? 2. Is it safe to drive the vehicle at freeway speeds for about 15 miles(to get it to a friends shop)? Sorry for such a long post, I just want to be thorough and hopefully have enough detail to get somewhere on this. Thanks in advance for any help or advice!

Welcome to the forum! I had the same exact problem about a week ago. I stared searching the threads here and a lot of them were talking about the coil packs that sit on top of your spark plugs. They tend to go out. Mine did not have any CEL come on or anything. It just started having the same symptoms that you described. I myself am just starting to be a diy type of guy too. I didn't know how to check which coil was bad. So I started checking all the connections first, which everyone seemed fine. Then I just started to take out every coil to check them out. Until I found one that looked pretty beat up and actually shorter than the other ones. I switched that one out and ****!!! Problem fixed. I'm going to attach a picture of the old and new coil pack. I will also attach one of where it came out of. I still don't know the order of the Sparks plugs/coils. All I know is that there are 8 lol -___-
Hope this helps in any way.

 

[Solefly87]

Here's the other picture of where it came out. If you are standing in front of you truck looking at the engine. It's the left side(passenger) of the engine. 3rd plug going front front of car to firewall. Hope that helps explain.

 

[Solefly87]

Here

 

[Bedrck47]

Solefly87

For plug/cyl numbers They are passenger side is also referred to as bank one plugs/cyls are #1 thru #4 front to firewall. Drivers side is also referred to as bank two plugs/cyls are #5 thru #8 front to firewall

 

[Bedrck47]

Bubba13

Which engine is in the expy? and how many miles on it.

 

[Bubba13]

Thank you guys for the responses, I will be checking out the coil packs within the hour and I'll report back... Bedrk47, its the 5.4L triton v8; has about 200k on it

 

[steelnewfie]

I'd do plugs first. Then replace coil packs as required. Members say stick with OEM if you can afford it. Considering you get the hesitation across the entire band probably fuel filter as well.

 

[Bubba13]

Alright so I messed with the plugs and coils, didn't have time to take them out (lunch break) but at one point it seemed to have made a difference so that makes sense to me as being a bad connection? I got ahold of a friend with a tester so he says we should be able to find out exactly which one it is etc. Is this sounding like I'm on the right track? Thank you guys very much for the responses.

 

[Bedrck47]

If you change the plugs I would install new boots also unless you plan on new coils and they normally have new boots with them Also put some dielectric grease on the wire inside of the boot

 

[Bubba13]

Alright well I got it out to a friend who owns a shop... I gave him the info I'd been given here and along with hearing it for himself he's pretty certain its spark plug/plugs. Didn't make it in time to get it done today but I'll be learning that soon it looks like. The plugs are under the coils (I'm sure you all know that but like I said I'm a beginner), so I'll be able to check them out too and find out if that's another issue. Thank you guys so much for the help, really great community here. I'll definitely be coming back if I run into anything else.

 

[Solefly87]

Alright well I got it out to a friend who owns a shop... I gave him the info I'd been given here and along with hearing it for himself he's pretty certain its spark plug/plugs. Didn't make it in time to get it done today but I'll be learning that soon it looks like. The plugs are under the coils (I'm sure you all know that but like I said I'm a beginner), so I'll be able to check them out too and find out if that's another issue. Thank you guys so much for the help, really great community here. I'll definitely be coming back if I run into anything else.

That's awesome bro. I hope it all gets fixed.
I myself am a beginner too. This is actually my first car that I started doing all the maintenance and stuff too. I've been able to replace water pump, thermostat, heater core, serpentine belt, front and back brakes And coil. All I did was search around this forum for guide, and used YouTube. It feels so good to know YOU fixed something rather than spending major money on it.
Try taking the coils out one at a time and inspecting them. The coil itself is held in by one 7mm bolt. Then You have to disconnect the connector to the coil. There is a little tab on the bottom side of the connector that u squeeze in order to pull. And that's it. You pull out the coil carefully, and inspect them. That's how I found my problem.

 

[Bedrck47]

. You pull out the coil carefully, and inspect them. That's how I found my problem.

What is the procedure you use to inspect them?

 

[Solefly87]

What is the procedure you use to inspect them?

I visually inspected them first. Then I had a friend help me disconnect each one, one by one With the car running to try and hear for a difference in idle. I checked the boots on all of them. But my visual inspection was enough for me since the boot was almost gone on one of my coils.
Like I said. I'm a beginner lol. So I just followed some advice that I read on a thread around here.

 

[Bedrck47]

Read post # 10 always best to replace plugs and boots if your not going to replace coils and to use dielectric grease on the boot wire

 

[Solefly87]

Read post # 10 always best to replace plugs and boots if your not going to replace coils and to use dielectric grease on the boot wire

Yes sir! The only reason I didn't Change the spark plugs, is because I barely bought the car from a good friend of mine about 4-5 months ago. He had the spark plugs changed a week before but not the cops. So I changed that one that crapped out on me. I did use dielectric grease too. There are a lot of threads on here that helped guide me the whole way.

 

[northernexp]

IMHO if you're already going in to do plugs why not just spend a lil bit more money and do the coil packs at the same time, even if they are still "good."

I went the cheap route also when I first bought my expedition and just did the plugs, and after all my hard work a cpl months down the road the coil packs started going, one at a time.

The truck had over 300,000 kms on it with original plugs and coils so the coils were due for a change, I had the same mentality, the coils are still good, why change them?

After 2 coils went Individually I said f it and night the other 6 and replaced them. The thing that surprised me the most is how much better the truck ran after. It was good after doing the plugs but after the coil packs it team even better, so even if your coil packs are "good" it makes sense to change the coil packs, since you're already in there may as well change them out, I wish I did the first time instead of having to do the job again a few months after doing the plugs.

I found a seller on eBay that sells coil packs that are advertised as "performance" coil packs with red plastic on the coils for much less than OEM of other aftermarket brands, and his feedback trading was almost 100% positive with thousands sold, if I had to do it again I should probably go this route.

I realize that everybody on here is pro motorcraft, and most people that are passionate about their vehicles usually prefer OEM but I believe good parts can be found if you look around enough.



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[Solefly87]

IMHO if you're already going in to do plugs why not just spend a lil bit more money and do the coil packs at the same time, even if they are still "good."

I went the cheap route also when I first bought my expedition and just did the plugs, and after all my hard work a cpl months down the road the coil packs started going, one at a time.

The truck had over 300,000 kms on it with original plugs and coils so the coils were due for a change, I had the same mentality, the coils are still good, why change them?

After 2 coils went Individually I said f it and night the other 6 and replaced them. The thing that surprised me the most is how much better the truck ran after. It was good after doing the plugs but after the coil packs it team even better, so even if your coil packs are "good" it makes sense to change the coil packs, since you're already in there may as well change them out, I wish I did the first time instead of having to do the job again a few months after doing the plugs.

I found a seller on eBay that sells coil packs that are advertised as "performance" coil packs with red plastic on the coils for much less than OEM of other aftermarket brands, and his feedback trading was almost 100% positive with thousands sold, if I had to do it again I should probably go this route.

I realize that everybody on here is pro motorcraft, and most people that are passionate about their vehicles usually prefer OEM but I believe good parts can be found if you look around enough.



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Sounds like a very good idea! Do you happen to know the sellers name on eBay by any chance??

 

[northernexp]

Sounds like a very good idea! Do you happen to know the sellers name on eBay by any chance??

http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav=item.view&id=252179031565&alt=web

There you go my friend

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[Bubba13]

Update

Alright so here's the update... DEFINITELY had a vacuum leak... Found a FEW cracked hoses, bad couplings and replaced the pcv valve and gromet while I was at it. They were really loose and cheap so I figured why not. After all that my check engine light came back on, shaking persisted so I got it on a reader and found that cyl 8 was misfiring. Changed out the spark plug and all better now. I'm going to do the rest; coil packs look ok and I'm short on money so I'll leave those alone. One more question if anyone wants to weigh in: I bought motorcraft plugs, as that's what I was told was used in my vehicle and in fords commonly; but a "car-guy" friend suggested Bosch Platinum +2 plugs. I've found both for around the same cost... Any suggestions/pros/cons either way?? Thanks for all the help so far, you guys have gotten me a long ways