Making my new to me Expo perfect

[JohnSKepler]

I've been driving Expeditions since 2000. Owned a '98XLT and an '04Eddie Bauer, both 2WD. Had great experiences with both. Loved 'em! We're moving to Northern Utah so I was wanting to pick up a 4x4. Found a 2014 Limited 4x4 with 95K for a good price. It is a one owner and had every service record back to new. Oil changes every 5K miles. All the regular service intervals. Everything. Owned by an elderly gentleman and his wife who drove it around visiting their grandkids, apparently. It's loaded and looks and drives like a new truck. I'm super pleased. I hope it is as reliable as my other ones. But, there's a few little things that need some help.

1) The intermittent wipers don't work. They work fine in normal mode, but when in intermittent they wipe once and that's it.

2) There's a tap right above my head. Sounds like something slightly sticky in the roof is barely touching sheet metal and it sticking and pulling away with the vibration. Not like it has adhesive, but like a piece of soft plastic touching and pulling away. It's annoying and right over my head. If I just barely push on the head liner aft of the sun roof or the trim around the sun roof it goes away. Thought about pulling the trim strip off at the back door and seeing if I could get a bead on what's doing it.

3) There's a weird, intermittent whine coming from the engine compartment. It only happens when it gets started from cold and it's cold outside. It is soft and low almost like a dog whine and cycles on for about two seconds then off then on then off... Stops when the engine warms up. Air (smog) pump or related valve? Serpentine belt? Fan clutch (does it have one?)? Definitely some kind of accessory cycling and making noise when cold. I can only hear it when idling. Start moving and it goes away. Not sure if that's because it's warming up or because it's moving.

Any ideas?

Oh, my '04 is for sale if anyone is interested. White Eddie Bauer in great condition. Still drives like a new one.

 

[bobmbx]

About the sound in the headliner. It could very well be a loose cable run up there (they do put wires in the overhead). They use tape to hold the wires in place. I'm thinking you could have a piece of tape that has let go and the wire is "scratching" the headliner enough to notice. I noticed that when I had to replace a lighted sun visor on a Mountaineer. Took off the trim piece for the A-pillar and the top of the door opening to get access, and found a bunch of wires. I suspect most are associated with the airbags up there.

 

[jeff kushner]

Congrats on the Hat trick with the Expys! I'm not really familiar with that year so I'll let the guys who are, help.

jeff

 

[mjp2]

I have that exact headliner noise in my 2010. Drove me nuts for the longest time but I now just block it out. If I pay attention I notice it. Yes it's annoying and I never dug into the cause. I found that wedging a pen into the trim around the sunroof will stop it for a few hours but it then comes back. Removing the pen then stops it for another few hours.

As for the intermittent wipers, does the truck have the rain-sensitive wipers? If so, what's normally the control for intermittent timing is a sensitivity dial and won't work the way you expect. Personally, I wanted control over the wipers, and disconnecting the sensor makes the whole system work in a familiar, intermittent-controller way. It was a simple matter of popping the black plastic cover off of the sensor near the base of the rear view mirror, unplugging the wire running to it, and popping the cover back on.

 

[2010ELExpy4x4]

Does it have the sunglasses holder and is there sunglasses in it? Ours was making a clicking noise and I swore it was right over my (drivers side) head, turned out my wife had put her sunglasses up there, took them out clicking noise was gone.

 

[IMaCyclepath]

Good luck with your ‘new to you’ Expy! I actually just picked up an ‘08 Limited EL this summer with under 100k on the clock. Looked around for almost 6 months to find one in perfect condition. I love this thing. Anyway. I’m pretty sure that sound you hear from the engine bay is the air suspension compressor. I was wondering about the same thing when I first got mine. If you’re not getting a air suspension code then it should be normal. If it’s really loud then perhaps something is up with it. But if it’s minor then replacing the mounting bushings should make it all but go away. Mines not that bad so I decided to live with now that I figured out what it is. That’s my 2 cents but I’m no expert.

 

[John Christopher]

I have that exact headliner noise in my 2010. Drove me nuts for the longest time but I now just block it out. If I pay attention I notice it. Yes it's annoying and I never dug into the cause. I found that wedging a pen into the trim around the sunroof will stop it for a few hours but it then comes back. Removing the pen then stops it for another few hours.

As for the intermittent wipers, does the truck have the rain-sensitive wipers? If so, what's normally the control for intermittent timing is a sensitivity dial and won't work the way you expect. Personally, I wanted control over the wipers, and disconnecting the sensor makes the whole system work in a familiar, intermittent-controller way. It was a simple matter of popping the black plastic cover off of the sensor near the base of the rear view mirror, unplugging the wire running to it, and popping the cover back on.

Would unplugging the wire stop the mirror from dimming headlights from the vehicles behind you. I'm not a fan of the rain sensing wipers either. Thanks

 

[mjp2]

Would unplugging the wire stop the mirror from dimming headlights from the vehicles behind you. I'm not a fan of the rain sensing wipers either. Thanks

I haven't looked into the rearview mirror wiring but it would likely work that way. My only concern would be that you might lose the backup camera display as that wiring is likely bundled into the same connector.

 

[JohnSKepler]

So, I unplugged the rain sensor and the wipers started working as they should. As far as I can tell, the automatic mirror is still working fine as is the backup camera. Not sure what those rain sensing wipers are supposed to do.

I'm pretty sure the whine is a bearing on its way out. Could be the idler pulley, alternator, AC compressor, PWR steering pump, etc. I bought an extended warranty when I bought the car so I'll take it into Ford and say "Fix it."

As far as the tapping in the headliner, it isn't the sunglasses holder. I'll dig into it when the weather improves a little. Rain, rain, rain. Gloomy skies and mud. That's N.Alabama in the wintertime.