2018 Expedition platinum Max A/C problem

[NyackRob79]

Bumping this thread. 2018 Expedition Platinum MAX. Took delivery in March 2018. A/C worked for a full year before fully giving out three days ago. Ford Service (as expected) has no loaner vehicle. I guess my wife and our 4 kids will just rent and pay out of pocket. Day #3 now. They "think" it's the "rear" A/C kit. Needless to say, not only am I getting lukewarm air out of all vents, the fan speed on the front dash vents is very low even at its maximum setting. Either the evaporator coil is frozen over, or there is a refrigerant leak (or possibly a combination of both).

Service Bulletin:

SSM 47299 – 2018 Expedition/Navigator – Lack Of A/C Cooling – No Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) – Built On 2-Jan-2018 And Through 6-Feb-2018



Some 2018 Expedition/Navigator vehicles built on 2-Jan-2018 and through 6-Feb-2018 may exhibit a lack of A/C cooling with no associated DTCs. Do not install an A/C machine or A/C pressure gauges for any reason.



These vehicles may contain an R1234YF refrigerant that is contaminated and may damage a standard R1234YF recovery machine if installed.

Do not attempt any repairs associated with A/C recovery on these vehicles.

Engineering is investigating, contact the technical assistance center for any questions and monitor OASIS for updates.

 

[AAOO]

Mine was $86K after tax and is hard loaded. 9/2018 build date.

I've noticed my ac get humid every now and then but I think it's just the compressor cycling. Normal? Not really sure. Here were/are my other issues to date. My driver side doors were not aligned (notice this on over 50% of the Expeditions I see on the road around here, possibly a drunk robot at the KY factory). Also, the rear hatch hit the bumper when closing, causing the paint to come off and etching of the metal on the hatch. There are a handful of other issues I'm still dealing with. Rattleing front passenger window glass, no audio from one FES screens in the back, loose oh shit bars, clunky shifting 3-4-3, condensation in rear taillights. I fixed several Sync 3 problems (waze, auto dimming, and crashing) by updating the Sync system to the latest build myself because the dealer couldn't get the most recent build. That's for you Gramps!

QC is shit these days everywhere.

 

[NyackRob79]

Got the vehicle back today. $2k+ in repairs, all covered by warranty. They replaced one radiator, refilled the system with R1234yf refrigerant (that along was $700+). Cooling fine for now. Hope it stays that way.

 

[cmiles97]

Things can go wrong. As long Ford puts it right without inconveniencing us, I'll forgive them. Now if this pops up again at 75,000 miles and they say out of warranty and make you pay for the repair...different story.

 

[ATXMom2]

I have a 2018 Expedition that is at the dealership for AC issues. This is the second time they are trying to figure it out. The AC blows nice and cold some days, other days it takes 10-15 minutes to turn on and sometimes it won’t turn on at all.

Today they finally got it to fail for them and now are saying they have to replace the entire system. I am worried that this new car will never be the same.

 

[hosseface]

I have a 2018 Expedition that is at the dealership for AC issues. This is the second time they are trying to figure it out. The AC blows nice and cold some days, other days it takes 10-15 minutes to turn on and sometimes it won’t turn on at all.

Today they finally got it to fail for them and now are saying they have to replace the entire system. I am worried that this new car will never be the same.

Mine was in for major trans problems. Over 3 weeks. I've had zero issues and the original problem is fixed.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

I feel for those of you with "issues." Yesterday it got to 115˚ here in Phoenix and the AC worked great. no problem cooling the Max cabin either.

 

[aggiegrad05]

I feel for those of you with "issues." Yesterday it got to 115˚ here in Phoenix and the AC worked great. no problem cooling the Max cabin either.

I, too, have been very impressed with the system's ability to cool off the entire cabin of my Max. Rear passengers, even those in the third row, have commented as well.

And I'm in Texas so it's not as though I'm not making the system work for it.

 

[Deadman]

I'm in WI, but my AC is very cold so far....

 

[Teasip]

I bought a 2018 Ford Expedition in March 2018 brand spanking new off the dealer's lot. Manufacture date on door frame plate is 2/2018. As soon as summer started a couple of months later, I notice the AC just blew hot 120 degree air for a long time, eventually the compressor would seem to come on, and the stream would turn cold, but that was not until I roasted like hell for about 10 minutes. So when I have passengers, I act like there is no problem and then they say "they are hot please turn on the AC". Well the AC has been running at max setting just blowing about 120 degree air for the last 10 minutes or so, so on short trips of 5 miles or so, it's like I never have AC. I suspect this is an electronic problem. So next time I was at a Ford dealer I tried to explain this.

The Ford dealer said they can find no problem. What I think they did was just start the Expedition up and walk away, let it idle while they did something else somewhere else in the shop, so perhaps 30 minutes later (or longer) come back to the idling Expedition, by that time the compressor is on and everything seems fine to them (but not me). The problem still persists.

Just a few days ago, I took an evening drive and the windows started to fog up. What the hey, its summer and not raining, I set to defrost setting and the windows get even worse. This should not happen. It's also a safety issue if you can't see out the front and side windows at night while trying to drive.

 

[Edistobob]

Any chance that yours is affected by the contaminated refrigerant problem? See post #21 for the service bulletin if you haven't already seen it.

 

[Teasip]

Any chance that yours is affected by the contaminated refrigerant problem? See post #21 for the service bulletin if you haven't already seen it.

Not sure which user you might be addressing, but my Expedition is shown as manufactured 2/18 (month and year) so the Ford bulletin may apply. I am planning on printing out and circling all the people's threads with the same problem and take to dealer, including service bulletin reference.

 

[Teasip]

Here is another link

https://ford.oemdtc.com/3827/custom...mation-2018-ford-expedition-lincoln-navigator

 

[Debra Crocker]

2018 Expedition Platinum I. Shop 2nd time for a/c. 1st time no freon(?). In shop 3 days. 2nd time after 2 hr trip blower quit blowing & air not cooling with. Next day it’s working fine for 2 hrs & repeat. Take it to shop & it’s working fine. Shop says Freon (?) at 50 percent. Hole in line. Replace hose & filled up Freon again. Asked about blower & they said - it shows no code. Frustrating.

 

[NyackRob79]

I recorded a video on my phone when the vents were blowing no air even though the fan was set to max. Also got a handheld digital thermometer off amazon to indicate temperature out of vents. Once I showed this to the senior tech they kept the car and ultimately repaired the rear a/c evaporator.

 

[kendra Noel]

I ordered my 2018 on Dec 5, 2017. It came in on Feb 15 and that is when I took delivery of it.
On March 12 we turned on the A/C and it just blew warm air. I took it to my dealer that afternoon and it has been there since. They have been unable to determine why it is not working and have gone to Ford
for help. What I have been told is that the A/C installed between early Dec and late Jan (I'm not real sure of the exact timeframe) have problems and the engineers are working to find a fix for the problem.
Needless to say, we are NOT HAPPY! To purchase an $80,000 vehicle, have just 600 miles on it and find out there is apparently an A/C problem that they did not know about (really?) or have a fix for is very hard to understand or accept. This is my first time to put something on the forum, but I think it is something that anyone that has purchased or is considering purchasing would want to know about. I do not have any problem with my dealer... they have been very understanding about my concern. I do have a problem with Ford! I don't want to believe they were aware of this problem, but shipped the vehicles anyway and put
the burden on the dealer to deal with the unhappy customer while the engineers try to find a fix to the problem. Like I just said... I don't want to believe it, but...?

Don

 

[kendra Noel]

Our 2018 expedition max had an A/c issue and was told that due to the car likely getting tainted Freon they had to replace the entire air-conditioning system. We did not have a car for over a month. It was also leaking hydraulic fluid from the stress. I finally got the car back on Friday and now the check engine light is on. We also had another issue a few months back where at the oil wasn’t getting to the engine quick enough on start up and it was making a loud rattling noise. I love this car so much but I’m getting really frustrated with all the maintenance issues that we have had in such a short amount of time we shall see Monday when we take it back in for check engine light. Anyone else had excessive issues with this year expedition ?

 

[KEHO]

I bought my Expedition Max in March 2018. Reached 30k miles and my AC went out last Wed. I took it in Thursday and they said it was a problem with the tainted freon on models built between a certain period. Apparently the tainted fluid was causing the system components to disintegrate. They also said they were not sure how they were going to fix it and might have to borrow a tool from Ford. After reading this forum I am even angrier that Ford has known about this problem since basically the start (based on the first post) and hasn’t issued a recall. The dealer claimed Ford would take care of it even if it wasn’t still under warranty (which it is, which I find doubtful since no mention was made of a problem Ford has apparently known about.

Kendra Noel how did your engine oil issue turn out? I have complained about what might be the same problem twice now. If I don’t drive the car for a day or 2 it has what seems to be a rough start like fuel or something else isn’t getting to the engine and it rattles. Of course all they say is their computer isn’t giving them an error message. I have no doubt they will keep ignoring the complaint and not investigate the problem until it is out of warranty unless I can tell them what the problem is.

 

[Katie Halfen]

my 2018 expedition max is at the Ford dealer now for no air conditioning. Just hit 50,000 miles. They checked and there is no freon left in the system. Can't find any leak. I don't have the vehicle but will check the build date. I live in Wisconsin so only use the air conditioning 3 or 4 months a year. The charge is over $700 for diagnostics and replacing the freon. They added a dye to try to trace the leak. Did anyone get ford to cover their repairs?

 

[Vipersinu2]

700.00 thats ridiculous.
Go somewhere else.