BradH29
New Member
Hi there,
I have a 2003 Expedition with 212k km on it. It has been a beast for us, but lately it has had a frustrating problem where you'll be driving, and most often as you're coming to a stop, the engine RPM will suddenly get crazy low (like under 600), and no matter what you do, you cannot rev it up.. it just stays there, up to a minute long, and then eventually dies. If you wait about a minute after that, it'll start again and carry on for another hour or however long it chooses. If you try to restart immediately it'll just crank but not catch. I've taken it to several mechanics - they either couldn't replicate the issue or couldn't figure out what was causing it. Here's what we think we know:
The alternator was replaced after the original died on us on a road trip a couple years ago. We didn't have the stalling problem before that, but it appeared shortly after.
I think the engine may have a bad coil pack somewhere.. it is feeling like it did when that last happened - there's just a bit of stumble and shake.
I read in a forum, possibly this one, about a wire that runs atop one of the AC cooling pipes and apparently can wear and eventually short, causing the stall. I did find evidence of serious wear when I looked, but it wasn't shorting and I taped it up just to make sure.
I found what I think is a vaccuum line that seems to go to a port on the valve cover, top left of the engine. I had been having some rough idle lately, putting that hose there (only place I could see for it to go) seems to have helped that.
Battery is brand new.
If I leave the battery connected with the truck shut down, it will drain completely within 12 hours. So something is drawing on the circuit.
There is no check engine light ever - even when it stalls or is doing the weird low idle.
Many thanks if anyone has ideas on this.
I have a 2003 Expedition with 212k km on it. It has been a beast for us, but lately it has had a frustrating problem where you'll be driving, and most often as you're coming to a stop, the engine RPM will suddenly get crazy low (like under 600), and no matter what you do, you cannot rev it up.. it just stays there, up to a minute long, and then eventually dies. If you wait about a minute after that, it'll start again and carry on for another hour or however long it chooses. If you try to restart immediately it'll just crank but not catch. I've taken it to several mechanics - they either couldn't replicate the issue or couldn't figure out what was causing it. Here's what we think we know:
The alternator was replaced after the original died on us on a road trip a couple years ago. We didn't have the stalling problem before that, but it appeared shortly after.
I think the engine may have a bad coil pack somewhere.. it is feeling like it did when that last happened - there's just a bit of stumble and shake.
I read in a forum, possibly this one, about a wire that runs atop one of the AC cooling pipes and apparently can wear and eventually short, causing the stall. I did find evidence of serious wear when I looked, but it wasn't shorting and I taped it up just to make sure.
I found what I think is a vaccuum line that seems to go to a port on the valve cover, top left of the engine. I had been having some rough idle lately, putting that hose there (only place I could see for it to go) seems to have helped that.
Battery is brand new.
If I leave the battery connected with the truck shut down, it will drain completely within 12 hours. So something is drawing on the circuit.
There is no check engine light ever - even when it stalls or is doing the weird low idle.
Many thanks if anyone has ideas on this.
