What to look for 2014

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Hoffer1066

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My wife and I are looking into buying a 2014 expedition El. It is nice, clean, leather, and fills the boxes we are needing to fill. It has the 5.4 triton in it, and is 4x4. What are some things or problems to look for? What transmission is in it? Are there common problems associated to that year? I've heard about timing chains, let's discuss those, and what can you tell me? How do the plastic interior pieces hold up? Are there plenty of aftermarket parts available for the wear items? Do these engines have the plagued stuck spark plug problems?
 

Fastcar

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I had a 2014 KR 4x4 and really liked it. But I couldn't keep rear rotors on it. One round trip to Boston from FL and the rotors were scored badly. That is all highway driving. The dealer changed out everything to no avail. Other than that it was a great truck
 

mr_dave

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I'm slightly biased because my very low mileage 5.4L has already given me quite a bit of grief after less than a year of ownership, however other than that it's the perfect vehicle for my needs.

The transmission is a heavy duty 6r80 6-speed that's fairly rock solid, only concern there is a possible recall. Spark plugs are not an issue for the later model 5.4's. The main thing you want to watch out for is a ticking noise at idle and rattling noise on a cold start, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkkCzUVme_Y

My opinion is that the roller follower issue described in the video is just a symptom and that the actual problem is the poorly designed timing chain tensioners. The factory tensioners have a tiny gasket that fails and bleeds out oil, and therefore lowers the oil pressure in the heads, especially on the passenger side where all the failures occur. When I had the roller followers replaced I also had them replace the tensioners with the updated versions so it hopefully won't happen again.
 
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Hoffer1066

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I'm slightly biased because my very low mileage 5.4L has already given me quite a bit of grief after less than a year of ownership, however other than that it's the perfect vehicle for my needs.

The transmission is a heavy duty 6r80 6-speed that's fairly rock solid, only concern there is a possible recall. Spark plugs are not an issue for the later model 5.4's. The main thing you want to watch out for is a ticking noise at idle and rattling noise on a cold start, check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkkCzUVme_Y

My opinion is that the roller follower issue described in the video is just a symptom and that the actual problem is the poorly designed timing chain tensioners. The factory tensioners have a tiny gasket that fails and bleeds out oil, and therefore lowers the oil pressure in the heads, especially on the passenger side where all the failures occur. When I had the roller followers replaced I also had them replace the tensioners with the updated versions so it hopefully won't happen again.
Thank you guys for your replies. I'm confident I can do all the work needed to a vehicle as I do all of our repairs on our farm from rebuilding engines, trans, etc, to diagnosis on electrical problems. I just don't want to..... Lol we have a 2010 Tahoe that has been good to us, it has 300k miles on it. We just want to get a new larger vehicle for the kids and related items. Good to know that the 2010 up are the "better" of the bad engines. Hard to justify the 2015 up vehicles because they have the same mileage for $4-6k more.
 

Jamo

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I have a 2014 EL LTD that I bought used with 80K on it. I too went from a Tahoe ('04) to the EL. Mine is not a kid hauler so may not get beat up that way, but I did buy it for my construction business. I'm semi retired but still need to haul plywood for my cabinetmaking and other shop stuff.
I bought the Ford mid plan (4 year/36K) extended warranty for $1800 due to all the electronics that I'm not used to. Lots of info for and/or against in other threads here. I still have one year left and have used over $1200 in misc repairs (rear A/C lines, window motors, etc). I'm still very happy with EL and don't regret the warranty purchase for my peace of mind. If this one was stolen or blew up, I'd get another just like it...maybe even stick with the 5.4. BTW, I'm just below 100K now, and do the 5K oil changes. All is good...
 

Trainmaster

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Hoffer, check the rocker panels under the door for bad rust. That's a real problem with these though it doesn't affect anything but the appearance. Otherwise, they are sound trucks, easy to maintain, that should give you more than 200,000 miles with few problems. Your family will love it.

If any of the engine internals start to worry you, and you're at the point in life were 15 hours of engine work isn't fun, Ford sells a $1,300 power train warranty anytime before 100,000 miles that gives you four years and 40,000 more miles.

No spark plug problems on these years. Interior parts are all over ebay and the junk yards as these had a ten year run. You can search the site for timing chain and phaser problems; they are out there but certainly affect the minority of owners. Good oil helps, as always.
 
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Hoffer1066

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Thanks for the help again. I am looking forward to getting an expedition, and hope to have decent luck with them. All things considered, how decent is the milage?
 

Jamo

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Mileage blows, but I didn't buy mine for the mileage. Perfect for my needs...
 
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Hoffer1066

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I found another one with 90k miles. Are you better to buy one with lower miles, or higher in hopes that it has work done to it?
 
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