jthrall76
New Member
Hello, wanted to share some troubleshooting on my 2004 Ford Expedition (174k miles, 4x4, Eddie Bauer, I am the second owner).
This truck has been absolutely amazing in terms of reliability. No issues to speak of since I bought it 8 years ago with 90k miles on it. I've taken care of brakes, did a major service at 100k miles, and change oil/etc. So, I got surprised when a few 'symptoms' started and I thought I might need to buy a new truck. My wife and I travel into some pretty remote and dangerous conditions out of cell service (for climbing, skiing, hiking, etc.) and the idea it would leave us stranded gave me some worries. Note, I had replaced the battery about 1 year ago so never suspected the battery.
So, sharing the sequence of things and resolution in case someone else finds it useful. I ultimately diagnosed the issue using this forum and a couple other blogs.
1) Symptom 1: We were driving several months ago and at the very end of the 4 hour trip, as I was taking a hard left turn up the final road to the house, the truck stalled. It started again right away.
2) Symptom 2: Several days later, again after a fairly long drive, when I came to a stop on an exit ramp, I noticed the instrument panel dimming. When I started driving again, it went away. This did not repeat.
3) Symptom 3: I wasn't planning any wilderness trips ;-), so I confirmed my AAA was up to date and drove the car. Several thousand miles later (a week ago), we were driving in heavy snow and going up a hill in first gear at about 20 mph, the call stalled twice. Basically the engine died but lights/instrument panel/blower were still on. The first time it started right away, the second time it took a while (several seconds?) to restart (turned over, but didn't start right away).
At this point I knew I needed to figure out what was wrong. Based on the symptoms the recommendations included having the battery checked (it was new), bad fuse box, frayed wires, alternator going bad, etc. I opened up the hood. I was confident the battery wasn't the issue. Also no battery light, voltage looked great at idle. I did trace the wires from the battery and identified one that had exposed copper and wrapped it with electrical tape (link, 9th comment from tonychef). Confident I had fixed the issue, my wife and I planned on a drive in the snow to ski the next day.
4) Symptom 4: A couple days later went into the garage to start up the truck. Turned ignition key and all was normal (dashboard lights, fan, radio coming on, etc.). Went to start and everything died. I did some searches and got the manual out and then checked the fuses that could kill all electric. All looked good. Next I opened the hood and disconnected the battery and reconnected it (at the terminal), and magic!, power came back on and the car started. After this, it was unreliable (started a few times, but then again all powered died, disconnected/reconnected and started up again).
At this point I wasn't sure if there was a computer problem, or electrical short, or fuse box, or what. I did some research and it suggested a loose battery terminal connection is a prime culprit if you lose all electrical (in addition to fuses or dead battery). However, I wasn't sure if this was related to Symptom 1,2,or 3. Some websites said your car can't stall because the battery cable is loose. Others said it could. I checked the terminal connection and ultimately couldn't get it tight (you could still turn it) and so the issue of starting was still hit or miss.
Fix 1) Looking online, I found that a 'temp' fix for a loose positive terminal was to wrap aluminum foil around the battery head and then tighten on top of that. Worked like a charm and i was consistently good to go (for a week until fix 2).
Fix 2) Next, I followed https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/03-06-positive-battery-terminal-repair.34150/ and replaced the OEM positive terminal myself without needing to buy the whole cable, have it in a shop for a couple days, etc.
So far, no issues at all. I am going to take the car in for another major service (fluids, etc.) at 180k. I'll ask them to test the alternator at that time because I read that if you have a loose cable, it can put undue strain on the alternator (which is original to the truck). One more thing I read in one of the articles as I was researching this problem: They suggested turning the headlights on for the car for ten minutes, then trying to start it. If the headlamps dimmed when starting, they suggested to check the battery , then the battery terminals, and then finally the cable (for corrosion).
Anyhow, hope this post helps someone in a similar situation. Thanks.
This truck has been absolutely amazing in terms of reliability. No issues to speak of since I bought it 8 years ago with 90k miles on it. I've taken care of brakes, did a major service at 100k miles, and change oil/etc. So, I got surprised when a few 'symptoms' started and I thought I might need to buy a new truck. My wife and I travel into some pretty remote and dangerous conditions out of cell service (for climbing, skiing, hiking, etc.) and the idea it would leave us stranded gave me some worries. Note, I had replaced the battery about 1 year ago so never suspected the battery.
So, sharing the sequence of things and resolution in case someone else finds it useful. I ultimately diagnosed the issue using this forum and a couple other blogs.
1) Symptom 1: We were driving several months ago and at the very end of the 4 hour trip, as I was taking a hard left turn up the final road to the house, the truck stalled. It started again right away.
2) Symptom 2: Several days later, again after a fairly long drive, when I came to a stop on an exit ramp, I noticed the instrument panel dimming. When I started driving again, it went away. This did not repeat.
3) Symptom 3: I wasn't planning any wilderness trips ;-), so I confirmed my AAA was up to date and drove the car. Several thousand miles later (a week ago), we were driving in heavy snow and going up a hill in first gear at about 20 mph, the call stalled twice. Basically the engine died but lights/instrument panel/blower were still on. The first time it started right away, the second time it took a while (several seconds?) to restart (turned over, but didn't start right away).
At this point I knew I needed to figure out what was wrong. Based on the symptoms the recommendations included having the battery checked (it was new), bad fuse box, frayed wires, alternator going bad, etc. I opened up the hood. I was confident the battery wasn't the issue. Also no battery light, voltage looked great at idle. I did trace the wires from the battery and identified one that had exposed copper and wrapped it with electrical tape (link, 9th comment from tonychef). Confident I had fixed the issue, my wife and I planned on a drive in the snow to ski the next day.
4) Symptom 4: A couple days later went into the garage to start up the truck. Turned ignition key and all was normal (dashboard lights, fan, radio coming on, etc.). Went to start and everything died. I did some searches and got the manual out and then checked the fuses that could kill all electric. All looked good. Next I opened the hood and disconnected the battery and reconnected it (at the terminal), and magic!, power came back on and the car started. After this, it was unreliable (started a few times, but then again all powered died, disconnected/reconnected and started up again).
At this point I wasn't sure if there was a computer problem, or electrical short, or fuse box, or what. I did some research and it suggested a loose battery terminal connection is a prime culprit if you lose all electrical (in addition to fuses or dead battery). However, I wasn't sure if this was related to Symptom 1,2,or 3. Some websites said your car can't stall because the battery cable is loose. Others said it could. I checked the terminal connection and ultimately couldn't get it tight (you could still turn it) and so the issue of starting was still hit or miss.
Fix 1) Looking online, I found that a 'temp' fix for a loose positive terminal was to wrap aluminum foil around the battery head and then tighten on top of that. Worked like a charm and i was consistently good to go (for a week until fix 2).
Fix 2) Next, I followed https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/03-06-positive-battery-terminal-repair.34150/ and replaced the OEM positive terminal myself without needing to buy the whole cable, have it in a shop for a couple days, etc.
So far, no issues at all. I am going to take the car in for another major service (fluids, etc.) at 180k. I'll ask them to test the alternator at that time because I read that if you have a loose cable, it can put undue strain on the alternator (which is original to the truck). One more thing I read in one of the articles as I was researching this problem: They suggested turning the headlights on for the car for ten minutes, then trying to start it. If the headlamps dimmed when starting, they suggested to check the battery , then the battery terminals, and then finally the cable (for corrosion).
Anyhow, hope this post helps someone in a similar situation. Thanks.
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