2013 Expedition with 130,000 miles engine locked up

[Amanda E Goins]

While returning from vacation (850 mile one way road trip) my expedition stalled at a red light about 3 miles from home. No issues while driving, no warning lights came on, oil pressure was good as well as the temperature gauge. When I pushed on the gas it sputtered and engine shut off completely. The lights, radio, and air were all still working. While trying to restart all I received was a clicking noise (similar to when a starter goes) and it never started again. This is a vehicle that gets oil changes, fluid changes, filter changes, etc as scheduled in the owner's manual by the local Ford dealer. We tested the battery, alternator, & starter (all good). Changed both Cam shaft sensors just in case, looked for any frayed wires, checked fuses and relays (all good) and the only thing that happens is the clicking noise when trying to start it.
We had it towed to the Ford dealer that services the vehicle and they are telling us the engine is locked up. I am having a hard time believing because there have been absolutely no warning lights, no rough starts, no other issues at all to indicate an engine going out. I have tried to research if there have been any issues with the 5.4L 3V Engine and could find nothing until the mileage was close or over 200,000. Has anyone heard of or had the same issue? I am wondering if the dealer is not being truthful with me, if the tech couldn't figure it out and it is actually something else wrong. I do not want to replace with the same engine ($4800 + labor) if it is only going to last 130,000 miles. I have always owned Fords and have never had one that the engine didn't make it to at least 300,000 miles. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[JExpedition07]

Grab an 18 mm socket and turn the engine over yourself via the crank pulley.....it will get hard on compression and then leave it for a second and it should spin again. See if it spins. Sounds like they are bullshitters. Most dealers are.

 

[Trainmaster]

Amanda, I feel your pain. Was it making any bad ticking noises for the past weeks? One of the few things that locks up these engines is a cam follower seizing and falling out of place. They usually have a metallic ticking for a few months or weeks before they drop a valve into a cylinder. When the do, all hell breaks loose and you would have heard something very wrong.

I'm with Mr. JExpedition above. I think the dealer's looking for work.

 

[07navi]

Just because it "locked up" doesn't mean it's anything major, a jammed starter gear will lock it up. Tear into it a bit.

 

[Timm1687]

Similar incident happened to me on my '03 at around 290k. The rear hose for the washer fluid cracked and leaked on my fuse box frying it. Fast clicking with no start.
Regarding your issue, I'd take it to a trusted independent mechanic. The dealer previously tried telling me I needed a new radiator when all I needed was a $20 thermostat.

 

[Amanda E Goins]

Thank you, We are having it towed home now to check a few more things out before we fork over money for a new engine. I never dreamed it would be the engine locking up so we didn't even try to turn it before sending to the dealer. We thought it had to be some electric issue that they would be able to diagnose with a computer. Trying to turn the engine our-self will be one of the first things we try.

There weren't any noises prior to it stalling and definitely no hell breaking loose, that is why we are having a hard time believing it is the engine.

I really appreciate the help! I will update when we test out a few more things.

 

[07navi]

Thank you, We are having it towed home now to check a few more things out before we fork over money for a new engine. I never dreamed it would be the engine locking up so we didn't even try to turn it before sending to the dealer. We thought it had to be some electric issue that they would be able to diagnose with a computer. Trying to turn the engine our-self will be one of the first things we try.

There weren't any noises prior to it stalling and definitely no hell breaking loose, that is why we are having a hard time believing it is the engine.

I really appreciate the help! I will update when we test out a few more things.

Could be something simple or not even locked up.

 

[Plati]

In my younger days ... something like that (or exactly that) was determined to be no oil.
What does the dipstick say, plenty of oil?

 

[Boostedbus]

In my younger days ... something like that (or exactly that) was determined to be no oil.
What does the dipstick say, plenty of oil?

Yes also check for metallic sparkles in the oil on the dipstick and or coolant if it’s somehow liquid locked.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

+1 on checking the oil dipstick and taking it to an independent shop. Most dealership techs will just follow the flow chart and throw parts at the problem. There have been more than a few posts here about trucks that the dealer condemned (blown trans, engine, etc.) that were fully repaired for a couple hundred bucks by a competent mechanic.

 

[MasterX]

That sounds 10 kinds of fishy to me as well, I had a ford dealer tell me that my 2007 mustang gt needed the following after it went into limp mode out of the blue after driving some mountains.
ECM
Throttle Body
2 Cam Sensors
Crank Sensor
Partial Harness
Several Pigtails
new throttle pedal
and a bunch of odds and ends

They wanted like 5+ grand and when i told them i was only passing through and was several hundred miles from home the guy smiled and said there was a hotel across the street, and that parts wouldn't arrive for 2 days.

BTW, so people can avoid them:
Galpin Ford
920 AZ-69, Dewey, AZ 86327

I outsmarted these jackoffs though and circumvented limp mode myself, I street raced that car and had all kinds of dyno tuning, etc, so i had my SCT Handheld tuner and i always make the tuner leave the tune file unlocked so i can edit all the editable parameters on the actual handheld such as shifting pressures, idles, rev limiters, and other shit.

So i whipped out the SCT X3 and knowing that in limp mode you get stuck at idle and the gas pedal is disabled, i cranked the idle speed to the ceiling and produced an idle of about 1700 RPM, its a manual 5 speed so that helped a ton too, so i idled it home in 5th gear at about 1700 RPM, i would ease the clutch and get moving in first, then jump to second, third, etc, all the way to 5th just letting the idle do the accelerating for me, and using gear switches to control my speed, i did about 350 miles of highway like that and hopefully never have to again.

Earnhardt Ford in chandler found that a melted wire shorted to a hot wire and fried the throttle body motor, they fixed it all up, no gas pedals, harnesses, or sensors, and the bill was no where near what Galpin was going to gutt me for.

 

[scotthere]

I agree with 07navi. I would pull the starter and test it on the ground or most parts store will bench test it for you.

Dishonest Dealerships must not be rare. I took my 06 GTO in for regular service with an airbag fault I asked them to check it. Went to pick it up and fault still in when I asked they told me it was the control module and they were no longer available. Checked online when I got home and found them available on GMparts.com. I'll never go back there. They lied to my face and I don't think they even checked it.

Sent from my SM-N975U1 using Tapatalk

 

[Goofy173]

Is there any good new car dealer service centers? My brother was a service manager at one and they are driving their guys hard to make a profit, whereas a lot of service centers in other businesses operate at a loss to support sales. Even though my brother worked there, he said his mechanic said my 82 Capri needed a new clutch, at 70k miles! I drove it to 147k miles before I sold it, still the same clutch.

My brother quit that place from the stress they put on him.

I use a Ford fast lane for oil changes only. Otherwise I use 2 private mechanics to do my work.

 

[djrainer]

Sounds almost exactly what we experienced in 2016 with our 2007 Expy-Limited. With only 153K Miles on it, we were coming home (and pulling a trailer) from Flagstaff, no warning of any kind and the engine just stopped and would not start. Luckily it would coast and we were right at an exit so got off and got to as level ground as we could. Same thing, it would click but wouldn't turn over and then it wouldn't even click. This was on an Easter Sunday. It ended up that the 2 front cylinder pistons froze (welded) together and the engine was toast. We decided to put a new Ford Engine in it with a 36 Month/Unlimited Miles Warranty from Ford (but we had our mechanic do the work). I'm sure it's not what you wanted to hear and hopefully yours won't be as bad. We couldn't afford a new vehicle (this one was paid off) and we couldn't sell it in that condition. As of today, we're still going at 240k miles on that new engine and striving for 300k miles. Good luck, we still think it's one of the best vehicles we've owned (and at 68 years old, we've owned a lot of vehicles). Don

 

[MasterX]

Im still on the factory motor, alternator, power steering pump, and probably a few other bits at 214,000

I just had to have the A/C gone over, compressor seized and confetti'd the system, its all good now tho.

I bought it with a blown OD in the trans for 2500, so that cost me 1300 installed(i know a guy), other than a battery, ball joint, coolant flush, its solid, the transfer case is even still solid.

 

[Amanda E Goins]

Unfortunately the dealer tech was correct. We could not get the engine to turn either even after removing a spark plug to relieve any possible compression. We then drained the oil and a lot of metal was in it. The oil was still very clean as it was just changed about a month ago. Our best guess is that the timing chain(s) broke which is why we didn't receive any warning lights or heard any loud noises prior to the engine stalling. Now we need to decide do we want to try and tear this engine down and repair it (assuming it's the timing chains that broke) hoping nothing else failed as well or bite the bullet and buy a new motor.

I agree with djrainer that even with this issue the Expedition is a great vehicle. My previous 03 had about 310,000 miles on it and never had any mechanical issues with it and we were the 2nd owners. We sold it to a friend when we bought this one in 2013, he rebuilt the engine and his family is still driving it today. My brother keeps telling me to buy a new one and sell him this one cheap so he can put an engine in it and his family can drive it for a long time. LOL

Thanks again for all the advice, this is a great forum I wish I had known about before now.

 

[07navi]

Unfortunately the dealer tech was correct. We could not get the engine to turn either even after removing a spark plug to relieve any possible compression. We then drained the oil and a lot of metal was in it. The oil was still very clean as it was just changed about a month ago. Our best guess is that the timing chain(s) broke which is why we didn't receive any warning lights or heard any loud noises prior to the engine stalling. Now we need to decide do we want to try and tear this engine down and repair it (assuming it's the timing chains that broke) hoping nothing else failed as well or bite the bullet and buy a new motor.

I agree with djrainer that even with this issue the Expedition is a great vehicle. My previous 03 had about 310,000 miles on it and never had any mechanical issues with it and we were the 2nd owners. We sold it to a friend when we bought this one in 2013, he rebuilt the engine and his family is still driving it today. My brother keeps telling me to buy a new one and sell him this one cheap so he can put an engine in it and his family can drive it for a long time. LOL

Thanks again for all the advice, this is a great forum I wish I had known about before now.

I doubt if the timing chain broke, that is very rare.

 

[Amanda E Goins]

I doubt if the timing chain broke, that is very rare.

We agree, that is why we are debating on tearing this one down to try and figure out what happened. Just not sure if the knowing what happened is worth the cost.

 

[07navi]

We agree, that is why we are debating on tearing this one down to try and figure out what happened. Just not sure if the knowing what happened is worth the cost.

There goes my theory...........

 

[rjdelp7]

My work place had a work truck just die. It was towed to a shop. It would just click, when started. A loose battery cable is all it was. A seized AC compressor will stall the engine. Shut the AC and try to start. Engines don't lock up unless water gets into engine. It's called hydro locked. A engine will seize after running hot with no coolant or oil, or bad oil pump. However, You would have a warning. A broken connecting rod will make noise and happen at higher RPM. I never heard of a broken timing chain on these motors. If it did have a loose chain you hear it. A spun bearing would make some sound.