Can you hear your fuel pump prime?

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Randy_270

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Not my video, but my Expedition just started making this noise. I have no doubt it’s the fuel pump priming and getting the truck ready to start, but why did my Expedition just start making the noise this year? I found a thread on the F150 forum, most people just try and argue that all Ford trucks make that noise, you just don’t notice it. I’m a person who notices every bump, squeak, creak, and rattle from my vehicles and I would put money on the fact that I’ve never heard that noise until this year. It doesn’t make the noise every time I open the door, I have to wait approximately 3 minutes in between each door opening for the sound to come back.

Does anyone else’s expedition make this noise when you open the drivers door?
 

Squark

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Mine makes a similar noise. It's done it as long as I can remember.
 

FlyBry

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I just went and checked, I cant hear anything for 3+ minutes after the running board stows away. Hard to tell if I can hear it when I press the start button. When it stop raining, I'll have wifey jump in so I can get my head near the fule pump to listen.
 
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Randy_270

Randy_270

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My work F150 has only made the noise once that I’ve heard. I don’t drive it often but I’ve been paying attention after my Expedition start making the noise.
 

aggiegrad05

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Mine has made that noise from Day 1, although only after the vehicle sits for a while. It’s totally normal.
 

Fozzy

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Mine sits a lot and I have never heard that. My wife’s Aviator you can hear the fuel pump prime and the lights make a smiley face as you walk up to it with the key in your pocket.


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aggiegrad05

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Ok I actually watched the video. Mine doesn’t make THAT noise. When it sits for a while, as soon as I open the driver’s door it primes the fuel pump but it just sounds like something cycling. For the longest time I thought it was actually the running board. But it’s softer than the noise in the video and doesn’t persist quite as long.
 

sjwhiteley

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Yup. It’s the fuel pump. The video makes it sound a lot louder than it actually is.
 

aggiegrad05

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Just to restate (and I KNOW half the forum is going to lose its mind when I say this), so get ready:

they all do it, whether you have noticed it or not, and it's normal.

It was new for 2018 and is on the F150s as well. It is a feature built in to allow quicker startup when you hit the push-to-start button. Before 2018, Ford set the pump to prime when you inserted the key so it was ready when you turn the key. Folks were normally inside the vehicle with the door shut when they insert their key so they never heard it (I could actually hear it on my 2012 F150, although it was more of a solenoid noise, but I digress).

Because there is no key in these, Ford has programmed it to prime the pump when the driver's door opens. (Fun fact, if you leave the vehicle off with the driver's door open for a while (like 1 hour+), the pump will actually prime when you close the door too.)

If it bothers you for some reason, you can disable it through forscan (this is from the F150 forscan sheet, so it may not work on ours):

726-41-01 xxxx x*xx xxxx Fuel Prime on Door Ajar Cfg: 0=no prime, 1=prime

So...yes, they all do it...and yes it is supposed to do it...and no nothing is wrong with it.

If you don't hear it, you're either in a loud area when you open the door, or you think it's the sound from the running board, or you're just not listening hard enough. But I promise your Expi does it. (And probably your Navi too, but maybe the raptor motor has different programming.)

And now, for everyone who is going to yell at me and tell me that theirs doesn't and I'm wrong....GO!!
 

DWs-TTEB

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Just opened my driver’s door and yes I hear it, it’s quite but there.
 

Fozzy

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Mine doesn’t sound like that!


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PHD20

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Mine has always done it (the whole month and a half I've had it) and I really appreciate knowing what it is now. Great explanation AggieGrad. Thanks!
 
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Randy_270

Randy_270

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Checked my work truck the other day and sure enough, I heard the pump prime... Now that my power running boards have been replaced and work, that’s all I hear. So maybe the power running board sound is loud enough to drown out the pump sound and that’s why I’ve never heard the pump before?
 

aggiegrad05

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It’s also usually priming at the same time the mirrors are unfolding, so the mirror motor also drowns it out a bit (if you have them set to fold/unfold on lock/unlock).
 

KSC 2019 XLT

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My 2019 XLT makes that sound whenever I open the door. Maybe the folks with the retractable running boards don't hear it because the running boards muzzles the sound.
 
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