Cupholder fell through console! Weird!!!

[Meeker]

Reposting here from the other thread - in regards to removing the connector on the gear shift selector.

"OK, I found a video that will help you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQDQBVJOdwc

It's a similar connector - I don't have access to my Expy at the moment, but it should be a similar mechanism. I remember it was a lighter gray lever that you had to rotate to release the connector."

 

[rob4092xx]

Excellent video! Thanks so much for sharing!!!

 

[FlyBry]

Should this failure continue, should this thread be a sticky?

 

[wakeboarder]

Just fixed mine as well. I never ended up unplugging the shift selector and 2wd-4wd selector. I just unscrewed the 6 torx-head screws to pull the cup holder out similar to MondayTX (thanks for the tip).

We drilled new holes over the existing plastic welds and bolted the the flanges together with a little thread-glue to help it hold. The solution is better than the original design and will last forever. Thanks to my father in law for the idea

Do you know what size of bolts you used?

 

[kylenobbe]

Not sure at the moment. Quite small, though! Went to the local hardware store and hand picked them by eyeballing it. Had to use a jewelers screwdriver to fasten them, so must have been fairly small!

 

[whiteannblack]

Fixed mine a week ago I was too nervous to unplug the gear shifter but with a extra hand to hold and a little cursing me and my husband were able to fix it. Drilled a few small holes in the plastic and secured it together with fishing wire aswell as adding a second large string rubber band now it won’t fall again. I fixed it myself twice and without the extra reinforcement it just fell again and again.

 

[5280tunage]

What a completely stupid design. A rubber band? Crap, ever noticed how quickly rubber bands fall apart after they freeze and thaw a few times? I bet that never happens in cars?

But seriously, there are so many other ways to design tabs that are normally outward, and spring bag. Oh yeah, springs? Makes me wonder what kind of nuts are designing some of these now days.

 

[Meeker]

What a completely stupid design. A rubber band? Crap, ever noticed how quickly rubber bands fall apart after they freeze and thaw a few times? I bet that never happens in cars?

But seriously, there are so many other ways to design tabs that are normally outward, and spring bag. Oh yeah, springs? Makes me wonder what kind of nuts are designing some of these now days.

To be fair, the "rubber" band (it's more like some kind of silicon if you ask me) doesn't appear to be the issue. It's main purpose is to spring the cup holder tabs to accomodate different size cups.
The issue is a) instead of a single molded piece, they appear to have bowed down to the marketing "need" to have funky lighting in the bottom of the cupholders, and then designed it in multiple pieces to allow that, and/or b) really crappy fastening of the bottom to the rest of the cupholder.

 

[aggiegrad05]

Does anyone have any idea if this is limited to the XLT? It seems from the pics folks have posted here that the design of the cup holders on the higher trims (definitely the Platinum) is different. I put a big yeti cup in and out of my cupholder multiple times a day and I wonder if I need to be worried.

 

[wakeboarder]

I used @kylenobbe’s solution as I figured gluing may break again in the future.
Supplies
1. 9x M4x16 truss head machine screws
2. 9x M4 nylon locking nut
3. Punch that is about 4mm in diameter
4. Drill bit that is just over 4mm in diameter
5. Super glue

First I disconnected the battery. The image below shows how to disconnect the gear shift connector.

After removing the cupholder, I superglued the light ring back together. The next step was to knock out all 9 of the plastic welds with a hammer and punch. Line the pieces back up and drill a hole in each of the plastic weld locations. Ensure the key fob reader is toward the front and install all 9 machine screws.

 

[Scottorama]

Add me to the cup holder falling apart club. Did the fix as described in this thread using the machine bolts and nylon locking nuts this weekend, and i now have better than factory strength. Whoever at ford that came up with that design should be fired

 

[cscronce]

Problem Houston…. Fixed mine 2 times with zip ties….. this is #3 and I ordered new from Tasca…. Problem now is when I reconnected they select her switch on the gear shifter my car won’t crank and there is a flashing red light on the park area of the selector knob

 

[5280tunage]

Problem Houston…. Fixed mine 2 times with zip ties….. this is #3 and I ordered new from Tasca…. Problem now is when I reconnected they select her switch on the gear shifter my car won’t crank and there is a flashing red light on the park area of the selector knob

Doesn't seem right. All you did was replace the cupholder assembly? Any chance you forgot to reconnect something, or maybe something came loose when you were putting it all back together? I know, dumb questions. How about disconnecting the battery for 10+ minutes and letting everything reset and discharge?

 

[Gorp2007]

Been having this issue for a few months, fixed it once but it happened again (twice). Looks like it's time to go buy some M14 bolts!

 

[John Fendley]

I understand there is a video for the cup holder issue, but I can’t find it. Could someone please direct me to it. I do appreciate the time you you to do this. Thank-you in advance.

 

[5280tunage]

Welp. I knew it was only a matter of time and if be faced with this. It took three years but mine finally cratered under the weight of my wife's giant water mug. Luckily I noticed pretty quickly and remembered this thread with all the useful help. Funny thing is that my wife has been using this mug and others like it in her RDX for over 5 yrs, with double the mileage and nothing has ever fallen apart.

I took as much of the advice in this thread as I could find and tried to marry it all up. And I will admit, I talked trash early on in this thread about the rubber band, and while I admit the it's actually a pretty sturdy band, is still a crappy design.

So I managed to get everything apart (without breaking something else), and fixed in about 3hrs, including dry time for the plastic weld. Not a hard job but pretty annoying when you see how overly complex and yet how brittle and terrible this design is. Given that Ford won't warranty this crap, it's almost like it was made to fail for a super easy and expensive replacement many owners of these would elect to do vs. repair.

To do the repair, I ran to my local ACE and grabbed a bunch of 6/32nds screws, nylon locknuts, and some washers. I ended up not using the washers as there isn't really enough room on the plastic flanges for them. I found that using a super small drill bit on the plastic weld first, then following up with a larger diameter drill bit for the screws was best. The final screws I ended up using were 6/32 x 1/2”. I applied a nice bead of plastic weld right before screwing it all back together. And that's where my first mistake was made, I forgot to put the clear led strip back in first. Thank goodness the plastic weld hadnt set yet and I was able to pull it apart to get that back in. Also. To make reassembly easier, I used a marker and scribed front on each major piece.

2hrs of dry time and it was ready to go back in. Another annoying part is the wire harnesses. A bunch of different ones that all release differently. Why not either make them a standard mechanism or create a single harness regardless of trim level, to make everything easier. Anyway, thank you to everyone for posting your experiences.

 

[lurch]

While taking mine apart, I lost one of the clips that holds the LED to the bottom of the cup holder. It dropped when I popped it off and went under the storage compartment. I am not getting it without pulling a lot of bolts. I have it zip tied for now but I would like to get the right part back in place. I don't see the individual clip for sale, just the entire cup holder assembly. Is there anywhere to get just this one clip?

Ford Expedition Console Cup Holder (Front). FULL CONSOLE - LL1Z7813562BA | OEM Ford Parts Cheap, Bensenville IL

Console Cup Holder (Front). FULL CONSOLE, CONSOLE & COMPONENTS, 2018-21, w/light pkg. Ford Expedition. Genuine Ford Part - LL1Z7813562BA (JL1Z7813562BC, LL1Z-7813562-BA). Ships from OEM Ford Parts Cheap, Bensenville IL

www.oemfordpartscheap.com

 

[m3olsen]

Is there anywhere to get just this one clip?

View attachment 77908

@lurch , apologize if you've already investigated, but any chance there is a Ford part number molded into it anywhere? They require that as much as possible so suppliers can't also sell components directly to aftermarket.

 

[5280tunage]

While taking mine apart, I lost one of the clips that holds the LED to the bottom of the cup holder. It dropped when I popped it off and went under the storage compartment. I am not getting it without pulling a lot of bolts. I have it zip tied for now but I would like to get the right part back in place. I don't see the individual clip for sale, just the entire cup holder assembly. Is there anywhere to get just this one clip?

View attachment 77908

Ford Expedition Console Cup Holder (Front). FULL CONSOLE - LL1Z7813562BA | OEM Ford Parts Cheap, Bensenville IL

Console Cup Holder (Front). FULL CONSOLE, CONSOLE & COMPONENTS, 2018-21, w/light pkg. Ford Expedition. Genuine Ford Part - LL1Z7813562BA (JL1Z7813562BC, LL1Z-7813562-BA). Ships from OEM Ford Parts Cheap, Bensenville IL

www.oemfordpartscheap.com

Is the one you're holding an example of what dropped, or is this what the dropped piece clipped to? Maybe someone could 3d print something? or short of buying and finding a used part, like this or something (still cheaper than a whole new cup holder assembly) but I'm not sure if this uses the same connectors or not. https://www.ebay.com/itm/253941263280?hash=item3b20142bb0:g:P-sAAOSw22lbyhxK

 

[willdoskey]

I was reading through all is and thought what if somebody (not me ) could somehow 3D print an improved one? Just a thought....