Expedition stumbled badly on interstate.

[Muddy Bean]

We’ve been on an extended tour all over the US this year pulling our 23 foot camper. Truck has been running perfectly until yesterday when it basically ran terrible and finally just lost power and I could only go around 60mph under full throttle. I assumed I had a bad coil pack or spark plug, so I pulled into an auto part stores off the interstate today and bought motorcraft plugs and a single coil pack. I checked my codes and had misfire of cylinder 1, cylinder 4, and cylinder 6 and then a multiple random cylinder misfire code too. I thought that was odd. I replaced the plugs on all cylinders, and that didn’t fix the issue. I then replaced the coil pack on cylinder 4 since that was the code that was initially thrown and at one point during my testing was the only code thrown for a bit. No change. Still ran terrible, still threw same exact set of codes.

Finally I got my drill out and a 1/16th bit and poked a weep hole in the appropriate spot in my intercooler. Oily wetness came out....took it for a test run, and finally it ran right again.

For some reason I thought by 2015 they had redesigned the air cooler to fix this issue but apparently not. Truck ran terrible all day yesterday and this morning until I did this and I’ve now driven it hundreds of miles since then with zero issues and full power and no codes. Just a data point from a guy with a 2015 Ecoboost Expedition with 109,000 miles on her.


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[mquick5]

I'm glad you got it figured out. Can you explain more about drilling the intercooler.

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[ManUpOrShutUp]

I'm glad you got it figured out. Can you explain more about drilling the intercooler.

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[Plati]

Happy Thanksgiving, hope you have it all fixed now ... safe driving!

Was this related to the "very small coolant leak from my drivers side turbo coolant line"?

Being superstitious in nature, I thought it was a risky to post ... "I’m impressed with how reliable and trouble free this truck has been". Prolly just a coincidence.

 

[Muddy Bean]

Nothing to do with the coolant leak which has since resolved itself. The coolant quick connects at the turbos are known for leaking eventually. So I’ll replace them with all metal plumbing that will be more permanent...someday. For now, no leaks. The rough stumbling was absolutely being caused by water/oil in the intercooler and once drilled and drained the truck has been running flawlessly. I have been working this truck hard towing a 5,000 lb trailer 13,000 miles this fall...so I expect the truck to creak and groan a little as it crosses into the 110,000 mile range. So far, nothing serious or expensive has gone wrong. I honestly can’t complain. I love this truck...and I’m a toyota guy. [emoji1742]‍[emoji3603]


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[chuck s]

What's the oil? PCV? Would a catch can minimize or eliminate this?

-- Chuck

 

[lbv150]

And just as I figured... 5000 mile oil changes. There is piston ring wear and oil blow by. I never go over 3000 miles on any vehicle oil change.

 

[jkayca]

Hey Muddy, glad you got it all sorted out. So I can't imagine Ford's official fix for this problem is drill a hole in the intercooler. I wonder what it is? Replace the intercooler?

 

[Muddy Bean]

Supposedly they came up with a better designed one later on. I don’t know if this is truth or hearsay and I don’t know how it would be built better.


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[AllBoostNoEco]

Supposedly they came up with a better designed one later on. I don’t know if this is truth or hearsay and I don’t know how it would be built better.


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The “fix” was actually the eBOV and being relocated to the bottom of the intercooler, which allows the fluid to be purged out of it. Unfortunately, it throws it right back into the intake system unless you are running your BOV in VTA like I am. But Ford says it solved the problem, mostly, and our trucks came with the “fix”. Still better than the 11-12 F-150s which were known for having the buildup turn into new holes in the engine though. That much is true.
From what I’ve gathered over the years, the easiest way to prevent the buildup is to run the truck hard at least once a day, which blows most of that out of the CAC.

 

[bobmbx]

The old design was acting like a catch can in the bottom of the cooler. Worked fine until it had a significant amount in it and then the driver punched it, sucking the fluid right into the cylinders and washing the spark plugs with a watery goo. It would clear itself after running for a while (quickly if you're on the highway, slowly otherwise). The re-design simply got rid of the "cup" where the goo would collect.