How the Wrench Warning Light was Resolved

[2015owner2015]

Recently in the middle of nowhere in Southern Wyoming driving from Sacramento to Colorado with the family, my 2015 Expedition started displaying the wrench warning light and went into limp mode. I was literally in the middle of nowhere and just by dumb luck the issue occurred when I stopped for gas at an Exon station in Green River, WY. It was lucky because there was no tow available late on Saturday and we probably would have had to leave the car on the side of the highway until the next morning, assuming we were able to get a ride to a motel near by. This had happened to me once before driving from LA to Sacramento about a year ago, but that time after turning off the engine for a few minutes it started right back up with no more issues. This time however the engine just would not come out of limp mode.

I finally had the car towed the next day to a nearby Ford Dealership, First Choice Ford in Rock Springs. They diagnosed the issue as a faulty throttle body and also they found some issues with the throttle body wiring. They repaired the wiring which didn't fix it and then replaced the throttle body which resolved the issue. Total charges was about $800. I would recommend First Choice Ford, they have good reviews and my experience was very positive.

The car is running better then it has for quite a while and a couple of other intermittent mysterious issues stopped occurring as well. One issue was an occasional momentary "whirring" noise when driving around slowly and the other was an occasional puff of smoke coming from the exhaust when accelerating.

On the bright side, I rented a 2023 Lincoln Navigator EL to finish our trip to Colorado. Not sure I would want one of these for my daily driver, but it was a really nice ride.

Just wanted to pass this along in case anyone finds it helpful.

 

[JasonH]

I recommend getting a ELM327 dongle and torque app. The throttle replacement is very easy and you could have saved yourself a substantial sum by just buying the tools and handling it yourself.

What did not you like about the Navigator? I haven't' driven one, but the Expedition interior is very low rent by comparison.

 

[2015owner2015]

Its a beautiful vehicle. It's just that I've been modding my G3 to be more off road-able and to give it less of a grocery getter appearance

Also with my kids mostly out of the house, I don't need something that big.

If you need something that big, and especially if you need a good road trip vehicle, I would highly recommend it.

 

[2015owner2015]

I was kind of at a disadvantage being in the in the middle of a road trip and being in the middle of nowhere. I didn't have much choice in order to get it on the road again.

 

[JasonH]

I was kind of at a disadvantage being in the in the middle of a road trip and being in the middle of nowhere. I didn't have much choice in order to get it on the road again.

Understood. Mine failed while my wife was driving the truck to work. I changed it in the parking lot after a pit stop at the parts store for the part. The adapter is handy because it can give you some insight into the severity of a failure. For example, my wife had a misfire while traveling across the country with some family. I thought it was the spark plugs again, so I told her to lay off the throttle. When she came back it turned out a shop towel had gotten sucked into the intake. If I hadn't had her pull the code, I likely would have been more concerned about the check engine light coming on.