Limping 3.5 engine

[19FX4Max]

Has anyone had any luck figuring this issue out or had repairs that solved the problem?

We have experienced this with out 2019 Expedition. Last year the transmission was determined to be the problem and it was pretty much rebuilt and the issue seemed to have gone away for a while, probably 15k miles or so. This summer is started again, and weirdly only driving back to Austin from Houston after an Astros game. Once back home everything seems fine again. This happened probably 3 times. I took it to the dealer to have them look into it and maybe check out the transmission again but they couldn't find any issue, they tried to blame the oil/oil level by saying I hadn't had an oil change in 20k miles and that there was no oil in it. I change my own oil and keep records and I also check the oil regularly and before any out of town trip so I told them that was not the issue. After they checked it out we went on a trip that took us all the way to Florida and back and it ran perfectly until we were getting near Houston and it was pretty bad for the 3 hour drive back to Austin. My issue is there is very poor acceleration until you get past 3k rpms and it starts to build boost. This time I paid attention to the boost gauge and noticed it was trying to max out the gauge under normal driving and once I got to higher rpms the boost looked pretty normal and this is when the acceleration was better. There have never been any check engine lights or alerts in the FordPass app during these occurrences, until a week or two ago and there are 6 messages saying there is a concern with the turbo charger/supercharger control system. Our Expedition has been at a body shop for the past month so we haven't driven it during this time. There is also a message that the voltage is low and the vehicle needs to be driven, so that could be the reason for some of these alerts. This alert does seem to make sense though with the issues I have noticed with the turbo boost seeming to be the issue. Once we get it back from the body shop I'll try to get it back to the service department. The other thing to note is that the Expedition is at the body shop because someone pulled out in front of my wife and she hit them with the passenger side front bumper. So, these alerts could be associated with the repair work going on. It does give me hope though that the service department may be able to use this to diagnose a turbo issue to solve my problems.

In the meantime I was curious if others with this issue have found a resolution.

 

[Password]

I had an intermittent issue where the engine felt bogged down. Took it to dealer and they said they replaced the throttle body because there was a fault in a sensor. I'll try to find the work order.

 

[JasonH]

Has anyone had any luck figuring this issue out or had repairs that solved the problem?

We have experienced this with out 2019 Expedition. Last year the transmission was determined to be the problem and it was pretty much rebuilt and the issue seemed to have gone away for a while, probably 15k miles or so. This summer is started again, and weirdly only driving back to Austin from Houston after an Astros game. Once back home everything seems fine again. This happened probably 3 times. I took it to the dealer to have them look into it and maybe check out the transmission again but they couldn't find any issue, they tried to blame the oil/oil level by saying I hadn't had an oil change in 20k miles and that there was no oil in it. I change my own oil and keep records and I also check the oil regularly and before any out of town trip so I told them that was not the issue. After they checked it out we went on a trip that took us all the way to Florida and back and it ran perfectly until we were getting near Houston and it was pretty bad for the 3 hour drive back to Austin. My issue is there is very poor acceleration until you get past 3k rpms and it starts to build boost. This time I paid attention to the boost gauge and noticed it was trying to max out the gauge under normal driving and once I got to higher rpms the boost looked pretty normal and this is when the acceleration was better. There have never been any check engine lights or alerts in the FordPass app during these occurrences, until a week or two ago and there are 6 messages saying there is a concern with the turbo charger/supercharger control system. Our Expedition has been at a body shop for the past month so we haven't driven it during this time. There is also a message that the voltage is low and the vehicle needs to be driven, so that could be the reason for some of these alerts. This alert does seem to make sense though with the issues I have noticed with the turbo boost seeming to be the issue. Once we get it back from the body shop I'll try to get it back to the service department. The other thing to note is that the Expedition is at the body shop because someone pulled out in front of my wife and she hit them with the passenger side front bumper. So, these alerts could be associated with the repair work going on. It does give me hope though that the service department may be able to use this to diagnose a turbo issue to solve my problems.

In the meantime I was curious if others with this issue have found a resolution.

How many miles on the vehicle? There are number issues that can cause something like what you described. Plugs, throttle body, throttle position sensor, etc. Try getting an ELM327 bluetooth adapter, and see if there are any codes pending. If the engine truly goes into limp mode, it will limit boost to prevent damage and illuminate the check engine light. But it doesn't appear that your vehicle did that.

 

[duneslider]

I did a check on the F150 forums and that P0237 code doesn't seem super common but what I did see was it usually had to do with the MAP, an air leak (usually on the tube to the map), or the boost pressure sensor. Those seem like good places to start looking.

The MAP and the boost sensor need to be giving each other matching values and if one of them is bad or there is a leak they won't match and throw the code. You would need a "nicer" scanner that can look at live data and compare the two sensors to see which one is not working right.

My brothers f150 had the infamous throttle body issue but that gave different codes than what this one is, I don't remember what they were but it was pretty obvious when you looked up the code. I haven't seen much of that throttle body issue in the 2018+ expeditions.

 

[19FX4Max]

How many miles on the vehicle? There are number issues that can cause something like what you described. Plugs, throttle body, throttle position sensor, etc. Try getting an ELM327 bluetooth adapter, and see if there are any codes pending. If the engine truly goes into limp mode, it will limit boost to prevent damage and illuminate the check engine light. But it doesn't appear that your vehicle did that.

Around 45k miles now. Have had these issues going back to 20k, probably earlier but it doesn't happen all of the time, and oddly 95%+ of the time it is driving from Houston to Austin. Sometimes it will happen driving around town but once it is shut off and sits while we're doing whatever we're doing it's back to normal. It ran perfect from Austin to Florida and as soon as I got to Orange it was pretty rough all the way back home, 4 hrs probably. For about 50-100 miles the transmission wouldn't stay in 10th and was pretty much stuck in 8th, I think because it wasn't making low rpm power or boost. I don't know that it is limp mode though. What I have noticed is when this issue appears the boost gauge will max out but the engine is bogged down, once I get it up past 3k rpms boost returns and it will accelerate somewhat normally. I have never had a check engine light when experiencing this. I have had check engine lights when the alternator went out and when the catalytic converter went out. The vehicle has been to the dealer probably 3 times after experiencing this and they have not found any codes or stored codes.

 

[19FX4Max]

I did a check on the F150 forums and that P0237 code doesn't seem super common but what I did see was it usually had to do with the MAP, an air leak (usually on the tube to the map), or the boost pressure sensor. Those seem like good places to start looking.

The MAP and the boost sensor need to be giving each other matching values and if one of them is bad or there is a leak they won't match and throw the code. You would need a "nicer" scanner that can look at live data and compare the two sensors to see which one is not working right.

My brothers f150 had the infamous throttle body issue but that gave different codes than what this one is, I don't remember what they were but it was pretty obvious when you looked up the code. I haven't seen much of that throttle body issue in the 2018+ expeditions.

Something like this is likely. I still have powertrain warranty but if they have to start digging into sensors and what not I may have to pay. There should be documentation going back to to when the vehicle was less than 2 yrs old though with the same issues being reported. This complaint is what led to a transmission rebuild at 20k miles. So maybe I can get coverage that way.