Yup, there's yer problem! Perhaps another line of work would be more appropriate for people who don't know sweet-f-all about automotive repair and maintenance of the very cars / trucks they sell? 20$ says "she" never even opened the hood on a Ford truck to check the f**king oil level, because "she" doesn't know where the hood lever and oil dispstick are located or what they're for!
As for maintenance, it's all pretty straight forward. I just did all of mine on my 2014 SSV ex-cop truck (bought it this summer with 132,000 miles on the clock). My Expedition is very similar or same as yours mechanically.
I can confirm the plugs are one piece and can be removed quite easily with a ratchet and 14mm spark plug socket. Rockauto had a killer deal on new iridium plugs (Champion) at $5 a pop, as well as air/oil filters, trans fluid (Mercon LV) and filter, etc.
I would STRONGLY suggest to have someone else than the dealer do the work, if you want to save some major cash (just make sure the person or shop is competent to do it). Just the fact that they sold you this bullsh*t story about the 2-piece plugs in a 2011 is a red flag to avoid these scammers!
I would also suggest to put in a new alternator in there. I had mine rebuild for about $120 USD (local rebuild shop) and the guy I spoke to was impressed that my alternator lasted that long, as apparently the F-150 / Expedition alternators tend to fail sooner, as per his experience.
Finally, A new water pump, idler pulleys, tensioner and a new drive belt would also help the truck last longer (mine were really worn and the water pump was leaking). Again, Rockauto is your friend for best quality parts (Motorcraft, etc) at lowest prices. Motorcraft water pump was about $30 and the belt drive kit about $90. Can't beat those prices!
The one thing I immediately LOVED my new truck for is how easy it was to work on it. There's ample room for everything and it appears that all parts have been engineered for easy access and replacement.
Sorry, but there's no way I can agree with recommending replacing alternators and some other parts as routine maintenance. I think you will find the majority of mechanics and Automotive world will not either.
You just don't replace an alternator until it fails are gives a problem. People don't replace alternators as routine maintenance item to preemptively replace it so it doesn't fail. Also, the best alternator you will ever have on your vehicle will be the one that left the factory with and I don't care if you buy a Motorcraft or not. Anyone who thinks a Motorcraft alternator that you buy today from Ford, RockAuto or wherever else.... is as good as the Ford alternator that came on a 2012 vehicle is really making some assumptions and giving a lot of credit poor credit should not be given.
The odds are and I mean by a high degree, the odds are that the replacement will not last as long as the original.
Now, as with anything, in the odds, averages and total numbers, there will be some failures early on and there will be some that last the entire life of the vehicle Plus, but that is nowhere near the norm or what most people are going to experience.
Serpentine belts are a maintenance and normal replacement item but they should first be inspected and only replaced once you're seeing a good amount of cracks in them.
Tensioners, tensioner pulleys, and either pulleys are not meant to be replaced unless there is a problem.
Of course, it's everyone's on individual vehicle and their own money so they are free to do whatever they want but I just can't support that and we shouldn't be recommending others to do things like this.
You might change the fluid in your transmission to get longer life but you wouldn't replace it or rebuild it at 85 or 115k just so you can say it won't go out unexpectedly on you.
You don't remove valve covers and replace gaskets so you won't have any leaks. You leave them alone unless there is a leak.
It is a shame some of the newer vehicles are having water pump problems because the Ford modular water pump is the best water pump ever made and installed on a car. We have literally had hundreds and hundreds of 4.6 is in town cars, Crown Vics, 5.4 + 6.8 V10 in trucks and I can't remember ever a water pump leaking. We have replaced a couple if the vehicles were older or had high miles and we're having cooling issues. We would replace the water pump along with the radiator and thermostat.
If we had a rash of comely failing items that it would be a different situation but past experience an available information doesn't support this. One person at one dealership saying something is hardly accurate or honest enough to base a decision on.
The failures, if any, of some of these parts during the life of a car and the miles, or age at which they fail is way too all over the board to base things on. Friend of mine has a 95 Town Car with a little over 300K on it that he's had for about 12 years now.
It has had the alternator replaced by him and the belt idler pulley because the bearing seized up. The tensioner pulley is just fine and the tensioner is also good with its original spring tension so those have not been replaced.
If people wanted to preemptively replace things and save themselves headache and the rust States they would start replacing brake lines when they get severely rusted before they start sleeping or blow out. Or of course they could invest in some oil style rust preventative and coaster brake lines once or twice a year or hack maybe even every two years and maybe get them to last the entire life of the vehicle. This 95 Town Car I'm speaking of had to have every last inch of brake line replaced.
That was a big job that I did for him and unfortunately we had to do it outside over two days in 18 degree temperatures.
I guess I could have patched it up enough to drive it somewhere warm but we really didn't have anywhere warm convenient. He has a one-car garage there but it's been so full of crap for years you can't put the car into it and as he posted the picture on Facebook of me fixing it with my toboggan hat on and winter coat not. I'm just in my element doing things the hard way outside, at night and by flashlight.
That was probably at least three years ago and his brake lines are all still good and he still driving it.
They are not quick, easy, or fun repairs so it would be best to replace rusty old lines before a blowout or start leaking and you may have to do them in terrible conditions.
This gets into my conflict of interest or whatever you want to call it. Seeing, there is no option for me to tow a car to the garage and have it fixed. If the car is going to be fixed I must fix it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not poor and I waste a lot of money on things that I could save but I would have to sacrifice doing things or eating things that I want to eat and things that I want to do.
But even if I had five times the money I needed and my retirement accounts were fully funded and money was falling out of my pockets oh, I still could not bring myself to pay a garage three or four hundred dollars to replace one rusted piece of brake line summation point I simply will not do it.
If I become an able to do it or if I were injured and can't do it oh, the vehicle will sit until I can oh, I will find someone who can do it for me at a very fair / cheap price, or I would even consider dumping the vehicle on Craigslist or Marketplace stating that it needs a brake line replacement, and then buy one that doesn't have that problem.
My point is, if you look at the simple numbers, if one of my Old Town Cars needed a repair right now, I could more than likely sell the Town Car and go buy another one that didn't need an immediate repair for less money out of my pocket then I would spend if I took the car to the garage and have them fix it!
It's not the easiest or best approach and I'm not saying I've actually done it but I would probably before I would go pay a ridiculous amount of money at a garage to get something fixed.
Too many people use excuses like they don't know how, or they're too old , or they don't have the tools... to not fix or even try to fix their own cars. I am the exact opposite, trying to find every possible last available way to get it done or do it myself to NOT have to go pay a garage to fix it.
I don't know what's wrong with me, do you?
I do know that when I had a heater core go out in a town car I got mad but then quickly got depressed. I was in a state of depression for about 3 days and I considered selling the vehicle because there was absolutely no way I was going to pay 600 plus dollars to get it done when the part was 35.
I called the only friend I know that works on cars in the area and he gave me the same answer he always gives me any time I ask him to do something for me, which is he's too busy. But yet he will repairs multiple cars a week. I guess they just feel bad about charging you the same price as everyone else. I would probably be okay with paying what he charges his normal customers because he is a very reasonable at home mechanic but anyway... So after I decided I wasn't going to sell the vehicle and buy another one, hi went ahead and did it.
I had never done one because I know it's a tough shit job. I had a friend of mine do one one time for me about 10 years ago and he only charged me $180 labor and came to my house and did it in about 2.5- 3 hours. But he has since moved to Florida and wasn't going to be in town anytime soon and that was not something I could coordinate.
It was fairly cold out but had a worms but come in about one week after it happened so I figured I better use the two unceasingly warm days we had to do it. The second day we got a little bit of misting rain and I actually ended up having my son holding an umbrella up above us while I was working at the edge of each side door to get the dash back into place.
now I never want to do the job in the first place I don't ever want to have to do another one. It really won't be any easier the second time as like I said it's a shit from a terrible design. Most cars are a terrible designs replace heater cores. I've done a good handful of heater cores over the years. There are a couple that are actually quite easy but most are a nightmare.
So for my grand total of something around 40 bucks it's been fine since December 2nd of last year.
Let's just hope it lasts for as long as I own the vehicle. They're not making heat of course like the used to either. I guess it does make me think I should probably flush and fill the coolant more often as fresh coolant can 10 to increase the life especially from spurious electrical currents that can find a way and to the cooling system and cause electrolysis or whatever it is that it does.
I do think the one I pulled out was the original core because it was the copper and brass Motorcraft one and look to have been there a very long time. That was 20 years and 168000 miles so hopefully the replacement one is good enough to get me through the rest of the time that I own this vehicle which is probably only four to five years max. I plan on replacing it by then with a newer one.
