Powertrain Malfunction/Reduce power

[Conroy Smith]

Hello everyone, I was driving my 2018 ford expedition limited with 46000 miles yesterday when I got the msg in the title.
I left home about 6:45am on my way upstate NY, at 7:40am while on the highway I felt the engine loose and started to stutter. The msg with a spanner appeared on my dash. I was able to keep driving at reduce speed until was able to stop. After restart the msg went away. I was able to drive back home later that day with no issue. Have anyone ever had this experience and if so what was the final fix. Thanks.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Hello everyone, I was driving my 2018 ford expedition limited with 46000 miles yesterday when I got the msg in the title.
I left home about 6:45am on my way upstate NY, at 7:40am while on the highway I felt the engine loose and started to stutter. The msg with a spanner appeared on my dash. I was able to keep driving at reduce speed until was able to stop. After restart the msg went away. I was able to drive back home later that day with no issue. Have anyone ever had this experience and if so what was the final fix. Thanks.

Electronic throttle control assembly.

A trouble / fault code should be set.

https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/throttle-control-module-on-backorder.42664/#post-380453

 

[Conroy Smith]

Thanks.
I read something about drilling a hole in the inter-cooler, to release condensation build-up, is that for a different issue?

 

[2018expyXLT4wd]

Thanks.
I read something about drilling a hole in the inter-cooler, to release condensation build-up, is that for a different issue?

...just plug the inter-cooler with a .45ACP

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Thanks.
I read something about drilling a hole in the inter-cooler, to release condensation build-up, is that for a different issue?

Ford went through several modifications for the inter cooler on the third generation Expedition and the F-150, that used the first generation EB 3.5L twin-turbo V-6.

There were TSB’s that instructed the dealer to modify the existing intercooler with a revised part. Problems were occurring when the vehicle was driven at expressway speeds in the rain.

Some people reported that they simply drilled a hole in the bottom of the inter cooler. Perhaps they knew more than the engineers at Ford?

The backyard “hole in the inter cooler” does not apply to the 4th generation Expeditions.

The warranty replacement of the throttle body assembly should be covered under an extended warranty (if you have one) or the emission’s warranty. I do not think Ford considers this part covered under the power train warranty.

If you disconnect the battery cable, you will erase any stored trouble code(s) and the dealer may not agree to replace it with no codes stored.

I own a 2015 Expedition Limited 4x4.

 

[Conroy Smith]

Ford went through several modifications for the inter cooler on the third generation Expedition and the F-150, that used the first generation EB 3.5L twin-turbo V-6.

There were TSB’s that instructed the dealer to modify the existing intercooler with a revised part. Problems were occurring when the vehicle was driven at expressway speeds in the rain.

Some people reported that they simply drilled a hole in the bottom of the inter cooler. Perhaps they knew more than the engineers at Ford?

The backyard “hole in the inter cooler” does not apply to the 4th generation Expeditions.

The warranty replacement of the throttle body assembly should be covered under an extended warranty (if you have one) or the emission’s warranty. I do not think Ford considers this part covered under the power train warranty.

If you disconnect the battery cable, you will erase any stored trouble code(s) and the dealer may not agree to replace it with no codes stored.

I own a 2015 Expedition Limited 4x4.

Thanks. I will be taking it to the dealer next week.

 

[Wnomis]

Had it happen to me once on January 1st this year and not since then. 2018 Ltd had maybe 6.4k when it happened

 

[Larry Fuller]

Unfortunately a fairly common issue going way back on V6 expeys.there was a recall on escapes years ago.
this is "LIMP MODE" which is not detailed in the manual.
I was able to limp 1 mile to a small town ford dealer when my 2017 EXPY with 52K did it a few months ago.
Let it sit and it restarted and drove Ok after 1/2 hour but I was not going to take a change getting stuck in middle of nowhere near Reno NV if it happened again. My engine did NOT display a trouble code for svc dept;'s use.
Mine was under CarMax warranty so I got to pay half.
throttle body is the issue-shop foreman told me "I know what it is but cannot prove it" which may be an issue with Ford warranty.
Long story short, Local dealer told me it happened to in the left lane of the freeway on a new demo car.
Someones wife online was the victim in a tunnel.
Pretty scary when you don't know whats going on.
Obviously FORD has an issue here they have not addressed sufficiently
good luck
Larry in RENO NV

 

[Conroy Smith]

Thanks guys for all your input. Since that first occurrence it never happen again, at lease so far.

 

[Scottorama]

Add me to the list of people who have had the opportunity to enjoy limp mode after a 'powertrain malfunction' error. Mine was nice enough to occur on the interstate in the middle lane....going about 75....the error popped up and I basically lost almost all power and i just about got ran over as I couldn't hardly get above 50......luckily I finally made it over to the right lane and limped to the next exit.

Dealer has had it for 4 days now and still no resolution for a fix.....

 

[99Redcobra]

Hi All I have had it happen twice May 25: power train malfunction, no hill decent control, drive mode unavailable. Emergency braking unavailable. Pulled over shut the vehicle off opened and closed the door restarted still there did it again and it cleared. Happened again today! Went thru same procedure and went back to normal. Both times hit a small jarring bump when it happened. 18 Expy Platinum 21k miles. Anyone know the fix? Good thing is it sent me a message both times, one for each fault, to my Ford Pass account so I can show the service writer.

 

[ETC13]

Mine just got a PCM update from Ford to address this.

Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk

 

[Ladywith5]

I have a 2018 Limited Max. This issue has happened to me FOUR times already!!! Twice on the highway, one time coming to a stop behind another vehicle, all while hours away from my local dealership. Fourth time I was driving home locally in the evening hours when the dealership was already closed. The dealer had it for a week and couldn’t do anything to fix it because they “couldn’t duplicate the issue”!!!! I bought this vehicle because my large family fits in it and am now scared it will ultimately kill us! I called Ford and they told me to try another dealer, the other dealer told me the same thing the last one did. They can’t change anything because they won’t get paid by Ford if they cannot show something is wrong. We need to start a protest or a lawsuit that will force them to recognize that something is happening to these vehicles. All I want is my car fixed.

 

[Ladywith5]

Happened to me again, this time I got two other faults. Finally limped into the Ford dealership and they were able to hook up the computer to it. Two and a half sheets of error codes to wade through, will update once they figure this problem out.

 

[Ronghua]

It happened to me last week, 2018 expedition limited, 48k, Powertrain malfunction / reduced power. Have been in dealer's place for one week. Going to check the status next week.

 

[keny01998]

I'm another victim. My wife was driving near Alabama and the Expedition suddenly lost power and the powertrain malfunction reduced power, pre collision assist not available showed up on the dash. She was able to pull over to a gas station and let it sit for 20 minutes. The message went away from the dash but I got the alerts on my Ford app. We got a similar message 3 months ago but it for the turbo pressure sensor not in range. I brought it to a Ford dealer in Atlanta and they couldn't duplicate it.

 

[Expediton2020]

currently going through the same thing with a 2020. Finally got it cleared and running normal again for now atleast. I’m not taking it to the dealership until I find out what others have done to fix it. I read that they done a reflash and someone didn’t have a problem since. I assume it’s the same thing as disconnecting the battery for 30 min with them connected together to reset everything.

 

[Expediton2020]

Happened to me again, this time I got two other faults. Finally limped into the Ford dealership and they were able to hook up the computer to it. Two and a half sheets of error codes to wade through, will update once they figure this problem out.

Did you ever figure anything out?

 

[Expediton2020]

It happened to me last week, 2018 expedition limited, 48k, Powertrain malfunction / reduced power. Have been in dealer's place for one week. Going to check the status next week.

Did you happen to figure anything out?

 

[zone]

Happened 2-3 weeks after purchasing our 2020, on a long drive to NC. We were 50 miles outside of Montgomery AL, so we limped to the dealership. Kept it for a few hours, problem went away. Said maybe dirty fuel.

A few weeks after that, it happened again as I was rolling into our garage right after a fill up. After reading lots of forums, I concluded that I added gas after the nozzle clicked, so it saturated some sensor. So I didn’t take any action.

A few months later, I got a notification of misfire/power train on the app while at work (my wife was driving at the time). We immediately took it to the local dealership. I also opened a case with Ford. The dealership kept it a month, trying to duplicate the issue. Ultimately, they “threw parts at it” (does sound like Ford and the local mechanics were in regular contact) and replaced the coils and plugs in cylinder 3. A year later, it hasn’t happened again.