DerbyDad308
New Member
2015 Expedition EL Platinum, 177xxx miles, 3.5 EcoBoost, 4x4....
Bought this used a year ago. A few months after buying it problems started surfacing. It started with a dead battery after sitting for 12 hours or more. Once jumpstarted it would run fine all day long and start every time until you let it sit over night again. Then it started having an issue with randomly shutting off. Not like stumbling from running out of gas or like it had a massive vacuum leak. More like someone just shut the ignition off completely while driving. Dash would completely go dark and all. Bump it into neutral and it would fire right back up. Would stay idling with no issues in park or neutral but as soon as you put it back in gear and start moving again it would shut off. Sometimes it would run and drive for a couple of miles before it happened, sometimes it would happen within feet of were you restarted it. Then it started getting really weird.... if it dies and you popped it in neutral to restart it, the dash would light back up and it would start all by itself....
This issue happened randomly here and there for a month or so. Sometimes it would go days without happening and then act up for a week straight and it would take you a hour to get 2 miles down the road.
One night I was out in my garage working on another project and I heard the expedition attempting to start all by itself but it wouldn't actually start. Was just like the starter was stuck on but the ignition was off.
Thought maybe it was an issue with the key fob so I opened it up and upon inspecting it, I found corrosion and moisture in it which lead me to believe the entire issue was a malfunctioning key fob messing with the remote start.
I ordered 2 new key fobs, had Ford program them to this vehicle and the problem seemed to go away.
In the middle of all of these issues I did replace the starter and that corrected the power draw issue so I no longer have a dead battery every day.
Replacing the key fobs happened in June of 2025. The random dying issue went away..... UNTIL YESTERDAY. The wife went to leave in it for work at 4 am and it started acting up again..... She was lucky enough to still be in the driveway so she limped it back around the house to the barn and took my spare work car. That night when I got home from work I took both key fobs(one at a time in the vehicle) to see if maybe it was just her fob acting up. Well the damn thing did it with both hers and mine so here I sit stumped as to what could be the issue.
Side note, this vehicle was in a accident a few years ago(before we owned it) with a rather large deer which took the front end out. has had hood, fenders, grill, headlights, and bumper replaced. Is there maybe a pinched wire in there that is effecting this or could it just be something in the keyless ignition system?
I try to fix all of my vehicles myself to avoid the large bill from a mechanic/dealer but when it comes to these newer vehicles with all of the fancy computer systems, I get worked up and pull my hair out.
If anyone has any clue as to where I should look or has dealt with this issue themselves, I would appreciate the input before sending it to the local Ford garage....
If you made it this far, I applaud you for your patience!
Bought this used a year ago. A few months after buying it problems started surfacing. It started with a dead battery after sitting for 12 hours or more. Once jumpstarted it would run fine all day long and start every time until you let it sit over night again. Then it started having an issue with randomly shutting off. Not like stumbling from running out of gas or like it had a massive vacuum leak. More like someone just shut the ignition off completely while driving. Dash would completely go dark and all. Bump it into neutral and it would fire right back up. Would stay idling with no issues in park or neutral but as soon as you put it back in gear and start moving again it would shut off. Sometimes it would run and drive for a couple of miles before it happened, sometimes it would happen within feet of were you restarted it. Then it started getting really weird.... if it dies and you popped it in neutral to restart it, the dash would light back up and it would start all by itself....
This issue happened randomly here and there for a month or so. Sometimes it would go days without happening and then act up for a week straight and it would take you a hour to get 2 miles down the road.
One night I was out in my garage working on another project and I heard the expedition attempting to start all by itself but it wouldn't actually start. Was just like the starter was stuck on but the ignition was off.
Thought maybe it was an issue with the key fob so I opened it up and upon inspecting it, I found corrosion and moisture in it which lead me to believe the entire issue was a malfunctioning key fob messing with the remote start.
I ordered 2 new key fobs, had Ford program them to this vehicle and the problem seemed to go away.
In the middle of all of these issues I did replace the starter and that corrected the power draw issue so I no longer have a dead battery every day.
Replacing the key fobs happened in June of 2025. The random dying issue went away..... UNTIL YESTERDAY. The wife went to leave in it for work at 4 am and it started acting up again..... She was lucky enough to still be in the driveway so she limped it back around the house to the barn and took my spare work car. That night when I got home from work I took both key fobs(one at a time in the vehicle) to see if maybe it was just her fob acting up. Well the damn thing did it with both hers and mine so here I sit stumped as to what could be the issue.
Side note, this vehicle was in a accident a few years ago(before we owned it) with a rather large deer which took the front end out. has had hood, fenders, grill, headlights, and bumper replaced. Is there maybe a pinched wire in there that is effecting this or could it just be something in the keyless ignition system?
I try to fix all of my vehicles myself to avoid the large bill from a mechanic/dealer but when it comes to these newer vehicles with all of the fancy computer systems, I get worked up and pull my hair out.
If anyone has any clue as to where I should look or has dealt with this issue themselves, I would appreciate the input before sending it to the local Ford garage....
If you made it this far, I applaud you for your patience!
