Rough Idle 2003 5.4 - Anybody else?

[Guest]

Have you been driving our Expy? We have same problem! We have an 03 5.4 EB 4x2 that we otherwise love that has had identical symptoms since approx 11K. It now has 31K. It has been back twice for rough idle/hard to start problem. 1st time replaced IACV and prob returned before we got home. 2nd time, no one knew what they did. Hard start prob occurs 90% when warm but occasionally when hot/cold. It has backfired a few times at start, I s/w service mgr who said they don't have a firmware fix or something yet for ignition mod. (probably a stall until warranty expires). We haven't been as persistant with the dealer as we should, just been putting up with it. Very annoying. I'm sure trip 3 will be same run around but my state has 3 trip lemon law so I need to give it one more try for record. Guy at the oil change shop who I didn't trust said throttle body was dirty the other day and wanted too much$$ to clean so I declined. It just now occured to me that it wouldn't hurt to take a look and give that a shot. I'll let you know if it does any good.

 

[Guest]

We've had some bad weather here so I haven't had a chance to get mine back in yet. Talked to my Ford mechanic friend and he is supposed to pick it up Monday. He said he would keep it until he could figure out what was going on. He said he wasn't afraid to try different things to see if he could remidy the idle problem. As far as the shrill noise after replacing the pinion seal, he said it sounds like the other mechanic tightened the bearing down to tight when he repalced the pinion seal. He is going to fix this also - going to try to get a whole new differential.
More later....

 

[Guest]

I'm done

Well, for the what it's worth department, I've had it. I'll guess I'll vent here. My last trip to the dealership did nothing but raise my bloodpressure and question my faith. I've been a Ford fan from childhood. Since 1998 I've bought new, 1 Ranger, an Eddie Bauer Explorer, and two EB Expeditions. I've finally experienced one of the exercises in futility horror stories that I've always heard about. Bottom line, more of the same double talk, stalling and what I suspect as outright lies. I don't have the time to fight it. They won. Sad, I really liked my Expedition otherewise. Toyota here I come.

 

[Texaskid05]

Not Sure But worth looking at

This may not be correct. But in the f-150'2 ( I had a 99 and a 2000) There was an electrical line that ran next to the AC acumalator(sp) that used to short after it warmed up. This produced the exact same symptoms that ya"ll are discribing. Only started after 10k miles or so, and then only when the engine was warm. Was a black wire harness on the pasg just had to tie it up with a zip tie so it would not rest on any metal parts and the problem went away forever. Was a big deal on the f150 boards for a while. Just my two cents.

 

[jmacioci]

I have the EXACT same no-start, rough idle problem

My 03 expedition has the same symptoms and problems you describe in your emails. It has been at the Ford dealer 4-5 times for this problem. Here is what they have done (it still is not fixed)

Replaced 2 coil packs
Replaced faulty crankshaft sensor
Put dialelectric grease on all the COP boots
Tested the IACV, the GEM module
Installed a "flight recorder" that we used to record the engine performance whenever the problem occured. When we returned the recorder after recording 4 no-start/rough idle conditions, they said there were no problems recorded.

At the moment, they are telling us that they can not reproduce the problem and the vehicle runs within spec. I have filed a lemon law complaint against ford. I am currently getting ready to go to state sponsored arbitration (Live in MA) and have at least 4 no-start conditions recorded on video tape.

The problem seems to show up more after it rains, but is very intermittant. It will intermittantly not start (either cranks forever or starts after 5-10 seconds of cranking) and idles very rough (lumpy idle you can feel in the seat).

I am very frustrated with this problem. Please, if someone has had this problem fixed, please let us know.

 

[danketchpel]

To me it sounds like the rough idle is caused by 1 or more faulty spark plug coil packs. There are lots of reported problems with coil packs after they get wet.

My 5.4L idles perfectly smooth, it still amazes me. It has a bit over 15,000 miles on it now.

 

[djb8161]

Rough Idle 2003 5.4 -

I had the same problem on my 2004 EB and went through the same problems with the dealership (they actually had the nerve to tell me it was the gas in WA that caused this). After about 6 trips to the dealer (spark plugs, coil packs, injector cleaning, head changing) they finally replaced the EGR sensor and the problem went away. That was about a year and a half ago and guess what, the problem is back. I'm taking it in tomorrow to have it looked at and hopefully it is just the same sensor.

 

[ELVATO]

Hurry while you still have warrenty.

Since I got mine used, I assumed that since it was an 03, it had warrenty will 2006. Apparently, the car was originally bought in 2002(one of the early models), so my warrenty was out by sometime around 2005.

 

[ziad_yamin]

Originally posted by TLayman
UPDATE:
Had an email when I returned to work saying they (Ford) had tried to call me at home. The email had an 800 number to call them back. I called and after going through numerous prompts I finally got someone. Well after about 30 minutes of telling my story and pleading for help the nice lady told me Ford was sorry I was having problems and that I needed to take it back to the dealer to be fixed. I told her the dealer said "if the last fix didn't work then Ford said it was normal". Well the last fix didn't work so that's the reason I am complaining to Ford and talking to you. She still said I need to take it back to the dealer to be fixed. Now to everyone reading this doesn't it sound like I am stuck in a loop? She did say she was adding my comments to a problem ticket that engineering would review.
So what does a person do? I guess back to the dealer I go....

TLayman,

In September 2005 I decided I would need to change my Camry. I ended up with my first Ford ever and I got 06 Expedition XLT Sport 4x4.

I wouldn't say I regret my decision. However, now I feel the difference between the two dealerships at all levels (knowledge, customer handling, going the extra mile ... etc).

I had a problem with the A/C and I communicated with Ford and I received an identical answer to yours.

So, I figured out from my first dealing with Ford that I would need to deal with the dealership's service centre engineers and prove to them my case(s) and push them to fix them.

I also feel that very slight shake right there in the driver's seat and the RPM needle does not shake. So far it is not causing my any concerns, but your post is definitely useful to all owners, and the sad thing is that the problem is there even in the newest models (2006)! .. to me this means that Ford never look at past problems and try to avoid them in their new cars.

However, to try to contribute positively to your problem, one of my relatives went for a 2007 Tahoe and he experienced a similar shake after the first service and the dealership advised him to change the oil and use one that meets the recommendation of GM.

I hope this may help.

- ZY

 

[kmiller1029]

Bad idle in park and worse in drive

I also have a 2003 for expedition, and I am currently having issues with my truck. It is at this moment at ford dealership with no answers. The had me up to almost $1000 in diagnostics with diag yet. How can licensed ford technichians working on thier own product not be able to figure out what is wrong with the idle on my truck. Now my truck in drive definatly shakes the entire car, and every second you think it is going to quit, it is that bad. They have updated the computer, then said it worked fine, they went to lunch, came back and satrted it, and same deal with bad idle. So they say they are getting a code of mis fires, but dont know what is wrong with it. how is this possible. I have a 45k dollar truck with only 80k miles on it, and one night it ran great and then 2 days later started it in the morning and all of this has happened. I am not sure what to tell them, for I am not a mechanic....I cant continue to fork out money and approval to keep diaging it. I feel that 2 hours is plenty of time for a trained tech to diag a problem with any vehicle. They say they are waiting to hear from a tech engineer about what to do at this point. I mean what on earth do I do if they cant fix it. Just chuck a $45,000 vehicle down the drain???? I have maintenaced my truck probably more than anyone normally does, only to prevent stuff like this from happeneing. anyone out there have any suggestions on what it could be so I can tell these techs to cjeck something else. It runs rough inpark, but definatly runs way rougher in drive, to the point you wouldnt want to take it out of the driveway in fear of being stranded. And it also smells god aweful. like unburnt fuel... please help me.