john86heath
New Member
Hi All, New member and new owner of a 2010 Expedition XLT with the 5.4 Triton and 6-Speed auto in a tight spot. Purchased the vehicle in July of 23' (Super clean with 1 previous owner) with a salvage title & 32,000 miles. Vehicle had suffered light front end damage (pre repair pic attached), no airbags were deployed and radiator did not crack during the crash according to the mom and pops repair shop / small dealer I purchased it from in Denver. All that was replaced was a front bumper, grill, headlights, and as a preventative measure, they replaced the radiator with a new unit with a lifetime warranty from 1800 Radiator. I had the vehicle professionally inspected by my ford dealer in Salida, CO and basically begged them to change all the fluids and take my money, but but their master tech said all the fluids looked great and given the low mileage, there was no reason to change them yet. The vehicle ran flawlessly for 8,000 miles. I was stoked, i had a relatively new looking and driving 7 pass SUV for $14k paid in cash.
Shortly after the new year I noticed gear hunting at low speeds and low rpms (35-40 mph). The vehicle had recently towed a 18 foot tandem axle covered trailer for about 30 miles to help us move, it maybe weighed 5,000 lbs loaded, and the expedition handled the task without issue. About a week later on a particularly cold single digit morning, RPMs started to fluctuate at low speeds from 1000-1600 rpms and there was a slight shudder/pulsing as it ran through the range of gears. It felt like the trans couldn't make up its mind on 4th 5th or 6th. There's no check engine light. I brought it to my local tranny shop, they hooked up their computer and said there's had a misfire on 3, 7 and 8 before discovering that there was a large amount of trans fluid in the engine coolant, and presumably a cross contamination of engine coolant in the trans. The trans shop fully flushed the cooling system and transmission. They dropped the pan, and replaced the fluids and filter. They told me my trans had minimal engine coolant in it and may survive, but it was unlikely due to the chemical reaction with internals. Kept my fingers crossed.
1800 radiator sent a warrantied replacement radiator right away, and took the old one back for testing (to confirm the trans cooler actually ruptured inside the radiator), I'm still waiting on the actual verdict. They have a lifetime guarantee on their radiators... but TBD on subsequent damage.
The truck drives normal for the most part at speeds above the 35 - 40 mph. You can fully floor it and there's no misses. But when you loaf along at low speeds 35-40 mph the tranny hunts, paired with a grumbling that sounds like it's emitting from the passenger side of the trans tunnel. It almost sounds like I'm dragging an inner wheel well but not quite that pronounced. I did stick my head under there for a dummy check and see nothing visibly wrong.
I took it to another shop who's known for their prowess with Fords, and when they plug their scanner there's nothing logged for the misfires. They only saw one instant of a slight miss on #6. Again there's no check engine light. They told me to drive it for as long as i can in the 35-40 mph range on low grades to replicate the behavior and that eventually a check engine light will pop so they can diagnose.
If I use the tow/haul button, the hunting seems to go away considerably 98%, but the trans tunnel grumbling noise continues. My hope is that 1800 radiator will stand behind their product and subsequent damages, but I'm not getting my hopes up. What would you do? I paid $14k for the truck and was planning to ride this low mileage beauty into the sunset for all my family and camper hauling needs.
Shortly after the new year I noticed gear hunting at low speeds and low rpms (35-40 mph). The vehicle had recently towed a 18 foot tandem axle covered trailer for about 30 miles to help us move, it maybe weighed 5,000 lbs loaded, and the expedition handled the task without issue. About a week later on a particularly cold single digit morning, RPMs started to fluctuate at low speeds from 1000-1600 rpms and there was a slight shudder/pulsing as it ran through the range of gears. It felt like the trans couldn't make up its mind on 4th 5th or 6th. There's no check engine light. I brought it to my local tranny shop, they hooked up their computer and said there's had a misfire on 3, 7 and 8 before discovering that there was a large amount of trans fluid in the engine coolant, and presumably a cross contamination of engine coolant in the trans. The trans shop fully flushed the cooling system and transmission. They dropped the pan, and replaced the fluids and filter. They told me my trans had minimal engine coolant in it and may survive, but it was unlikely due to the chemical reaction with internals. Kept my fingers crossed.
1800 radiator sent a warrantied replacement radiator right away, and took the old one back for testing (to confirm the trans cooler actually ruptured inside the radiator), I'm still waiting on the actual verdict. They have a lifetime guarantee on their radiators... but TBD on subsequent damage.
The truck drives normal for the most part at speeds above the 35 - 40 mph. You can fully floor it and there's no misses. But when you loaf along at low speeds 35-40 mph the tranny hunts, paired with a grumbling that sounds like it's emitting from the passenger side of the trans tunnel. It almost sounds like I'm dragging an inner wheel well but not quite that pronounced. I did stick my head under there for a dummy check and see nothing visibly wrong.
I took it to another shop who's known for their prowess with Fords, and when they plug their scanner there's nothing logged for the misfires. They only saw one instant of a slight miss on #6. Again there's no check engine light. They told me to drive it for as long as i can in the 35-40 mph range on low grades to replicate the behavior and that eventually a check engine light will pop so they can diagnose.
If I use the tow/haul button, the hunting seems to go away considerably 98%, but the trans tunnel grumbling noise continues. My hope is that 1800 radiator will stand behind their product and subsequent damages, but I'm not getting my hopes up. What would you do? I paid $14k for the truck and was planning to ride this low mileage beauty into the sunset for all my family and camper hauling needs.
