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They DID lower the tire pressure to 37 PSI, as the factory sent the Contitracs to the dealership with 47 PSI. This over-pressure was apparently causing problems as I have not experienced this problem again. Most of the time the truck is smooth as silk on the highway.
One thing I've noticed in the short time I've owned it (150 miles) is that the Expy has more "road feel" than other vehicles I've owned. Personally, I like this but I can see where some may not.
Other than some minor niggling things, I really like my 2004 EB.
-TG
Some days it runs fine some days it does not and acts as if a spark plug wire has failed or fell off(I understand it does not have spark plug wires as such) I have cleaned the battery posts and cleaned the
injection air box with a recommended cleaner. Some days it also would not Idle at initial startup. Are these problems inter related or isolated? Appreciate any ideas or suggestions
It felt weird to not have the dealer replace 2 tires after the first week. Toyotas may cost more, but I'll make it up in the gas I save not driving to and from a Ford dealer.(Take your pick tried 3)Any way the best way to fix your 03 exp A series is to to buy a Sequoia. In my book, FORD QUALITY IS JOB NONE.
Like I said, the Sequoia is a great truck, and if 0 defects is your goal, you have the right truck. For me, a truck with some engineering, features and great looks are my personal preference, but then, I have had none of the issues you had.
with the huge amount of money I saved over the sequioa and the much higher level of equipment, better ride, better handling, better safety equipment, seat air-conditioning for TX, better carrying capability and more practical storage conigurations, I beleive I made a wiser choice. The sequioa was nice, but not at all nicer over the road. If I still did a lot of off-roading as I did in my eplorer, then the toy might have been my chioce. It clearly wins on that side of the coin.
The three toy dealers were also much less straightforward in what they were attempting to charge me than either of the two fords dealers I approached. that experience made me concerned that the relationship with the dealer post-sale would be much more tenuous. basically, they were far less trustworthy when they spoke of things I knew to be untrue.
Having saved over 5 grand for a far better equipped ride, I am confident that re-investing in a far longer warranty package from ford over the standard term for either manufacturers will be wise. Will still be much further in the black and assured of maintenance and roadside coverage for my family. BTW, just completed a 3000 mile family trip and averaged 17.1 mpg in 80% highway, 20% city driving. it was 18 mpg on the highway en route to our destinations in our 4x4. (keep my tire pressure at the recommended 35 psi.)
Hope you have a great experience with your new truck and wish all new vehicle buyers no stress over build quality issues.
Although price was the final swing for us, the straw that pushed the decision to Ford was the stories our neighbors told about Toyota's "customer service" and the problems they were having with a new mini-van order. These folks ordered a new van to be built so that the new van would arrive at about the same time the lease was up on their Volvo station wagon. The new car build was weeks and weeks overdue - Toyota's fault not the dealership. These folks naturally called Toyota because now they had a problem, and the reps they talked to on the phone were actually rude to them about it. It seems to be some butt kissing is in order when a person is spending north of 45K on a new vehicle, but Toyota didn't see it that way. I wonder how they'll get treated if there are problems down the road.
rear end would be replaced under warranty becasue of the obvious noise and the fact the rear end was in the serial number range giving trouble. Even small dealership had done several already.
Post 686 (if I copied down the correct number), don't worry too much about the shaking. First, the new Exoedition's R&P steering is simply doing its job. Second run the heck out of the Contitrac TR OEMs and believe it or not the steering wheel shake will be gone. My 2003 had been parked in a field or non paved area for several months before delviery---the steering wheel shook like crazy for the first few miles. Now same old tires do not shake at all. Upgrade to another brand or go for some sort of tire warranty on the OEM TRs. Pretty terrible OEM tires. Tirerack.com guy claims new Firestone Destination is very smooth on the 2003-04 Expeditions, good buy, and you get most of the new Bridgestone tire technology. Anyone tried the Destination tire on Expedition?
NVBanker hangin' in there?
to me, tire maintenance is the key to both long life & safety. I keep mine at 1 lb over recommended psi and check every 2 weeks. tires are rotated every 5000 miles and aligned if needed.
That said; we had 500's' on a marshmellow-sprung mid 70's Mercury Montego (ugh!). I would not brand-preferentially buy a Firestone brand tire (like, say, a michelin)...there would have to be a reason other than price alone (usually there are lots of similar priced choices for a vehicle anyway)
We had an early in the year 77 T/B during fall of 76 strike. It had the Firestone 500 tires and silver paint and a bad transmission. Take your pick as to which was the worst. However overall the 77 T/B gave us good value and very high miles at time kids were young, money tight. Vehicle looked great after old Torino Elite, etc. of that era. Dealers and others offered to buy 77 T/B at full sticker price just to have one during the strike.
Looking at new 2004 Expedition NBX due to deals on interest rate, rebates. Looking at NBX with 2nd center seat deleted (2nd row Captain Chairs something) at a lovely MSRP price of $530. Two tacky armrests added for the $530. No credit for 2nd row center seat delete part. Outside 2nd row seats same. Anyway the NBX model feels "lighter" , less load
on steering wheel than 2003 FX4. Better, less huge truck feel in 2004 NBX. Any insights as to why? New 4R75W with larger torque converter. Wondering about basic spring rate change from 2003 FX4 to 2004 NBX, possible power steering change for 2004? Tires same Conti TR. Feel when driving is different and does not seem to be accounted for by center seat (20% part) delete in the 2004 NBX.
I am not very pleased with the Conti-tracks myself. On a 40K+ vehicle I would have thought a little higher quality was in order. This fall I'm going to replace these things with Nokian Vatiivas. Then life will be good in the Expy.
One of my Cont. TRs seems to have developed a fairly severe "radial pull" around 30.000 that I know was not in it earlier. Alignment checks have revealed nothing at all after an early very minor toe-in correction. The tire is on the rear and really should be in the scrap heap. I noticed my spare is the Cont SUV instead of the
slightly different Cont TR OEM on the ground. I thought mine might be from something the dealers guys might have done until saw that some new 2004 4wd Expedition inventory had same TRs on ground and the Cont SUV model as the spare. ???
It is hard for me to say that Cont TR is a low mileage tire. Mine are at 37,500 plus and just yesterday a manager at a large Ford dealership said they did not need to be replaced for him to sell my unit on his front row retail. Lots of tread left at least assuming the carcass holds up. Similarly, last week I saw a set of Cont. SUV on 2003 2wd Expedition that had some usable tread left after 54,000 miles.
Love to find some Ford website for specs on steering ratio for 2003 Expedition versus 2004 Expedition per post 712 above. My 2003 FX4 is just plain hard, annoying to steer, especially after some time behind the wheel.
not working every once in a while. It generally
works 99% of the time , but about 1 or twice a
week it doesn't move forward when inserting the
ignition key. A manual adjustment is necessary
and the EZ enter adjustment is always set to on
in the message center.
soon to be in production. Lots of new Expedition inventory on the dealer lots from August to November 2003 production dates.
In the early going, not crazy about 20.1 steering ratio for 2004 Expedition. Harder to park in tight places. New ratio perhaps a bit more comfortable, safer at speed on interstate. But, takes away benefit of crisp R&P for high skill drivers. Maybe 20.1 safer for less experienced drivers? 18.1 or 19.1 might have have been better choices.
New 4R75W behind 5.4L seems to be dramatic improvement over 4R70W and 5.4L. 4R75W seems to change down correctly, shows true performance ability of 5.4L which is substantial even in 2V version. Excellent hill climbing, etc. Looking forward to towing performance.
Getting used to 2nd row captains chairs. Anyone seen a "hot" aftermarket console that would be good for 2nd row in Expedition. Maybe an in an out model of some kind. Got manual third row which allows seats to be rasied easily from aisle between 2nd row captain chairs. Third row power still major cool for most.
Finally, skipped limited-slip rear this time. Previous FX4 with l.s. seemed to hop sideways backing in 4wd in wet grass,etc. Same rear end hop in parking garage sharp turns in 2wd setting. Limited slip great straight ahead off slick boat ramps, but pain turning. Any comments on this one?
The navigation radio appears to malfunction due to overheating. It was replaced for this concern once (but it has not been consistently hot & sunny since the repair until now); it is now showing the same symptoms again.
The GPS will not "lock" (i.e. the compass go from red to yellow to white) and place the vehicle correctly on the map. Apparently, after cooling off, it works again. The navigation CD after ejection & face of the unit feel quite warm when I observe the problem.
The unit even has a fan on the housing (hidden in dashboard space) to cool it sort of like a computer (it is a computer!).
Apparently most Dealer repair shops don't diagnose these things too carefully --- just swap them out with a reconditioned unit. Are the nav radios failure prone or problematic?... comments/performace/experiences anyone???(especially folks in hot states!)
Vehicle Navigation Radio (VNR) is made by Visteon for Ford. The built-in self test shows OK.
I checked the TSBs at motorcraft.com & nothing was there.
Comments anyone?