2018 FORD EXPEDITION Complaints

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, there was a grinding sound coming from the front of the vehicle. The contact stated that the sound was more evident at the initial start-up. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed that the cam phasers had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact was informed that the failure was a known failure. The manufacturer had been made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 46,000.

The transmission will drop to 1st gear from 3rd or 4th gear. The RPM’s will rev high, the vehicle will not accelerate. This is available for inspection if you’d like to see it. I was almost rear-end when I couldn’t get the vehicle to accelerate. Another time I was on the interstate and in 10th gear, I let off the accelerator pedal and the gear went to 9th gear, as I went to push back on the accelerator to speed up and the vehicle wouldn’t shift to 10th gear and again started to slow down, I immediately got over to head towards the side of the interstate. This is going to cause me to be rear-end if I can’t accelerate when I intend to accelerate. I can recreate this issue once the transmission is over 200 degrees (operating temperature). I have talked to several dealerships and transmission technicians. They believe the CDF Drum Clutch Hub bushing has slipped. The is a 2018 model, so this was BEFORE Ford Motor Company made the updated design to stop the bushing from slipping by create a “lip” to stop the bushing. This has not be officially inspected as most dealers are telling me 30-40 days and 7-12 weeks before they can even look at it. They say their transmission tech is booked way out. This makes me wonder why… upon my research these 10r80 transmissions have this problem. Ford even corrected the design (becuase obviously it was a faulty design, otherwise Ford wouldn’t have made this updated change). It does have a code saying “Engine Not in Park”. But displays no check engine light. It throws lights and warnings when it starts to rev high and says to “see manual”. Someone needs to do some research on these 10r80 tranmissions and Ford needs to correct this faulty design on models that have the bushing slipping. It’s not right that Ford corrected it for the latest models to only leave the older model customers high and dry and in the way of danger. Ford can make this corrective action, but what will it require from the public?

Ford Motor Company David J. Johnson Service Engineering Operations He sent Customer Satisfaction Program [XXX] on November 19, 2021, to all U.S. Ford and Lincoln Dealers. This program extended the warranty coverage of the engine cam phasers. I purchased my vehicle on 11/22/21. It is my belief that this repair should have been covered by Ford/Lincoln before this vehicle was sold to me. We purchased an extended warranty protection plan (from MPP) when we purchased the vehicle. When the issue was reported to MPP they refused to cover the repair as well. It was reported to them a second time and we were told that the mileage had exceeded our plan limit and we were denied a second time. We believe that this vehicle should have been repaired before it was sold to us (Ford TSB proves that they knew this was a problem). It has not been repaired and we are faced with paying a bill of $4500-$5500 on our own. We are looking for guidance on the next steps that we should take in regard to this repair. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I've had a couple of issues with my expedition since day 1. When I click on my memory seat to adjust seat/mirror etc. the front mirrors (not the encasement) will turn in one direction and sit there and click until I manually adjust the mirror(s). Today is 10/24/23 and starting yesterday, I was in rush hour traffic and noticed my motor sounded different. Then while headed to work it just started jumping and popping in and out of gear. I am in stopped traffic at one minute and the next be going 70 mph then back to stuck in traffic. So, my fear is driving this thing and it totally failing and it causing a serious wreck to myself and others! This needs to be addressed or I will never own another Ford.

I have had issues with my Expedition not shifting gears properly/slipping gears. This usually happens during acceleration. Rpm will rise but act as if I’m in neutral and significantly reduce my speed, then with a hard thunk it will jerk my car into gear. This has happened twice on the freeway, once almost causing me to be rear-ended with my children in the car. The other car had to swerve off to the side to avoid hitting me. The dash will flash a shifting warning light and go away almost as soon as I get the chance to look at it. The other times have happened on main roads in town. Thankfully where it’s easy enough to pull off to the side when this happens. But even so, it’s starting to happen more often and at slower speeds where I’m accelerating maybe 5-10 mph faster. Just today, and the reason I am finally posting a complaint, my car slipped out of gear and when it finally slammed back into gear, the force was so strong that it whipped me forward and caused me to brake in the middle of rush hour traffic. Not only that, but it went out 2 more times on my way home and now I’m hearing a rattling noise under my car (which is probably metal shavings). The only thing on the dash this time was a yellow warning reading ‘see manual.’ This is my family vehicle that I use to transport my kids to school, sports, etc. So they are in the vehicle with me about 95% of the time. I am honestly afraid this will happen again at the wrong time while they’re in the car with me. Is Ford waiting for a death to happen before they address this issue? Just do a basic search on Expedition transmissions and it’s all over the place. So many people are having the same issue and forking out so much money to replace or have their transmissions rebuilt. I have taken my vehicle in just for them to tell me they can’t recreate the issue and therefore nothing can be done. No codes are pulling and it drives fine. Ford needs to address this and recall their 10R80 transmissions!

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated during cold starts, there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the engine compartment. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to accelerate as needed. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed a failure with the cam phasers. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. After investigating the failure, the contact related it to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N03. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 50,000.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that on start-up there was a rattling sound coming from under the hood of the vehicle. The check engine warning light intermittently illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the timing chain and VCT actuator and solenoid 02 sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was also diagnosed, and it was determined that the oxygen sensor needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 107,762.

Our 2018 Ford Expedition Max caught fire while on a test drive after repairs at Canby Ford. It completely caught fire and is a total loss. We were supposed to pick up the car an hour later. If our kids were in the car strapped into car seats, there may not have been enough time to get them out. They could have died. The mechanic who was driving saw the engine smoking and jumped out (he was at risk). The whole car was gone within 2-3 minutes. In my opinion it exploded as all the windows were blown out. The motor block melted, and the front end of the car is gone. There is a report with Canby Oregon Fire Department. Most people would assume it was overheating, get out and open the hood with their family still in the car. If that had happened people could have died. There were no check engine lights on when we took it to Ford. It was just close to the end of a warranty and there was an engine rattle we wanted fixed. Please come look at the car to investigate. It is at an independent insurance valuation company. I asked the manager of Canby Ford if he would report it to Ford Motor Company, he said no it would just go through their insurance. Ford needs to recall all of the expeditions so someone doesn't die in a fire. Ford already settled on the 2021 Ford Expedition and there are fires on older models and similar F150 Trucks. There are many reported fires without a recall. Please recall all the expeditions and investigate all the other Ford Vehicle fires swept under the rug. We don't want someone else to die due to a lack of action. The previous Ford Expedition settlement is not enough as it only covers 2021. If nothing is done, we plan to go public on the news with the photos, hopefully we can say NHTSA did something (or we can say NHTSA did nothing). Other families are at risk, they need to know to get out fast cause it could catch fire or explode. They need to not assume the engine is overheating (as I would have done 2 months ago) it could be on fire .

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 25 MPH, the transmission was slipping, and the vehicle failed to exceed 25 MPH while depressing the accelerator pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had been recurring while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission had failed. The contact stated that the dealer replaced the valve body instead, because the manufacturer warranty department declined to cover the transmission replacement. The failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.

When car is stopped, the engine dies and it reads on screen “ place car in park to restart engine”. This is not the automatic stop/start. Car has died a handful of times when in stopped traffic or at red lights. Sometimes taking several seconds to get engine running again. Brand new battery. Herb Chambers Ford dealership used diagnostics on 9/29/23 and “did not find anything broken”.