I have an '03 Expedition with ~80,000 miles. It is my wifes primary car. Twice now she has been driving and the engine completely cuts out. The gauges and raidio stay on but the engine, power steering and such cut out. From what she says the car does not sputter at all, it just dies. Also the car has an electronic kill switch that was installed by the dealer, she cant remember if she had to press the kill switch button to start the car again.

The first time this happened I drove the car for about two weeks after. Then we took a trip (~700 miles) without issue. Another month after the trip is when it happened again. I need to know where to start looking for issues. I havent done much more than clean the battery posts and connectors. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

-Ezra

 

first off, will it start after it dies?
if so does it take a wile to start?
when it dies, is there a power loss? as in horse power.
is your fuel level low or high when it dies?

 

Unfortunetly it hasnt cut on me at all. This information is coming from my wife and she is in panic mode when it happens.

-first off, will it start after it dies?
The car starts up right away when after it dies.

-if so does it take a wile to start?
It starts up without hesitation.

-when it dies, is there a power loss? as in horse power.
I havent noticed any performance type issues (I'm driving it now).

-is your fuel level low or high when it dies?
I just spoke with her and she seems to remember the first time it didnt have much gas, and this morning I had to put 23 gallons in it. She is famous for running down the tank, letting the car reminder to fill up. What effect does this have on the car?

Thank you so much for the help....

-Ezra

 

My wife also runs down the tank as well. last week i started it up and it allmost died on me. but it kept running all tho it felt like a 350 with a mild cam. kinda loping and shacking. come to find out it had trash in the tank and it clogged a injector. because the tank was very low it sucked some trash.

 

If it was running out of gas or a fuel realted problem it would sputter.[ul]
[/ul]I think it could be the kill switch.

 

just joined ur site.

I had this problem before. Car died a couple of times but when you start it seems to be no problem. Ford checked it and they said that the battery is weak. True enough when i changed it the problem never recurred. Its been 3 months now.

Hope this helps

 

I also am having a similar problem that just started happening. '03 Expo with 179,000 mi. While cruising down the highway the ignition (#102) fuse blows & the car dies. Replace the fuse, & life is good again. Doesn't happen on bumpy roads (which logically would make a shorted wire "contact") or slower speeds. This Sat I drove 30 miles of washboard gravel road....no prob. Hit the paved highway, cruising at 75, the fuse blew. Started right up with new fuse & 10 min. later it blew again.
Any ideas?