My 2003 Expedition, 5.4L, has never died or failed to start in the 13 years I have had it. Yesterday after work it failed to start and . Had it towed home. I sprayed starting fluid into the air cleaner opening and it fired up momentarily. You don't hear the initial fuel pump come on when the key is turned on. So naturally I figured it is the infamous R303. Was able to remove the fuse box assembly and take it apart. Relays look fine and don't really see an open at the coil. I haven't pulled any out yet to measure outside the circuit.
Questions: Has anyone had the relay go bad without intermittent problem, just fails to start the first time. Also my cruise control quit working years ago and no fuses are open. R302 is Speed Control Relay. Has anyone had this one go bad?

 

Just to cover all the bases, have you tried pulling the fuel pump relay, placing a jumper wire between pin 30 & 87 in the relay socket and then seeing if she'll start? Relays do wear out, their contacts get dirty/corroded inside, so it's probably not a bad idea to have a couple extras in the truck in case of Murphy's Law. I can't recall which is the fuel pump relay on 99+ trucks, but the small ones use 0.187" terminals, the bigger cube ones have 0.250" ones. A little fishing utility box like this is very useful for emergency electrical stuff like fuses, relays, terminals and test wires
Plano® Micro Magnum Double - sided Fishing Utility Box - 225416, Tackle Boxes at Sportsman's Guide

To test a relay out of the truck, grab a multimeter and do the following:
test for continuity between pin 30 and 87a, it should read under 1 ohm. Repeat for 30-87, it'll read infinite (no connection)
Put battery positive to pin 85 and negative to 86 to energize the coil, repeat both of the above. You should <1 ohm for 30-87 and infinite for 30-87a.

If it doesn't read exactly like above, replace it. Relays are cheap enough.

 

Fuel pump relay on an 03 5.4 is inside the fuse box, soldered on the board.
Cost me approx $20 and some soldering...

 

Yeah the Fuel pump relay is R303 inside the fuse box. I have the circuit board pull out and I'm taking it to my job tomorrow to desolder and remove the relay. I'll probably remove R302, Cruise control relay, as well and compare the resistances. I'll also connect it to 12 VDC and check to see if switch closes. I ordered another relay off ebay today. It's just almost all posts say they were having intermittent faults before it died completely and they could see it burned. Mine didn't do either. And I haven't heard of anyone losing their cruise control to R302. It would be nice if I could fix both. But I only ordered one relay.

 

Interesting, I did not know about this difference, you both get rep points Is this inside the dash fuse box (Junction Box) or under the hood (Power Distribution Box)? On my 97, it's under the hood and is a regular Bosch-type relay, so I apologize if I came across as rude in such. Since that's not the case with an 03, perhaps you'd make a small how-to on cracking open the box to replace it? I attempted to open the Junction Box on my truck to re-route a couple of circuits but got stuck. Maybe you can show me what I was doing wrong.
How much current does the fuel pump draw? The only similar example I have to draw from is a RX7 wiper switch which has a 8A PCB relay inside it. Those are Omron part# G6C-2114P-US-DC12, yours is probably similar. Digikey has them for under $10 each

 

First try resetting the fuel pump shut-off switch as shown in this PDF. If that doesn't fix it then remove the panel from around the switch and test to see if power is getting back there. Use a test light or an analog meter because the power only comes on for a couple of seconds once the key is turned to ON and the engine isn't started. A digital meter doesn't respond fast enough.

 

I did push the fuel pump inertia switch before calling the tow truck. Once I had it home the next day after verifying it fired with starting fluid, I pulled out the fuse box and opened it up. The board looks okay but I ordered another relay off Ebay. I should get it tomorrow. If that doesn't fix it I'll start tracing down the voltage to the pump.
Hey TRAVIS S. Sold my son's Mazda RX8 last month with 105,000 on it. It was a fun car but the Genesis Rotary is lucky to make it to 120K. Got a 2014 Mustang V6. Need a reliable Ford. Uses regular gas and gets 26 MPG or better and is fast too. After getting all I could get done on the Expy I pulled the cam shaft out of my 1972 Mustang Convertible and ordered another. The cam lobes and lifters weren't worn but the gear was flat on one side and wouldn't turn the distributor 20% of the time which won't work for a distributor car. I'll get the Cleveland going again which should hold it until I can put a Coyote 5.0 in it. When you drive old cars you need a few and keep them all running so you always have back up.

 

Sounds like the RX8 needed driven MUCH harder. A redline a day keeps the carbon away Plus, it does need a few things done from the start to work properly. I'll try to paraphrase it as briefly as possible:
Marine Battery Terminals
D585 ignition coils (the Black Halo Racing kit is a great investment)
09+ (N3Z1 prefix) starter
AGM Battery (Deka Intimidator is what I swear by)

My friend Matt had a 04 RX-8 as well, which hit 100k but was having some difficulty starting at times. It's a known problem amongst the well-versed rotary owners, a result of poor quality coils from Mazda, dirt cheap stock terminals and a starter that is somewhere in the gray area. It's just running too small of a margin, so it doesn't take much to push it over the edge.
With those 3 modifications, it was a night and day difference. Only reason he sold it was to finish his two FDs along with my 20B FC. Nothing quite like rebuilding an engine and filming the service manual as you go since there's no documentation in English. I haven't translated it yet...

On my 20B RX7, I've flogged the f**k out of my D585 coils, running 10:1 AFRs and they just keep firing no matter what I throw at them. Same with my Deka Intimidator battery, it just won't die!!! After being completely drained to under 10 volts it at least 70 times and recharged on a conventional Walmart charger, it keeps coming back for more. Maybe after dealing with the RX7, I'll make a D585 conversion kit for the Expy

A well-thought out emergency kit can mitigate almost any roadside unhappiness. With what's in my RX7's kit (it fits in the storage bin), the only things it can't handle are catastrophic failures which would absolutely require a tow truck and going under the car. For example, I had to replace my old FD fuel pump with a spare Walbro 255 one in a parking lot. Had it done in 30 minutes. PDF service manuals and wiring diagrams on one's phone are really useful too, just part of being consciously aware of Murphy's Law

 

But anyway back to the Expedition, I replaced R303, put it all back together and I still have the same no start condition. My circuit board and relay looked just fine before I removed it and the internal coil measured 200 ohms like the new one.
I'm going to check at the fuel inertia switch next. Does anyone have a wiring diagram for the 2003? It seems like the 2003 is unique to the other models.

 

See attached PDF.

 

I had this problem on my 06 Expedition - got stranded out at a ski hill after a day of skiing and had to be towed back to town.

In the end it was the fuel pump control module (not sure of the exact name) - it is a module mounted to the frame rail on the passenger side (i.e. exposed to the elements). Mine had corroded so bad on the backside (facing the rail) that the circuit board was visible in two places!

I've heard a rumour that this is not universally used on all vehicles, only on those that have a pressure-controlled fuel pump (as opposed to one that always pumps, with excess fuel returning via a separate hose). I don't see this module on the 03 wiring diagram so it probably doesn't apply to you... (but might help somebody else reading the thread!).





Fuel Pump Control Module - corroded through on 2006 Expedition Limited.

 

Thanks for info on Fuel Pump Control Module. That part is not on 2003. 2003 uses Mechanical single line fuel system and either in 2004 or 2005 Ford went to Electronic single line fuel system with variable fuel pump using the FPCM which is mounted in the back where the elements can get to it.

I'm about to get back on this issue so I will post the fix once I get it working again.

Working on cars is like playing football...Winners never quit, Quiters never win.

 

Okay, I finally convinced myself it was the fuel pump. I pulled the back panel off so I could get to the Fuel Inertia switch easier. I pulled the connector off and jumpered across it, no help. Switch is okay. Then I jumpered 12 VDC to the pink wire going to the pump and didn't hear anything or get any pressure on a fuel pressure gauge I connected to the fuel rail.
So I pulled the gas tank. The hose clamps are hard to get to and the fuel line connectors are tricky to get apart but do not require any special tools. Once the fuel tank was out I connected power to the fuel pump with jumpers from the 12VDC power plug in the back. No sound or pumping with the old pump. I had ordered a new Delphi pump from Autozone. Good price at $265 with their 20% off offer and no shipping charge. Ford wanted $650. Once the new pump was in the tank, I connected it to 12VDC and it worked, pumped the rest of the gas out of the tank before installing it again.

Put the tank back in with help from my big sons. Finally got all hoses on and gas lines back together. Tried to start it and it started right up! It took me all month but I didn't spend money on parts I didn't need or give up and have it towed to the shop.

All that I read on here and Youtube says the problem they had was R303 in the fuse box. Mine looked fine with no discoloration on the board at all. I replaced the fuse with one on Ebay for $20 before turning my attention to the fuel pump. I have the fuse that came out. I may install it for R302, the speed control relay, since my cruise control quit working years ago.

My Expedition never exhibited a intermittent problem at all. Started every time for 13 years until I got off work on Feb 1 and it just cranked and wouldn't start. A coworker told me the same thing happened to his Tahoe when he was on vacation. He had it towed to the dealer and it was the fuel pump, $900.

 

Thanks for reporting back with the conclusion!

 

I was told that many times you can get a fuel pump in the gas tank going a time or two by beating on the bottom of the gas tank where the fuel pump sits. I think this is done while someone else turns the key on. We tried this on my sons car but we didn't know to turn the key on while beating on it and we were not successful. I keep this in my memory and perhaps it will save me a tow someday if I can reach the gas tank. Patrick