Hi all; I'm new here. I live in New Orleans. Just went thru hurricane Isaac. My 2004 Expedition 5.4L EB, which I have had for six months, has worked fine up until the time the hurricane hit. Once the storm had passed, we got into it to drive around and get more supplies, and the "check charging system" light was on. Random weird things began happening; i.e., all gauges at zero, alarm going off when the keyless unlock button was depressed, gear shift wouldn't move out of park, engine wouldn't turn over but made a ticking sound, as if a switch was turning off and on, truck would start one time but not the next, and would sometimes only start when the truck was in neutral. Now the truck has to be manually locked. Husband finally got it running long enough to drive it just around the block, and it died as soon as he pulled up to our house. He jumped the truck off of his truck, but it didn't help, and he took the battery out of his truck and put it in mine, but that didn't help either. He said he tested the alternator (he told me how but I can't remember) and said he didn't think that was the problem.

He is fairly mechanically inclined and certainly knows how to replace a battery and has always replaced the alternators in our trucks, but he says he doesn't think it is either and thinks it's something electrical.

I have found several threads on different websites regarding leaky windshields and water getting into the GEM, and problems with fuse boxes. I would like to try to narrow something down to help my husband out, because he wants to try everything he can before we take it into the shop. Possibly of note - 1. For the last few months, sometimes when I turn the ignition it takes a few seconds before the engine finally turns over and the truck starts. I only notice this during the day, and more specifically, around lunchtime, though I don't know how that could be of any significance. 2. As mentioned, this truck just sat through a hurricane in my front yard, and though I do not think it got flooded, there was driving wind and heavy rain continually for three days straight. 3. I have discovered a discoloration on the headliner around the moonroof that wasn't there before the storm. It looks as if it is wet, but doesn't feel wet to the touch, though it would have had enough time to dry. 4. Just had the AC compressor replaced, and now the rear unit solenoid has gone out. I did happen to find a thread that suggested electrical problems after bad solenoid, but not sure this is what is happening here.

Appreciate any help you can give.

 

1. To me it sounds like something or somethings got very wet and have yet to dry out.

2. The difficulty in starting you had pre-hurricane is a typical symptom of a failing fuel pump.

3. Moving above sea level will reduce these issues in the future!

 

Ha! We have contemplated a move, but it's hard to leave a city like New Orleans, and if we do move, it'd be to the Destin area, where my husband is from!

So assuming it's an issue of something being wet and needing to dry out, how long would you give it before giving consideration to something else? The storm passed several days ago, and we had two very windy but dry days right after, and now scorching heat for at least the following two days. Seems to me like that would be enough to dry it out?

Wonder if it is covered by insurance.....

 

It could easily take 1-2 weeks of warm dry weather to fully dry out.

 

The electrical issues and stained headliner tell me your moonroof drains are plugged (or at least couldn't handle the amount of rain from Isaac). When these plug, the excess water spills down into the A-pillars and gets the fuse panel wet. The fuse panel is in the passenger kick panel. Check that out for moisture, corrosion, etc.

 

Thanks for the reply. No moisture or corrosion there. As for the stained headliner... I never noticed it before, but now I think it was just made that way and it's not from water damage. The discoloration around the moonroof is exactly the same all the way around, in a perfect line.

 

It is from a leak. The uniformity is because that's where a bonding agent or glue was applied by machine in the assembly process.
I suggest that you get a small electric heater that occilates from Lowes or Home Depot and aim it so the warm air goes under the dash on both sides and leave it for a day or 2. That cleared the problem on my wife's 'Sploder.

 

Well... that would make sense... but when I called the insurance company, she asked me if water had gotten into the vehicle. I said I didn't know, and she replied, "Oh you would know if it did, believe me." There is no evidence of any water inside the vehicle. It's been closed up for days while we decide what to do - and it does not smell musty or have that telltale smell of water just hanging around, you know what I mean? The mechanic even said there would be water on the floorboards if this was the case, and there was none.

 

To be certain of there being no leak, I suggest that you take the plastic door sill off and inspect there, there is a pretty deep channel that serves as a conduit for electrical wires. If there was a leak there would be evidence of it there.

 

Here's an update. After haggling with the insurance company and not getting anywhere, my husband decided yesterday to work on it again. Once again he cleaned the battery terminals and everything associated with the battery and alternator, and he was able to get it started this time. He tested the battery and got a "bad cell" reading. I followed him to Autozone, where they tested the alternator and got an "alternator fail" code. So we bought a new battery and alternator and he will put them in today. My husband is good at fixing our trucks but he says he has never seen an alternator cause problems like this, and therefore assumed it was something more significant.

 

Hurricane strength winds and driving rain can cause some strange problems with the modern electrical systems in cars and trucks.
Are you pursuing a claim under the comprehensive portion of the policy? That usually covers unforseen acts of God, like a tree falling on your truck or water, due to damage from driving into deep puddles or even going too deep at a boat ramp.
You might want to talk with your ins. broker or agent.

 

I had been, yes. The truck was not flooded and has no body damage, but it worked perfectly before the storm and would not work at all immediately after, and after finding that the leaky windshield and water getting into the GEM was not such an uncommon issue with these trucks, and judging by the symptoms our truck was exhibiting, we really assumed that this is what had happened. But now that we know the battery and alternator are bad, we are assuming this is the extent of what needs to be fixed. I guess we will know more after this evening. I have not closed the claim yet, though.

 

Also of note - the insurance company has told me that we have to pay for towing to the shop (except that it's running now...), and we will have to sign something stating that if the issue proves to be unrelated to the storm, we are responsible for the repairs. I have never had to make a claim in all my years of driving, but I assume this is standard practice. I spoke with our regular mechanic, and he does not think this is a storm-related issue. I also consulted a good friend's trusted mechanic, and he says he has only seen this happen one other time, and he too does not think this is the issue. He even suggested that this may be an issue for which there has been a previous recall. After a little bit of digging I found that in this year/make/model there is an issue with the wire harness rubbing and it can cause the same symptoms, but it's not a safety issue and I believe it was just a TSB. It's all kind of overwhelming. My husband knows about this kind of stuff way better than I do, but he doesn't have time during the day to make phone calls and/or research things on the internet. Between the insurance company's limited help and the mechanics turning us down, it's frustrating and makes you wonder where to turn next. I'm so glad my husband decided to take another crack at it last night. We have only had this truck for six months and it's been parked for two weeks now! So I'm really hoping that the new battery/alternator combination does the trick.

 

There is a wire that crosses over one of the metal a/c lines and it has been known to rub through and short out intermittantly. He should definitely check that while changing out the alternator and battery. After reading about it a couple years ago I found mine was rubbing away, but not rubbed through. I split a piece of vacuum hose to put around it.

 

Is it the wire to a fuse? Would you believe - that was fixed on this truck a few months ago?! My mechanic mentioned that his son's friend's father drives and Expedition and brought it in one day because it wouldn't start, and it turned out to be that wire - it had rubbed and rubbed until it was broken. Mine was just starting to wear and he re-routed that wire UNDER instead of OVER, which solved the problem.