Took the kids down to the creek today and my wife kicked back in the truck and listened to the radio for just under an hour while we swam. Come back to start the truck up, first thing I notice is the gauges pegged, then started to come back down, but stopped in the middle of coming down and the truck had no power to anything. A few seconds later, they returned to normal and I tried to start. Starter solenoid clicks, then all power goes out. Checked battery voltage(12.6V) and voltage going to solenoid (12.6V). I noticed the battery terminals as well as the starter solenoid were very warm. The truck has a small amp installed for a small subwoofer. I'm sure all the electrical current passing from the battery through the solenoid must have made it hot?? I still have not been able to get it to start, it's been around an hour since it first happened, and now everything acts normal (as far as the power and gauges) until I try to crank the motor, then the solenoid just clicks. Did I fry the solenoid, or does it sound like maybe another electrical issue?

 

Sounds like you either have a bad battery or a bad connection to the battery.

 

Swapped in a known good battery (deep cycle off my boat) and still had the same issue. Swapped batteries back and tried cranking it and all was good. Started right up, drove it around a bit, parked it, shut it off, started it again a few more times to be sure. Don't know what happened there,,, maybe heat-soak on the solenoid?? Like I said, it was hot and the negative post on the battery was very hot.

This is my first Expedition, and I gotta say, I love the truck, plenty of room, and it seems like it was ahead of it's time on the interior. Always wanted one, never could afford one LOL. At just over 150k on the clock, it runs like a top and is very very clean inside and out. Thanks for the reply!

 

That is what happened to my navigator on the beginning and it's now been sitting for 3 months. Make sure you check your fuse boxes inside and out. Don't just look at the fuses but test the box as well. Trust me if they are bad, you just saved much time and headache. This is a known issue with Ford trucks.

 

There's nothing wrong with his fuses or the fuse box. His symptoms are of bad/dirty battery connections and, if cleaning them properly doesn't work, new cables will be needed. He overheated them by running the high-powered amp for too long.

 

Those we're my thoughts exactly. Will be installing new cables this afternoon.

 

True I was just stating with his truck that this is a big problem.