Hello, new here!

Just bought an Ex, first timer. V10, 217,000 miles. Got a good deal on paper, been getting creamed at the mechanic since I got it home. I'll be doing some of the work myself to offset the pain. I'm in Maine where most Excursions are rust buckets, so I bought mine sight unseen from a North Carolina dealer. Not surprisingly I've been dealing with a myriad of undisclosed problems despite the comforting assurances of my salesman that it was a solid ride. I will say this at least, it does indeed have no rust!

Most of the issues are probably par for the course: broken power locks, sluggish power windows, broken power mirror, some peeled paint, wornish suspension parts a, road vibration over 70mph, and low tread, probably old tires. Perhaps some of you may be horrified I'm okay with these flaws, but its the power train I'm worried about. Also the thermostat was stuck open when I got it, making it run rich. I did that repair myself! You know... I did the easy one.

When I stomp on the gas it makes a terrible noise that sounds like someone blowing an air compressor through a duck call, or maybe the *** end of a subaru with a fart can on the exhaust tip- except the noise is coming from the engine bay. It only makes the noise between 3k+ RPMs, pretty much overshadows all the cool sounds of the V10.

I've got a faint exhaust odor in the cab, and theres ticking from the engine compartment while the truck warms up in the morning. It stops ticking once its warmed up. I'm just wondering if I'll get quasi lucky here and this raspy ugly noise under acceleration is that manifold making noise. I'm hoping it's not something bad like a timing chain, balance shaft, piston slap, lifters or detonation . Anyone else experience this?

If it is the manifold, what's the average mechanic's opinion on doing that job, they gonna hate it? I took a peek in there, looks tight in that engine bay. My previous ride, an old Chevy K1500 with the 350 had a lot more wiggle room under the hood!

Lots of nostalgia on this truck though, because my parents rides were a 1999 f-150 and 2000 windstar when I was a kid. Love all the carryover buttons, switches and interior accents.

 

Get on that ticking sound first! Check all your spark plugs for torque, or better yet, change all your plugs, boots and springs ASAP. I had several spark plugs that were finger tight when I had the ticking! This is the classic blow a spark plug out of the hole situation. So get on that right away.

If not that, then check your manifolds. I went ahead and tried to tighten mine a bit and broke one stud off. These are notorious for the studs rusting out or off, so be gentle.

As for the crazy sounds, maybe your exhaust is shot to hell? If you can smell exhaust, and that is not good, you better go over your exhaust system.

These are practically classic trucks now, so replacing and repairing is standard fare. These are also well known for electrical gremlins and failures on the modules, relays, switches, etc. Fortunately, most of the parts are easily available at places like RockAuto.com, Tascaparts.com, FordPartsGiant.com and many others.

Good Luck!

 

A classic indeed! I'm super ecstatic to own one, despite the introductory grief. I've been wanting one since they came out, back when I was in middle school

The truck is 1-owner, and the carfax says all the plugs were replaced at 180k

 

Welcome to the EX forum!

Even with only 40K on the plugs and it being a '00 with the short plug threads I would verify that the plugs are all torqued to 26/28-ish to prevent a blowout.
Between looking from above and through the wheelwells you should be able to count how many of the 20 exhaust manifold studs are broken. Pretty common issue with the modular motors. I would expect a shop would want between $400 and $800 depending on how many need extraction (they all need to come out and be replaced but the broken ones are more work). I only had two broken on mine when I installed my headers, did the job at home without too much drama. With the front tires off and the plastic fender liners, shocks and upper mounts removed access is vastly improved. There are a couple of threads on dealing with the broken studs up in the Tech Folder.
Could the rattle by a metal on metal vibration? Many folks have had loose exhaust heat shields make a lot of noise at certain RPM ranges as well as the front lower torque converter sheetmetal cover. For the cover simply unbolt it and take test ride, if the noise is gone give the cover a slight bend to change how it rests against the trans and reinstall it.
The Tech Folder here has tons of info on all sorts of repairs and mods for these big wagons and you should find some info on the power locks, suspension and vibration issues.