Vehicle: 2017 Expedition XLT, 4x2, 3.5 TT, HD Tow Pkg. Just over 40K miles.

Scenario: Purchased the vehicle in late November, used, from a dealer in Albuquerque, NM. Drove it west to the Grand Canyon towing our small camper (~2500 lbs.). Drove it east, back to ABQ and then to Colorado Springs and then home (Chicago) via I-76, I-80 and I-88 with the trailer. Had the backup camera fail @ the GC (covered under extended warranty) but had no other issues.

When I got home, I had my local dealer, whom I've dealt with for years, fix the backup camera, the 110v inverter outlet and flush the tranny. I know that the tranny flush was premature, based on the maintenance/service interval in the Owner's Manual, but without knowing the history of the truck, I figured it was a sensible thing to do.

Dealer addressed the issues quickly and I picked up the truck the following day. On the way home, I felt the tranny "clunk" into first gear at a stop light and the truck suddenly wouldn't move very quickly. It made no difference how hard I pressed on the accelerator, the truck would only go ~20 mph. I immediately drove back to the dealership. The Service Advisor agreed to go on a ride with me whereupon it happened again. We drove back to the dealership and the SA stuttered something about "reproducing the issue", repeatedly, so it could be diagnosed. What!? He asked a porter to ride home with me. If the truck did the same thing, again, the porter was to drop me off and bring the truck back. If it didn't happen again, I was to drive around for a bit and drop the porter off and go home (and wait for it to happen again). Luckily, it happened as we pulled out of the lot and the porter told me to re-enter the lot, using another entrance, and both of us walked back up to the SA and I just handed him the keys. The porter drove me home.

The truck was fixed the following day and has been OK since.

Aside from the frustrating response from the SA, is there some type of a 'limp' or 'safe' mode that these vehicles go into when a major component is not working properly? I know VW has this.

I'm also curious as to what they might have done, on the first go-round, to cause the tranny to act in such a way.

TIA, Dave.

 

All great questions, to ask the people that just worked on it.

There should be a limp mode but usually for an overheating issue or high trans temp.

I had my electronically controlled throttle body fail on mine so it would only idle.

 

I did and was met with blank stares. I swear no service advisor I've ever interacted with, at that dealership, has ever been a 'car guy'. It's just another job for them. Sheesh.

That makes sense but I don't think it applies, in this case. I'm going to guess that there wasn't enough fluid in the tranny or (God forbid) they used the wrong fluid (but I doubt the wrong fluid would cause immediate issues).

Again, makes sense but did your vehicle give you any other clues as to the issue? CEL, I'm hoping?

 

No CEL just no throttle response at all, idle only. Which was enough to get me off the freeway and to the dealer on the shoulder with flashers on. But if that was your problem I think even the service advisor would have been able to tell you that. My paperwork said R&R faulty Throttle Body.

 

I had very limited throttle response, it felt like I was driving in quick sand. That said, it would also zip thru the gears, like the shift points were drastically lower than normal. While I had the SA in the car, I was able to get into 6th gear while only going 35 mph. It was just bizarre.