Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (fuel pump, injectors, fuel tank, hybrid and EV propulsion).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2003 Ford Expedition owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
My Ford Expedition started randomly stalling and it stalled in the highway. The engine just shut down in the middle of the highway and it was such a scary a life endangering experience. This total loss of power in the middle of the highway when vehicles are traveling at highway speeds can cause death very, very easily to the occupants of the Ford Expeditions suffering this defect. I have been reading in many forums ( I have included the link to one of many forums) this is a common defect [redacted] ) many have Ford Expedition owners have experienced and have been very concerned and shocked that there was not recall. The issue is that the R303 relay (non serviceable fuel pump relay) fails very commonly on Ford Expeditions. In my Ford Expedition, the relay was melted. The fuel pump relay fails and cuts all current going to the fuel pump causing the engine to stall. …
Fuel pump relay shorted out in motion. Highway and city streets. Steering locks up engine just dies in motion. Super dangerous and scary replaced fuse box and same thing happened again. No power steering engine just dies in motion. So scary on highway 75 MPH.
Take a look: http://sparkys-answers.com/2011/03/2003-Ford-Expedition-no-run-no-fuel.html my father's car is registering a p0231 code. My mechanic was thinking it was the charging system. (no code was registered for a period of 2 months.) today, it pulled a p0231 code. Much to my surprise there seems to be factual things documented all over the internet. I am taking the car to cherokee auto tech. Vincent nguyen is a register sae tech with a mechanical enginering degree. He also discovered the ignition cylinder on my 2003 Pontiac grand am before it was an issue... This car is not any different. During high periods of driving, the solder "heats up" and stalls the gas. When the car cools off, the solder solidifies and current capacity to the fuel pump resumes... The fuse is not protecting the trace. You have complaints on your website on this model also. Even youtube videos.... …
I was driving on highway 12 west. As I turned onto a road, I noticed smoke coming from under my hood. My 8-year-old said, " what is that smell?" I told her that it is coming from under the hood of the vehicle. At this particular time, I turned the truck around and went to the nearest quick store. The man inside looked under my hood and used water to put on the "hood blanket". There was a hole in it above the brake fluid reservoir. The man kept putting water on it until it stopped smoking. At this particular time, he told me that me and little girl were lucky. I knew that it could have gotten worse. It was cold and if I were not close to the store I probably would have stayed in the vehicle to stay warm. I am so glad that I turned around and took a chance on getting to the nearest store. …
Fuse relays keep burning out! I have brought over 10 relays in 2 weeeks. I have done my research and this is a common problem with all 2003 fords and is very exspensive to fix. I was shocked to find that it has not been recalled! There are videos on you tube to prove that all of these trucks have this problem. I was told I had to replace the entire fuse box but eventually I will have the same problem out of that fuse box because thus is a defect in all 2003 Ford expeditions. The car cuts off while driving and has almost caused me to be in 2 very dangerous car accidents! It has stopped on me on the highway and street! When I saw that this is a very common problem with the fuel emmision relays and the fuse box I decided to file this complaint in order to get this recalled!
I was having problem my car of it losing power until one day it just lost power completely at a stop light I was lucky I was waiting for the light to turn green so I quickly put on my emergency blinkers and I was luckily no one hit me from behind this was around 8:30 p.m. My car had to be towed to the mechanic well it was at the mechanic I went ahead and google what happened with my car and I came across a whole bunch of complaints from the cars doing the same thing my car was doing but I found out a lot of people ended up wasting a lot of money to figure out at the end what the problem was if you're traveling on the freeway and this happens you can be in serious trouble I think this should be a recall and investigate on this part
2003 Ford Expedition xlt 4.6 fuse box fail fuse pump relay burn, on 01/14/2015 while the truck was in motion on the 5fwy going 70 miles the truck shot off luckily my wife was able to pull to the emergency lane with out hitting any other car on the fwy. I replace the fuse box for another used one that I bought at a junk yard,the truck run got for a year , on 01/05/2016 it happen again while driving the truck on the 118 fwy going 75 the truck shut off again same problem fuse box , fuse relay is burn in have post it 3 videos on you tube look for 2003 Ford Expedition xlt 4.6 cranks won't start is under javalosrealestate
This has happened 3 times, first time stopped at a red light, when foot was put onto gas to go vehicle instantly lost power with no stuttering or stalling and had to put in park turn key over to go again. Second time, going 65 down the highway vehicle suddenly acted like it lost power and speed decreased, pulled over to side of highway and put in park and started right up. Third time, going 65 down highway started to act like it was losing power and showed dash lights as if all power was cut short and then gained all power back without having to pull over and restart.
Truck shut off at 60mph towing a camper because my fuel pump relay blew because of a defect in the fuse box!! Almost killed us........ Not happy at all. I've spoken to many mechanics and been on many forums and this seems to be a wide spread and dangerous issue Ford should take care of. Spoke with the local Ford parts department and they are aware of the issue. This is not a cheap part by any means, but on top of that it almost killed my wife and family! Please do something about this defect. I can send you pictures of the fuse box board so you can see the burns.
The truck would just turn off while driving at 55 or 60 miles an hour , no steeringwas on highway ,no brakes put in neural to get to side of road with cars all around me .this has happened 3 times, then it would not start at all when fulled up with gas, had to be towed, then when I was down to 1/4 tank ,would not turn over, had gas in it too, but would not start, had to be towed in shop now again 3rd time ,had problems with the door agar going off had senor replaced still comes up
Fuel System complaints in other Expedition years
Frequently asked questions
How common are fuel system problems on the 2003 Ford Expedition?
NHTSA has 38 complaints about the fuel & propulsion system of the 2003 Ford Expedition, 6% of the model year's 615 complaints. The component named most often is storage › tank assembly (2 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2003 Ford Expedition fuel system problems?
No. NHTSA lists no fuel & propulsion system recall for the 2003 Ford Expedition, though it has 1 recall for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2003 Ford Expedition fuel system problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 124,000 miles, and 13% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 3 fires and 0 injuries to fuel & propulsion system problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.