Ford Repair in Denver

Our 2005 Expedition is up and running dependably again - FINALLY!!!

Have you ever heard from a mechanic that your car’s problem will have to get worse to be diagnosed? You may have thought that the mechanic was lying to you. You may have even thought that the mechanic was just not very good. We tell people this all the time and often they get mad at us or even doubt our skills.

The truth of the matter is that cars with intermittent problems are the hardest to diagnose - period. Recently, we encountered a car with an extremely intermittent problem that was very hard to diagnose. That car just happens to be our own 2005 Ford Expedition with the 5.4L V8 engine.

At first, our Expedition would randomly not start on the first try, but only on cold mornings. It would always start on the second or third try, but we never knew when it would act up. Any day the temperature was over 35˚ the car would start dependably! Every time we were able to get it to act up, it would run perfect as soon as we hooked it up to test equipment. The Expedition would start and run perfect for up to a week, then just not start on the first try when you least expect it to.

Every time we tested the car’s computer system it passed with flying colors! There were no diagnostic codes to work with. We basically had no idea where to start looking for a problem that only happened once in a while. This is when we knew we would have to drive the car until one day it just wouldn’t start at all or the malfunction was at least reproducible.

After about 3 weeks of driving the car and never knowing when it would leave us stranded, it finally totally quit running! Luckily, it decided to no longer run in our driveway, so we had it towed to our shop. With the Expedition no longer running at all, it only took about 30 minutes to determine the cause.

A Simple Fix

This entire nerve racking time of never knowing if it would just die out any second was caused by a simple little relay. Sometimes the relay worked and sometimes it would not. Unfortunately, this one little relay is built into an expensive central junction box. The central junction box is basically the fuse box for the entire car! In the central junction box there are a multitude of relays and fuses, most relays are replaceable, the fuel pump relay is not. The fuel pump relay that was causing our problem had no visual signs of failure, and tested good every single time we checked it! Now after many weeks of frustration, a $400 fuse box fixed the problem and we have our beloved Expedition back on the road again! Most importantly, I have a happy wife again!

At Mastermind Enterprises Auto Care, we understand why you get frustrated when your car is broken down. We are not exempt from frustrating car repairs, either. Please understand when your car is having a frustrating problem, it is not always the mechanic's fault if it cannot be diagnosed.

Be kind to the mechanic. The mechanic is only there to help you get your car back on the road. Honesty is guaranteed at our shop! We do our best to get you back on the road as quickly as possible! If you are in Denver and need auto repair, call us today at 303-297-2886 or email us!