OK I made the jump - Now I have a few questions

[borourke]

Hello All:

First off let me state that I have never been what you would call a Ford "Enthusiast", but I made the plunge this week and decided to buy a 2004 Excursion EB 4x4 with the V10.

I went with the Excusrion because I like SUVs vs. Pickup and I needed something that could handle my boat and camper. I was pulling them with my Durango until now, but it was working harder then I would have liked. The Durango had a 9,000 towing capacity and my boat and camper are within that range, but I feel like I needed more, plus upgrades are always possible.

Funny thing is I traded in my 2002 Honda for the Excursion, my own little FU to the Cash for Clunker Program and it's inventor! I can't figure out why I did not get my check for $4,500????????

Anyway here are my questions:

1. When I took the vehichle on Friday everything worked, by Sunday the first thing to go was the Trip computer. The screen is just dead. I did research on this fourm prior to purchasing and I remember one of the common issues discussed was bad grounding in the electronics. Does this seem to be the problem or is this a common problem that others may have seen in the passed and know how to fix?

2. Yesterday the backup assist warning system stopped functioning. Whenever I go into reverse the light goes right to off, and it can not be turned on. This worked when I did my test drive, and now it appears to be broke. Any ideas?

These were some of the concenrs I had about buying a Ford as my previous one appeared to have the same type of annoying issues, one right after another, but I was hoping this time it would be different.

Any suggestions on the issues above, I really want to be an enthusist now that I am in for the Excursion and are looking to do all the mods that have been discussed on this fourm, (shocks, slotted brakes, cold air intake, and even removing the luggage rack bars ) but I do not want to spend additional money if I am already seeing signs of a bad vehicle.

Thanks for the info and assistance.

Brian

[ddivinia]

Originally Posted by borourke

Hello All:

First off let me state that I have never been what you would call a Ford "Enthusiast", but I made the plunge this week and decided to buy a 2004 Excursion EB 4x4 with the V10.

I went with the Excusrion because I like SUVs vs. Pickup and I needed something that could handle my boat and camper. I was pulling them with my Durango until now, but it was working harder then I would have liked. The Durango had a 9,000 towing capacity and my boat and camper are within that range, but I feel like I needed more, plus upgrades are always possible.

Funny thing is I traded in my 2002 Honda for the Excursion, my own little FU to the Cash for Clunker Program and it's inventor! I can't figure out why I did not get my check for $4,500????????

Anyway here are my questions:

1. When I took the vehichle on Friday everything worked, by Sunday the first thing to go was the Trip computer. The screen is just dead. I did research on this fourm prior to purchasing and I remember one of the common issues discussed was bad grounding in the electronics. Does this seem to be the problem or is this a common problem that others may have seen in the passed and know how to fix?

2. Yesterday the backup assist warning system stopped functioning. Whenever I go into reverse the light goes right to off, and it can not be turned on. This worked when I did my test drive, and now it appears to be broke. Any ideas?

These were some of the concenrs I had about buying a Ford as my previous one appeared to have the same type of annoying issues, one right after another, but I was hoping this time it would be different.

Any suggestions on the issues above, I really want to be an enthusist now that I am in for the Excursion and are looking to do all the mods that have been discussed on this fourm, (shocks, slotted brakes, cold air intake, and even removing the luggage rack bars ) but I do not want to spend additional money if I am already seeing signs of a bad vehicle.

Thanks for the info and assistance.

Brian

COngrats on the new rig. I am looking for an X also. I have no input on the repairs. You might want to pick up a set of service manuals with the wiring diagrams. They seem to be $50-75.

D.

[borourke]

Thanks - Any recomendations on what manual to go with? I did learn last night that if you give the trip computer a mild swat, it comes back on for a few seconds and then dims until you can no longer see it... Almost like it was running on a battery that was going dead. Odd. unfortunately the same can not be said for the back up assist.

[ddivinia]

Originally Posted by borourke

Thanks - Any recomendations on what manual to go with? I did learn last night that if you give the trip computer a mild swat, it comes back on for a few seconds and then dims until you can no longer see it... Almost like it was running on a battery that was going dead. Odd. unfortunately the same can not be said for the back up assist.

Factory manuals:
2001 F-250 350 450 550 Excursion Service Manual 3 Vol:eBay Motors (item 370236795791 end time Aug-27-09 13:40:39 PDT)

There seems to be 3 volumes: 1, 2, and the 3rd is wiring.

D.

[crdsaleen]

the computer in the overhead console is never accurate anyway so you don't even need to fix it.They are way off on mileage per gallon and how many miles until empty.If you want you can cut the ground wire and reground it to metal above your headliner. Then it should light up and not dim out.
The rear back up sensors on mine beep inacurately so I don't even pay attention to them I just use my mirrors and will hook up my back up camera to my radio screen this week.
Any way you bought the best of the American SUV's.
I bought my customised limo style 2WD Excursion 7.3 powerstroke (International Navistar) with 255,000 miles and now it has 280,000 and its awesome.I maintain it myself .
Good luck with yours