The airbag case/seal is ruptured and splitting in the center of the steering wheel and looks like it will self-deploy on its own. Their airbag warning light is NOT illuminated.
2013 Ford Expedition
Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations
Similar to other model years
Owner complaints for the 2013 Ford Expedition do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 155.
About this comparison →How this year compares
Owner complaints by model year
Compare all Expedition years →Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.
What owners reported most
All reported categories
Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.
When problems were reported
Mileage at the reported incident
68 reports with mileage · 24 unknown
NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.
What to inspect
Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.
- Power Train. Review the 43 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Electrical System. Review the 10 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
- Engine. Review the 10 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.
What owners actually said
92 reportsThe contact owned a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he started to see smoke located underneath the front passenger dashboard. The contact then stated that he then noticed that flames had started to ignite. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that he immediat…
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The contact owned a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he started to see smoke located underneath the front passenger dashboard. The contact then stated that he then noticed that flames had started to ignite. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that he immediately pulled the vehicle off the road and exit the vehicle and as the vehicle flames started to spread throughout the vehicle. No injuries were sustained. No medical attention was required. The fire department was notified and extinguished the fire. A fire report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot. The contact stated that the vehicle was then towed to an undisclosed lot by the insurance company. The contact was unsure if the vehicle was deemed a total loss. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The contact stated that the vehicle was a total loss. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to call the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.
The transmission is shifting dangerously. All the lights on the dash are flashing and the speedometer doesn't work. We were driving at highway speed and the transmission shifted into first gear causing an abrupt slowing of the Expedition. When we stopped at a red light the vehicle would remain in third gear and therefore we coul…
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The transmission is shifting dangerously. All the lights on the dash are flashing and the speedometer doesn't work. We were driving at highway speed and the transmission shifted into first gear causing an abrupt slowing of the Expedition. When we stopped at a red light the vehicle would remain in third gear and therefore we couldn't accelerate from a stopped position. This was previously addressed in TSB 13-6-8. There are many Ford vehicles on the road with this dangerous problem. I'm requesting that you encourage Ford to repair the transmission lead frame for the life of the vehicle. As second owner of this vehicle, I never received the notice of this problem and didn't discover it until after I was having problems. We drove 80 miles home Christmas day with our emergency flashers on because nothing was open. Ford service was closed on Monday December 26. On Tuesday, December 27 we took vehicle for repairs. We were notified that our extended warranty expired on Monday December 26, so they are not going to pay. This is a well documented problem that Ford has had and I've read many complaints from their customers. To make matters worse the transmission lead frame is on National backorder and Ford cannot repair my vehicle. I refuse to drive it because I'm afraid it will come to an abrupt stop while I'm driving.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that when she attempted to operate the heating system, she heard a loud whistling sound and knob became stuck on high speed. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the blower motor controller and co…
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that when she attempted to operate the heating system, she heard a loud whistling sound and knob became stuck on high speed. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the blower motor controller and connector had burned and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the blower motor controller and connector needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the VIN was not included in a recall and to call the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 134,000.
Lug Nuts cannot be removed due to defective design. Impossible to properly maintain tires or to remove wheel in case of roadside emergency. Each wheel has 6 lug nuts that must ALL work properly together. All 24 of my lug nuts had to be forcibly removed/replaced in order to perform tire maintenance and to be proactive against the…
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Lug Nuts cannot be removed due to defective design. Impossible to properly maintain tires or to remove wheel in case of roadside emergency. Each wheel has 6 lug nuts that must ALL work properly together. All 24 of my lug nuts had to be forcibly removed/replaced in order to perform tire maintenance and to be proactive against the safety risk of malfunction while being operated on the road. Ford has never made me aware of this issue. Krause Ford in Woodstock Georgia inspected the lug nuts and recommended replacement at my expense due Ford Corporate not recognizing this as a problem with their product. Tire/wheel maintenance is an important safety issue.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle stalled and lost motive power without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact stated that the short block was replaced however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that during the fai…
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the vehicle stalled and lost motive power without warning. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact stated that the short block was replaced however, the failure persisted. The contact stated that during the failure the vehicle failed to accelerate as needed with abnormal sounds coming from the engine. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the long block needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted and notified of the failure. The contact was then referred to the NHTSA for assistance. The failure mileage was 49,127.
Transmission fluid cooler line ruptured causing loss of propulsion. There is a known and common problem with the cooler lines breaking at the fitting where the Transmission lines meet the cooler. There is a meeting of dis-similar metals (Aluminum and Steel) in this fitting that is thought to increase the risk of fracture. …
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Transmission fluid cooler line ruptured causing loss of propulsion. There is a known and common problem with the cooler lines breaking at the fitting where the Transmission lines meet the cooler. There is a meeting of dis-similar metals (Aluminum and Steel) in this fitting that is thought to increase the risk of fracture. There are multiple reports of the fitting fracturing in the same place in Ford Forums and Youtube videos. This affects the Ford F150s, Expeditions and similar Lincoln models.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the transmission suddenly downshifted into first gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with brake sensor and transmission failure. The dealer replaced an unknown transmission part; however, the failure recurred. T…
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The contact owns a 2013 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH, the transmission suddenly downshifted into first gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with brake sensor and transmission failure. The dealer replaced an unknown transmission part; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, but the dealer could not duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 82,702.
During a recent oil change and tire rotation, my mechanic advised the lug nuts on my tires needed to be replaced due to swelling and distortion. I was advised this is a known problem by Ford but no recall is in force as of yet. I incurred a cost to have all of them replaced.
My vehicle suddenly shifted into first gear causing it to slow down abruptly. If someone were behind me there would be a high probability that they would hit me from behind since the slowdown was caused by a down shift and there would be no brake lights. This same thing happened to me two years ago and I brought it to the Ford…
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My vehicle suddenly shifted into first gear causing it to slow down abruptly. If someone were behind me there would be a high probability that they would hit me from behind since the slowdown was caused by a down shift and there would be no brake lights. This same thing happened to me two years ago and I brought it to the Ford dealer for service. They did not try to reproduce the problem because there is a TSB 19B05. They reprogrammed the Powertrain module. I did not experience this problem again until 8/30/2021 (I think, it could have been 8/23). At which point I started looking into this. Apparently Ford knows this is a problem and has extended the warranty on the affected part (see Customer Satisfaction Program 19N01). But, they will not perform the needed repair unless I have the Wrench light on my dashboard. There is every indication that my vehicle has a problem with OSS sensor because three times (in the past few weeks) my vehicle has either downshifted or failed to shift out of first gear and all three times the speedometer read 0 (not operational) even though I was going 25 - 30 mph. I think there should be a recall on this part because if I was going at a high rate of speed in heavy traffic this would be a disaster. In the mean time I am driving on side roads hoping that the light comes on so that I can get this fixed. I looked into having the repair done and the estimate is $1100.
Official recalls
0No recalls in this snapshot.
Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗
NHTSA investigations
1RQ17010 · Unexpected Transmission Downshift
Opened Dec 25, 2017 · Closed Oct 22, 2019
Status: closed (inferred from source dates) · Power Train:automatic Transmission; Power Train:automatic Transmission:control Module (tcm/pcm/tecm)
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened an investigation based on consumer allegations of transmissions unexpectedly downshifting to a lower gear without input from the driver on model year (MY) 2011-2013 Ford F-150, Expedition and Navigator vehicles. ODI has received 455 unique reports related to the alleged problem that were not covered under a previous recall for this issue (16V-248).Expedition and Navigator complaint rates are lower than F-150 complaints. Of those 455 reports, 34.7% claimed that the rear wheels locked up when the transmission downshifted. There were 4 accident claims with no injuries. There are many instances where drivers report leaving their lane or the road because of this issue.In response to ODI's Information Request (IR) letter, Ford Motor Company (Ford) responded with 783 unique reports related to the alleged problem. There were 6 accident claims with 3 injuries. Ford also submitted 1206 warranty claims related to transmission downshifting failures. The failure can occur at any time, but typically at higher speed, and include symptoms such as sudden transmission downshifting, loss of speedometer, erratic shifting of transmission, and transmission stuck in one gear. The failures typically occur without warning and may result in the rear wheels momentarily locking up. The driver often had to fully stop the vehicle and restart it to get the vehicle to shift properly.On February 2nd, 2019 Ford notified ODI that it would conduct a safety recall (19V-075) to remedy transmission downshifting failures on all 2011-2013 F-150 vehicles. Ford will also offer extended warranties to 2011-2013 Expedition and Navigator vehicles with the same issue. Per Ford, some vehicles may experience an intermittent loss of Transmission Output Speed Sensor (OSS) signal to the Powertrain Control Module (PCM), potentially resulting in a temporary unintended downshift into first gear. Ford will reprogram the PCM with software that will prevent an unintended downshift into first gear and illuminate the Malfunction Indicator Light in the event of an intermittent OSS signal loss.The recall action initiated by the manufacturer appears to address the safety risks of concern to ODI.Accordingly, the investigation is closed.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the identification (ODI) numbers found in the attached list.
Additional source detail variants (2)
Power Train:automatic Transmission:control Module (tcm/pcm/tecm)
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened an investigation based on consumer allegations of transmissions unexpectedly downshifting to a lower gear without input from the driver on model year (MY) 2011-2013 Ford F-150, Expedition and Navigator vehicles. ODI has received 455 unique reports related to the alleged problem that were not covered under a previous recall for this issue (16V-248).Expedition and Navigator complaint rates are lower than F-150 complaints. Of those 455 reports, 34.7% claimed that the rear wheels locked up when the transmission downshifted. There were 4 accident claims with no injuries. There are many instances where drivers report leaving their lane or the road because of this issue.In response to ODI's Information Request (IR) letter, Ford Motor Company (Ford) responded with 783 unique reports related to the alleged problem. There were 6 accident claims with 3 injuries. Ford also submitted 1206 warranty claims related to transmission downshifting failures. The failure can occur at any time, but typically at higher speed, and include symptoms such as sudden transmission downshifting, loss of speedometer, erratic shifting of transmission, and transmission stuck in one gear. The failures typically occur without warning and may result in the rear wheels momentarily locking up. The driver often had to fully stop the vehicle and restart it to get the vehicle to shift properly.On February 2nd, 2019 Ford notified ODI that it would conduct a safety recall (19V-075) to remedy transmission downshifting failures on all 2011-2013 F-150 vehicles. Ford will also offer extended warranties to 2011-2013 Expedition and Navigator vehicles with the same issue. Per Ford, some vehicles may experience an intermittent loss of Transmission Output Speed Sensor (OSS) signal to the Powertrain Control Module (PCM), potentially resulting in a temporary unintended downshift into first gear. Ford will reprogram the PCM with software that will prevent an unintended downshift into first gear and illuminate the Malfunction Indicator Light in the event of an intermittent OSS signal loss.The recall action initiated by the manufacturer appears to address the safety risks of concern to ODI.Accordingly, the investigation is closed.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the identification (ODI) numbers found in the attached list.
Power Train:automatic Transmission
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened an investigation based on consumer allegations of transmissions unexpectedly downshifting to a lower gear without input from the driver on model year (MY) 2011-2013 Ford F-150, Expedition and Navigator vehicles. ODI has received 455 unique reports related to the alleged problem that were not covered under a previous recall for this issue (16V-248).Expedition and Navigator complaint rates are lower than F-150 complaints. Of those 455 reports, 34.7% claimed that the rear wheels locked up when the transmission downshifted. There were 4 accident claims with no injuries. There are many instances where drivers report leaving their lane or the road because of this issue.In response to ODI's Information Request (IR) letter, Ford Motor Company (Ford) responded with 783 unique reports related to the alleged problem. There were 6 accident claims with 3 injuries. Ford also submitted 1206 warranty claims related to transmission downshifting failures. The failure can occur at any time, but typically at higher speed, and include symptoms such as sudden transmission downshifting, loss of speedometer, erratic shifting of transmission, and transmission stuck in one gear. The failures typically occur without warning and may result in the rear wheels momentarily locking up. The driver often had to fully stop the vehicle and restart it to get the vehicle to shift properly.On February 2nd, 2019 Ford notified ODI that it would conduct a safety recall (19V-075) to remedy transmission downshifting failures on all 2011-2013 F-150 vehicles. Ford will also offer extended warranties to 2011-2013 Expedition and Navigator vehicles with the same issue. Per Ford, some vehicles may experience an intermittent loss of Transmission Output Speed Sensor (OSS) signal to the Powertrain Control Module (PCM), potentially resulting in a temporary unintended downshift into first gear. Ford will reprogram the PCM with software that will prevent an unintended downshift into first gear and illuminate the Malfunction Indicator Light in the event of an intermittent OSS signal loss.The recall action initiated by the manufacturer appears to address the safety risks of concern to ODI.Accordingly, the investigation is closed.The ODI reports cited above can be reviewed at www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/owners/SearchNHTSAID under the identification (ODI) numbers found in the attached list.
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