At 105 mph, 2008 Expedition loses power

I see a white Subaru Outback 6 cyl, the 2010 model with a big red cross on the sides and a light bar in OP’s future. Rides well, handles better, more economical, reliable and even at legal speed limits, it’s much safer and can negotiate deeper snow with it’s higher useful clearance. It’s even easier to park when making deliveries. What’s not to like ?

…and that new 6-cylinder Outback also accelerates like a bat out of hell, unlike the Expedition, while getting significantly better gas mileage than the Expedition.

BTW, where’s the diesel Outback and why isn’t it here ? If VW can do it, why can’t they ? What a great transporter that would be.

Subaru of America is still debating whether or not to introduce that model here, even though they have been selling them in droves in Europe for a couple of years.

One of the obstacles is that their diesel engine produces more torque than their automatic transmission can take, and they are not sure if a manual transmission diesel would sell in sufficient numbers in the US to warrant adding it to the model line here. SOA has stated that they do not plan to develop an automatic specifically for the high torque diesel engine.

An Expedition has no business going 105 MPH. If you’re really delivering blood, isn’t it better to get there in one piece? Blood all over the highway. And it might not even be yours! High center of gravity, lousy high speed handling, etc,etc.

I am merely an unpaid volunteer.
I have a real job where I get real dirty.
Your career sounds like an important one.

The Expedition is garaged, so usually not super cold.
When I start out, I am gentle to let it warm up some before pushing it. (No emergency lights until I get out of the neighborhood - non needed because I am below the speed limit, anyway.)

The only thing I did was gradually get to 110 mph going downhill (no traffic).
The engine was not under much load getting up to 105 mph because I was also going slightly down hill.

Must I change the oil again before even 3,000 miles?
I checked the oil and it is full and still clean.
The engine temperature remained normal, RPM were in normal range.
Oil looks good and does not smell burned or anything.
Or has it broken down? Why would it?

Last time I do that.

(Why no e-notices about new posts?)

Ford people say no problem with 105 mph at which it is governed.
Say it is conservatively governed at a speed less than it can safely travel.

One Ford guy says a police department is using Expeditions. They want to defeat the governor/speed limiter for pursuits but Ford will not allow it.

Yes, I have emergency vehicle driving certification and more than anyone know what speed can do. Only short distance above 90 with sparse traffic.

Somewhat new M&S tires @ 42 psi rated to 116 mph. (NOT snow tires.
Snow tires is another issue for slowly getting through blizzard conditions.)
Dry smooth pavement, clear visibility, no traffic.

I was more worried about tire blowout and driveshaft failure due to imbalance.
No vibration of any kind detected and I listened and felt for it.

Must I now change the oil?
It is full, looks fairly clean.
Engine coolantemperature never exceeded normal.
No hot engine smell when I parked at the hospital. (Let the engine idle for several minutes during my first trip carrying blood boxes into the hospital.)

Ford people say no problem with 105 mph at which it is governed.
They also said the Pinto had no rear end collision issues. If it means a sale, the truth is secondary. I’ll trust independent testing. One Ford guy says a police department is using Ford Exp…like our state police are using Honda Elements, for the canine corps. Certainly won’t use them for high speed pursuit.

I commend you for holding an emergency vehicle driving certificate. I hope it came with some sage advice like I got from my chief…“if you want to drive over 100 mph in a one of our cruisers, you’d better be being chased and under fire, and not chasing someone.” Excessive unnecessary speeds in prepared cars are frowned upon by all police departments, let alone in “trucks”.

I’d sell my sole (not soul) for one, esp a manual, and plow with it in comfort. What a great econo. car.

It is governed.

We are a southwest/four courners/reservation area Ford dealer and have city, county, tribal, and state agencies using suvs and pickups for law enforcement along with cars.

These officers are trained that their suvs ARE NOT FOR FLAT OUT SPEED. And certainly not for any high speed maneuvers that may be required during high speed driving.

If speed was so imperative for that run, they should have furnished the appropriate car. If the Expedition was the only option at the time, then you’d simply make the best time you could for given conditions. And that will just have to be good enough or they need an airplane or copter. ( as with ambulances. They do not drive 105. The DO get priority passage and shave precious seconds by going straight from here to there with no delay. )

As a ‘trained’ driver you should be fully aware of the limitations of that vehicle and would never have posed this question.

( years ago, in my 78 Chrysler Cordoba, It wasn’t the car that couldn’t do 105…it was the ROAD SURFACE that wouldn’t allow it. I most certainly would never want to encounter some road surface conditions at 105 in my 08 Expedition. )

You are just asking for big trouble because by the time you are surprised by that unforeseen pothole or pavement wave…
it will already be too late.
Are you that emergency vehicle driver who goes zipping through the red light, without slowing to prove your cross traffic, just because you believe the flashing lights and siren will be seen, heard and yielded to by all ?

But wait…you’re supposed to know this, you’re a trained ( albeit volunteer ) driver…aren’t you ?

No siren when no traffic. (In town I hardly sound the siren, anyway - I never trust that it is heard and try to minimize noise pollution. Good lights make it rarely needed on interstates.)

You can clearly see the road surface.
If bad or questionable or unknown surface, I would slow not wanting to damage the tires or wheels or suspension.
No maneuvering. If necessary, I’d slow so any maneuvers would be gentle and gradual.

Yes, make the best time possible without harming the vehicle or causing undue stress on the engine or transmission. Gentle accelerations and coasting decelerations and little brake use.

I’d prefer a station wagon. But 4-wheel-drive is needed in good snows and blizzards. Hospitals have a tendency of calling when roads are closed due to snow.

Does anyone smell a troll? this has been going on long enough to suspect one.

Yah, sounds like he’s trying to get US to justify some untold action or event that has already happened for which he is being called to task. ( which we are not doing as we’ve all advised him not to go that fast in that truck.)

It’d be nice to know the whole back-story which precipitaded his posing this query.

Who is continuing this by posting?

I have no doubt people have driven their SUVs and pickups even faster there. (with radar detectors)
No big deal - like a previous poster opined.

My original inquiry was if the Expedition has a governor.
Never before had I had one come into effect.

The vehicle is comfortable and has plenty of power but really has many practical limitations. The stock tires are not rated for high speed. The suspension is a tradeoff between off-road (poor) and on-road (not bad). The vehicle has inherrent stability problems with high center of gravity and heavy weight. Because of these things the machine is designed not to drive too fast.
That said, in most cases as long as you keep it under 55 mph over the speed limit and keep it on the road you will have a very comfortable vehicle capable of good towing and carrying passengers n comfort.

To save fuel and pollution I normally travel at 50 on 55 to 65mph interstates - always in the right lane.
Does anyone know the IDEAL speed for best fuel economy?
I’d love to install instrumentation to measure it, but it costs too much.

The Bridgestone Dueller M$S tires rate at 118 mph.

At 110mph I was impressed with the ride. But I did not dare test any maneuverablilty. Just straight new pavement downgrade.

Arthur;
This is off topic, but what does the “PRI” up by your name signify? All others say “car talk” in the box.

After a few days, I thought about the original question and came up with some actual thoughts without looking for the chance to tell a joke.

The vehicle must have reached the point where air resistance, friction and gear ratio prevented it from going even faster without pushing the gas pedal. This happens with every vehicle, even the ones without a governor. So the governor was not involved. (Insert gov. joke here.)

Tire pressure. More pressure isn’t as good as some of us may think. The only reason to have high pressure is because of a heavier load, not because of faster speeds. The heavier load would damage the tire if we didn’t put more pressure in it.

Because the pressure is necessary for heavy loads does not mean that it is desirable for other conditions such as speeding or daily driving.

Overinflating the tire could make it unsafe and more likely to blow out. There is definitely a loss of traction involved. There isn’t really a safe way to overstress a tire. There isn’t a safe way to drive at high speeds with overinflated tires either.

Remember the adage, “closed course, professional driver, don’t try this at home”. Naturally, instead of home, they could mean to not try it on our public highways.

Good advice to Robert could be good advice to all of us. Let us allow safety to triumph over our own tendency to overexperiment.

Is a higher pressure not better by causing the tire to flex less and build up less heat by flexing less?
If at their published maximum 44 psi considered overinflation if no heavy payload?

Also I want to keep it harder to increase fuel mileage.
Our last set of tires I kept athe Max 44 psi and there was only 1 mm in greater wear at the center of the tread at their end of life.
Yes, the footprint is smaller according to pictures someone kindly posted here but I never did any maneuvers where it mattered. (Never had to panic brake.)

The goveror kicked in around 105 mph but I was able to coast faster.
I thoughthe governor was RPM-controlled but it apparently is not.
Since I accelerate gently I never noticed it getting above 3000 rpm when I accelerate.
An aggressive acceleration could easily take it to 4000 rpm.

Back to the initial posting, I’m missing something. “Engine RPM was not high because not much load going downhill”. engine RPM is determined by the gear ratio and speed.

Unless you have it in neutral. And that is very dangerous. My mind boggles at the thought of 105 mph in neutral.

Bill