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Electrical systemPart report

1997 Ford Expedition Electrical system Problems

Complaints
95about this part
Share
11%of 853 total for the year
Median mileage
105,160miles
Trend
FallingComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are at least 25% lower than in the 3 years before.

NHTSA recorded 95 complaints about the electrical system of the 1997 Ford Expedition, 11% of the 853 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 105,160 miles. 2 of these say a crash was involved and 33 a fire, according to the filers.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“When examining my vehicle which supposedly had a recall on the cruise control sensor on brake master cylinder, found that Ford only added a fusable link to prevent fire as the sensor may not have been leaking at the time. It has since leaked and the added bit of wire with the blue tag has blown it's fuses but I believe the cruise control has now disabled my horn durring operation. I am requesting my vehicle be serviced properly as the recall was not done correctly to my understanding. I was looking online and just realized this so I looked at my vehicle and saw it is the old design.”

NHTSA complaint #11325759, filed 2020-05, 190,000 miles

“My 1977 Ford Expedition was parked in front of my house off for an hour.it then started on fire in the engine compartment and quickly engulfed the front of the car in flames destroying the car.the fire was so intense that I couldnt put it out with a fire extiguisher the fire dept had to put it out.”

NHTSA complaint #10185430, filed 2007-03, 150,000 miles

“This issue was at night while driving the headlight to see at night had turned off at a 35 MPH speed no bumps no turn just driving straight. This is a serious issue, you use your lights for night and your are left with no lights, as a result for this huge problem I received a ticket that is how I found out my lights were not working. The headlights fuses, module components, wiring were checked no issues there, as for all other lights example emergency lights, rear lights interior lights are functioning. …”

NHTSA complaint #10450242, filed 2012-03, 113,000 miles

“My brakes started squiking, and that went on for about a week and then it became hard for me to stop. So now I have a lot of squiking and I have to stop way before I am suppose to. I bought some brake pads that did not fix the problem.”

NHTSA complaint #10281669, filed 2009-08, 165 miles

“I was returning home from work and I heard a clicking noise as I was driving coming from my dash along with all of my gauges jumping rpms ran extremely high and speed gage jumping from all over from 50's to 05 miles a hour lights lighting up and then power lost in which made it harder to stop and steer its done this a few times along with a with the clicking the radio will turn its self on and kills the battery and there is a smell of a hot plastic smell along with all of that when I start to lose power my head lights dim down.”

NHTSA complaint #10494443, filed 2013-01, 179,000 miles

Electrical system: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
2026110%
2025616%
20241519%
20231726%
20222017%
20212410%
2020358%
2019173%
2018349%
20179326%
20163315%
20154527%
20141318%
20131011%
20122017%
2011710%
20101017%
2009518%
200896%
2007188%
20063211%
20057624%
20043612%
200310417%
20024614%
200111820%
200021424%
199911712%
199811514%
19979511%

Other parts of the 1997 Ford Expedition

Suspension
138 complaints
Brakes
110 complaints
Steering
94 complaints
Engine cooling
89 complaints
Vehicle speed control
79 complaints
Transmission and drivetrain
76 complaints
Visibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
44 complaints
Wheels
41 complaints
Body and structure
38 complaints
Tires
36 complaints
Air bags
26 complaints
Latches, locks and linkages
26 complaints

← All problems reported for the 1997 Ford Expedition

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 28, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology