2019 Ford Expedition · symptom sheet

Timing chain or cam phaser rattles

77owner reports
73,000median miles
$4,000median quote
0involved a crash

Newest report Jun 25, 2026 · checked Oct 2, 2026

134 of the 505 complaints on this car are about the engine. 77 of those describe timing chain failure.

No recall on this systemas of Oct 2, 2026

No crash reportedin 77 reports

Tick what matches of 77 reports

a rattle on cold start that quiets down

a code for cam or crank correlation

the dealer named the cam phasers

the chain jumped or skipped

it was covered by an extended warranty

the engine failed after the noise

Timing chain failure on other Expedition years

201872 reports 201977 reports

Report counts are for each model year on its own, so a newer car has had less time to collect them. Model years with too few reports of it for a sheet: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2026.

What this problem usually is

This sheet is about a rattle from the front of the engine, often at its worst right after a cold start, that dealers trace to the timing chain or the cam phasers. It's heavily concentrated: the 2017 to 2019 Ford F-150 accounts for about four in ten of these complaints across the site.

Read the full explainer · Which cars report it most

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the cam phasers (75 reports) and the timing chain (8 reports).

Recalls and investigations

No recall on the engine covers the 2019 model year as of Oct 2, 2026.

NHTSA investigations into the engine on the Expedition

DP05-005opened Sep 22, 2005

Engine · model years 1997 to 2004

Spark plug ejection from cylinder head. Closed jan 4, 2006.

None of these investigations covers the 2019 model year.

What owners paid

9 of the 77 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $3,400 to $4,000.

$3,400$4,000$4,000

$0k$2k$4k$6k$8k

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 61,900 and 90,000 miles, from the 61 reports that gave a mileage.

Is this a known problem?

The manufacturer has sent NHTSA 2 service bulletins or notices for the 2019 Ford Expedition that deal with this problem. Newest first.

Federal rules make a manufacturer send NHTSA a copy of any notice about a defect that goes to more than one dealer or owner. Most of these are service bulletins, the repair instructions manufacturers send to dealers. NHTSA generally leaves safety recall bulletins out of this file, and recalls are listed separately.

Service bulletin21B10-S2Jul 31, 2021
It may be possible that an undesirable noise may develop from the cam phasers in the 3.5L GTDI engine. This noise might occur as a rattle when starting the engine after your vehicle was turned off for an extended period of time, or as a knocking noise when ...
Service bulletin21N03Jul 31, 2021
In some of the affected vehicles, an undesirable noise may develop from the cam phasers in the 3.5L GTDI engine. This noise might occur as a rattle when starting the engine after the vehicle was turned off for an extended period of time or as a knocking noise ...

What owners wrote

“My vehicle is having cam phaser issues and ford will not repair the issue. This was identified in customer satisfaction program 21N03 but I did not receive notification of the repair.”
Filed Apr 8, 2025

“Would like to determine why vehicle was not included in recall 21B10 or 21N03 for cam phaser rattle.”
Filed Mar 31, 2025

“I am being told that the Cam Phasers need to be replaced. This is a well known issue to Ford. They did a programming adjustment in 2021, and then did replacements only if you had continued issues up until Jan 2023. I have issues now, and they are telling me I am not covered. The cam phasers have been redesigned so they know they installed poorly designed parts originally. This is an almost $4,000 repair.”
Filed Oct 16, 2024

“The vehicle has the known cam phaser issue commonly reported on 3.5L Ecoboost engines. It is a known problem, that the dealership is so aware of they were able to provide a repair quote on the spot. The engine had less than 50,000 miles when the issue was first discovered. The safety issue is the engine failing while driving could place someone in an unsafe situation depending on how and when it failed.”
Filed Oct 12, 2024 · 50,000 miles

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 0 of 77 reports involved a crash. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation. How reports land on this sheet.

Guide Taking it to a shop? How to describe this problem so it gets found