I'm having issues with the power running boards on my 2019 Expedition.
**I'm aware that this is the F150 forum, but I figured that there isn't a lot of difference in how the factory boards work between the two models and the F150 board is much more active.**

The passenger side PRB works intermittently. I've cleaned and lubed the hinges several times, with no improvement. At first I assumed the hinges were dirty or tripping the load sensor, but I believe I've eliminated that possibility with the thorough cleanings, liberal lubrication, and many, many operation tests. Opening and shutting the door repeatedly will result typically result in the board lowering fully, but then it will act very confused when trying to retract and fully lower again. It does not typically partially retract to the same spot each time, and on some occasions it will actually fully retract, only to get stuck on the next attempt. I tried removing the fuse to see if there was some kind of reset I could do, but that didn't help. The board doesn't seem to struggle or operate more loudly when it moves, which leads me to believe the motor is fine.

Any ideas? Does anyone have experience troubleshooting the PRBs on F150s/Expeditions? Of course, the car is just outside of the 36k mile warranty, so I'm trying to deal with this on my own for now.

Thanks for your help.

 

Could be that the boards are mechanically binding from mis-alignment. Try loosening the fasteners that hold the PRB brackets to the body. Actuate the boards a few times to re-align the brackets, then re-tighten them.

Have you checked for DTCs from the PRB module using FORScan or diagnostic scan tool? If present, they may need to be cleared before the boards will work properly.

 

I haven't done either of those things yet - I'll give it a shot.

Thanks!

 

I'm not willing to claim victory yet, but I will say that loosening the fasteners made some improvement in the operation of the PRBs. They went from retracting completely probably 1 out of 20 times to now retracting completely 1 out of 7 or 8 times.

What puzzles me is even when the PRB fails to retract completely after shutting the door, it almost always retracts completely as soon as the vehicle starts moving at some speed, which makes me think the ultimate issue isn't a binding or mechanical failure.

Thank you for the help! We'll see how long this improvement lasts!

 

What happens if you "help" the board up. In years past I would lift the board with a broom handle as a lever in winter. I had to pull the DS board off the truck and the rear bracket (the one without the motor) was almost seized. I worked on it for probably an hour on the bench to loosen it up and lubing it. I finally got the boards loosened up and lubricated with Fluid Film and had zero issues this winter.

 

I did try that. If I tried following it up with my foot and adding pressure when it stopped and tried to reverse, it would just give up and stop mid-way. I also tried putting downward pressure on the PRB after shutting the door, and as long as I didn't put too much pressure on the board that actually seemed to increase the likelihood of it making it all the way to the retracted position.