KnownCarProblems2003 Ford F-250 SD Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 178 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Ford F-250 SD, most often about the engine (42% of complaints, typically around 60,000 miles). It is 13th of 27 F-250 SD model years by number of complaints and has 4 recalls.
Most common 2003 Ford F-250 SD problems
Engine
74 complaints · 42%Half of these problems showed up before 60,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, exhaust system, cooling system.
I started to hear a ticking noise in my truck. So I t had it looked at by my mechanic. He could not tell where the noise was coming from. So about a week later I was getting ready to go to work, I started up my truck and a loud pop!!! And black smoke from underneath my hood. I shut the truck down and pop the hood and…
: the contact stated while driving 70 MPH on the freeway, the contact heard a loud popping noise. Upon inspection of the engine, the spark plug was lying on the intake manifold. The vehicle was towed to a local dealership.
Fuel system
24 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 33,500 miles. Parts named most often: fuel injection system, delivery.
Extremely poor fuel economy on Ford 7.3 l diesel engine. Bought vehicle new approx 1 year ago, vehicle was getting 18 miles per gallon until dec. 2003. As of jan. 2004 the vehicle mileage has been 9 miles be gallon. Vehicle has loss of power and has been in the dealer repair shop for this problem. Ford diagnostic say…
The contact owns a 2003 Ford F-250 SD. While the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed that the fuel tank was hanging down. The contact looked underneath the vehicle and saw that the fuel tank strap was fractured and the fuel gauge was damaged. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired.…
Transmission
20 complaints · 11%Half of these problems showed up before 50,000 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, driveline.
2003 Ford f-250 (only 50,000 miles) had major transmission failure. Housing cracked and there is no way to repair. Only option is to install new transmission.
Our 2003 Ford f250 diesel trucks transmission needs to be replaced after only 55,000 miles. We paid $40,000 for a truck that was supposed to be built to last and be a quality vehicle. We were told by the dealership that it came with a 100,000 mile power train warranty. Now that we are having problems with it, we are…
Wheels and tires
19 complaints · 11%Half of these problems showed up before 54,000 miles. Parts named most often: tread/belt, pressure monitoring and regulating systems, sidewall.
Tl contact owns a 2003 Ford f-250 super duty truck. While driving approximately 25 MPH the tread separated completely from the driver's side rear tire. There was $2100 worth of damage to the bed of the truck caused by the tread separation. The failure mileage was 54,000. The manufacturer will replace the tire once the…
The contact owns a 2003 Ford f250 sd with big o big foot ht tires, size lt265/75r16, dot number: [VIN]. The contact was driving 65 MPH when the vehicle started shaking abnormally. The dealer advised that three of the tires exhibited tread separation and needed to be replaced. The tires were replaced. The manufacturer…
Steering
15 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 45,000 miles. Parts named most often: linkages, hydraulic power assist, hydraulic power assist system.
I purchased a new Ford f250 truck, VIN [VIN], on april 17, 2003, from elkhorn motors in elkhorn, wi. On october 24, 2004, at around 45,000 miles, I rotated the tires front to back in wisconsin before a trip to florida. After this tire rotation, I noticed a tendency for the steering wheel to oscillate when I stepped on…
I read of your investigation into 05 and later Ford truck "death wobble" shaking causing massive instability while driving. The problem goes back way further but I have an 03 f-250 truck (and it is totally stock) and it begins to shake violently at about 50 MPH on any surface whether in straight line or turn. I have…
Electrical
14 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 35,000 miles. Parts named most often: wiring, starter assembly, ignition, 12v/24v/48v battery.
Consumer entered the vehicle but it would not start, called aaa, they arrived, opened the hood, and saw vehicle was smoking. The vehicle burned up. Manufacturer was being notified.
Extremely poor fuel economy on Ford 7.3 l diesel engine. Bought vehicle new approx 1 year ago, vehicle was getting 18 miles per gallon until dec. 2003. As of jan. 2004 the vehicle mileage has been 9 miles be gallon. Vehicle has loss of power and has been in the dealer repair shop for this problem. Ford diagnostic say…
Brakes
12 complaints · 7%Half of these problems showed up before 18,000 miles. Parts named most often: foundation components, antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, disc.
Brakes line from master cyclinder to rear brakes failed causing the loss of brake fluid and all braking capabilities. Power steering cable was apparently chaffing brake line, causing the brake line to rust, and over time, fail. Truck has less than 18,000 miles, with very light and infrequent usage.
Tl contact owns a 2003 Ford f-250hd. The contact stated that while driving at any given speed the vehicle would jerk. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and inspected where it was determined that the failure occurred from the injector wire harness. The vehicle was repaired at a cost of $100.00. Four years later the…
Speed control
10 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 14,000 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal.
2003 Ford f-250 with a 6.0 liter diesel engine. Intermittently engine did not accelerate when accelerator pedal was pushed down. These occasions were totally unpredictable, and almost caused a number of accidents. Repeated attempts by Ford to fix the problem were unsuccessful.
Ford superduty 250 truck with 7.3 engine has no accelerator pedal response. Pedal assembly has been replaced twice within less than 1200 miles. This has happened as we were trying to go across busy intersection and in heavy traffic. The experience is quite unsettling to driver plus occupants.
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2003 Ford F-250 SD recalls
Lights: brake lights
Risk: Non-functioning lights could increase the risk of a crash.
Fix: Dealers will replace the switches free of charge. The safety recall began on august 15, 2011. Owners may contact ford motor company customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332.
Full defect summary
Ford is recalling certain model year 2011 ranger trucks built from january 25, 2011, through april 25, 2011 at the twin cities assembly plant, and service parts distributed to dealers for certain 2004 through 2011 model year ranger trucks, 2002 through 2005 model year excursion vehicles, and 2002 through 2007 model year f-250, f-350, f-450, and f-550 trucks for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." the multi-function switch was shipped with a subcomponent (slider) that may experience deformation. A multi-function switch with a deformed slider may malfunction causing the turn signal, tail lights, hazard warning signal flashers and/or brake lights not to activate.
Speed control: vehicle speed control
Risk: A vehicle fire could occur with or without the engine running.
Fix: Ford will notify owners that dealers will install a fused wiring harness in line with the scds. On 1999-2003 windstar vehicles with a leaking scds, dealers will also inspect the ABS control module connector and repair as necessary. Repairs will be completed free of charge. The safety recall began on october 27, 2009. Owners may contact ford at 1-888-222-2751.
Full defect summary
Ford is recalling model years 1995-2003 windstar, 2000-2003 excursion diesel, 1993-1997 and 1999-2003 f-250 sd through f-550 sd diesel, 1992-2003 e-150 through e-550, 1995-2002 explorer, 1997 and 2002 mercury mountaineer, 1995-1997 and 2001-2003 ranger, and 1994 f53 vehicles equipped with the texas instruments speed control deactivation switch (scds). The scds may leak internally and then overheat, smoke, or burn.
Engine: diesel
Risk: In the event of an engine stall, a crash could result without warning.
Fix: Dealers will inspect the sensor and replace it with an improved camshaft position sensor free of charge. The recall began on december 29, 2007. Owners may contact ford at 1-866-436-7332.
Full defect summary
On certain heavy duty trucks equipped with 7.3l diesel engines, the camshaft position sensor located on the engine of the vehicle may function intermittently, possibly resulting in an engine stall.
Speed control: vehicle speed control
Risk: Overheating could result in smoke, burn, or an underhood fire.
Fix: Dealers will install a fused wiring harness into the speed control system free of charge. The recall began on march 12, 2007. Owners may contact ford at 1-800-392-3673. (note: also see recalls 05v017, 05v388, and 06v286)
Full defect summary
On certain trucks equipped with speed control, gasoline or natural gas engines, the speed control deactivation switch may overheat.
Recall repairs are free at any franchised dealer. Enter your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which recalls are still open on your car.
NHTSA defect investigations
Engine stalling
Summary
In a december 3, 2007 letter, ford advised NHTSA that it will conduct a safety recall to replace the cam position sensor (cps) in approximately 1.2 million subject vehicles to address reports of engine stalling.a new design cps with improved performance and durability will be installed as a remedy.owner notifications will begin in december 2007. The subject vehicles are durable, full-sized, medium duty trucks commonly used for commercial purposes, rescue/emergency response, and commercial or recreational towing.cps failure is comparable to unexpectedly turning the key off since the signal it produces is vital to the electronic engine control system.cps signal loss terminates fuel injection r
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
Summary
On september 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or ejected from the engine.as of december 8, 2005, odi is not aware of any allegations where the alleged defect resulted in a loss of vehicle control, a crash, an injury, or a fatality in any of the 10,319,810 subject vehicles.in addition, odi is aware of only two incidents where the vehi
Engine stalling
Summary
In a june 7, 2005 letter, ford notified odi that it would be conducting a safety recall of approximately 180,000 ford f-super duty, excursion and e-series vehicles equipped with 6.0l diesel engines to correct two wiring related conditions that could result in engine stall (NHTSA recall no. 05v-270, ford no. 05s34).the affected vehicles were built between september 29, 2003 and may 31, 2004.according to ford, vehicles with the conditions may stall without warning and may or may not restart.ford will instruct owners of vehicles included in the recall to take their vehicles to a dealer to have the fuel injector control module wire harness upgraded or replaced and or have a new injection control
Engine stalling
Summary
Twenty five of the odi failure reports are duplicative of ford complaints.twenty odi reports do not contain a VIN (and may or may not be duplicative of ford reports).the 14 alleged crashes and 2 alleged injuries were all minor.submitted during preliminary evaluation (pe) 04-070, ford's response to odi's information request (ir) letter contained about 5,000 consumer reports (mors) and 8,700 field reports (cqis).ford reviewed the complaints and categorized them.the manufacturer reports shown above represent a count of unique vehicles that ford categorized as allegedly stalling due to a subject engine component ('a' category, see ford's ir response letter for further detail); some of these vehi
Accelerator pedal sensor (etc)
Summary
Failure counts from odi?s analysis are stated above; see the additional problem experience discussion in the summary report.ford data contained duplicative reports for 4 odi complaints and 1 crash.three crashes were allegedly due to intermittent operation of the electronic throttle control (etc) pedal, one crash occurred when an etc disabled vehicle was struck by another motorist, one report contained no detail.the injuries were minor.an issue involving fixed etc pedals was investigated also, however failure reports and populations are not shown above; see summary report for detail.although ford has used etc based throttle control systems for many years, the pap feature was new for my 2002.t
Questions about the 2003 Ford F-250 SD
- What are the most common problems with the 2003 Ford F-250 SD?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: engine (74 complaints, typically around 60,000 miles); fuel system (24 complaints, typically around 33,500 miles); transmission (20 complaints, typically around 50,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2003 Ford F-250 SD have?
- 4 recalls listed by NHTSA, the latest from July 13, 2011 (lights). Check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls to see which ones are still open on your car.
- Is the 2003 a bad year for the Ford F-250 SD?
- It is 13th of 27 F-250 SD model years by number of complaints, with 178 complaints. Complaint counts are not adjusted for how many cars were sold, so popular years collect more of them, and the newest years have had less time to.