KnownCarProblems2003 Ford F-350 SD Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 132 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Ford F-350 SD, most often about the engine (42% of complaints, typically around 30,000 miles). It is 10th of 27 F-350 SD model years by number of complaints and has 4 recalls.
Most common 2003 Ford F-350 SD problems
Engine
55 complaints · 42%Half of these problems showed up before 30,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, exhaust system, cooling system.
6.0 litre diesel rough idle, dead accelerator at times, low power, excessive smoke, poor fuel milage 8 to 12 miles per gallon. Have 30,000 miles on vehicle, poor engine response when cold, engine warning light comes on, has been to selling dealer four times for repairs, re-flash of computer for updated info from Ford…
Transmission failure, no events leading up to the failure. Backed truck up and then went to pull forward truck would not move. Replaced oil pump, gears, filter & gasket. 28,330 miles on truck.
Fuel system
24 complaints · 18%Half of these problems showed up before 85,500 miles. Parts named most often: fuel injection system.
The fuel system of my 2003 Ford truck corroded from the inside, contaminating the fuel which ruined the fuel pump, fuel filters and injectors. Everything needed to be replaced and repaired at the cost of $3000. Ford will not stand behind their product, they are aware of the problem. They claim it is a problem with the…
I had several breakdowns with my truck and had to have it towed twice. The first place it was towed to could not find the problem then after several more instances I had it towed to the dealership where I purchased the vehicle and they new the problem right away. The fuel tank delaminated and I waited two months for…
Wheels and tires
19 complaints · 14%Half of these problems showed up before 70,000 miles. Parts named most often: tread/belt, sidewall.
The contact owns a 2003 Ford F-350 SD equipped with bf goodrich commercial t/a a/s tires, size: 235/85/16. While driving approximately 65 MPH, the rear tire exploded and caused rear end damage to the vehicle. The contact was able to maneuver the vehicle to the side of the road where the rear passenger side tire was…
I purchased lt265/75/16 bf goodrich rugged terrain t/a tires for my truck exactly 5 years and just over 21k miles later I had 2 separate tire failures less than a few hundred miles apart. First tire a belt slipped. Had a giant bulge in the tread. I put my spare on and inspected the other tires. All ok. No cracks no…
Electrical
15 complaints · 11%Half of these problems showed up before 67,500 miles. Parts named most often: wiring, alternator/generator/regulator, ignition.
The vehicle was parked. Consumer plugged the front vehicle heater in and went into the house. Later, the dog started to bark. Consumer looked out, and the vehicle was on fire. Vehicle was totaled.
Dt: there was a problem with the wiring that caused the vehicle to stall while the consumer was driving. The brakes and the steering failed because of this. The first time this problem occurred was on 7-1-05. The consumer took vehicle to a dealer for repairs, and they replaced a blown fuse. This problem occurred again…
Transmission
13 complaints · 10%Half of these problems showed up before 24,500 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, transfer case (4-wheel drive), manual transmission.
Transmission failure, no events leading up to the failure. Backed truck up and then went to pull forward truck would not move. Replaced oil pump, gears, filter & gasket. 28,330 miles on truck.
: the contact stated while shifting from reverse to park, there is a very loud clanking, metal to metal noise. There is a metallic sound that occurs all the time, but is very noticeable while shifting from reverse to park. The vehicle has been to three different dealerships. All three dealerships were unable to…
Brakes
7 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 35,000 miles. Parts named most often: antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip, foundation components.
When touching the accelerator vehicle continued to accelerate. The dealer inspected the vehicle, and a buy back was offered. Complaint alleged that problem described was responsible for a rollover crash that occurred on an icy road surface on december 26, 2003. There were no injuries, property damage to the vehicle…
: the contact stated the accelerator positioner went defective on the vehicle, which caused the engine to open and made a loud sound. Also, the contact expressed the rotors for the brakes flaked apart. The contact expressed the dealer was responsible to fix these issues at no cost, however the dealer and manufacturer…
Steering
7 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 10,000 miles. Parts named most often: linkages, gear box (other than rack and pinion).
I was driving my Ford f-350 and making a turn. When I went to straighten the truck out, I had no steering and went into a ditch and knocked 2 evergreen trees down and rested against a utility pole. Too much damaged was done during the accident to find out the cause of the accident. There was no steering. The truck was…
While pulling out of a parking space the consumer heard a loud popping noise and then lost steering control. The consumer inspected the vehicle and found the coupling that held the tie rods had broken. The vehicle was towed to the repair shop.
Speed control
7 complaints · 5%Half of these problems showed up before 25,000 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal.
Loss of power while attempting to accelerate.took it to Ford dealer and was told that there was no fix, that I should pull over and turn off the ignition and reset the computer to correct the problem. This could result in a seriuos (head-on) collision if it occur while passing on a two lane road.
When touching the accelerator vehicle continued to accelerate. The dealer inspected the vehicle, and a buy back was offered. Complaint alleged that problem described was responsible for a rollover crash that occurred on an icy road surface on december 26, 2003. There were no injuries, property damage to the vehicle…
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-350 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-350 SD
- What are the most common problems with the 2003 Ford F-350 SD?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: engine (55 complaints, typically around 30,000 miles); fuel system (24 complaints, typically around 85,500 miles); wheels and tires (19 complaints, typically around 70,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2003 Ford F-350 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-350 SD?
- It is 10th of 27 F-350 SD model years by number of complaints, with 132 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.