KnownCarProblems2004 Ford F-350 Problems and Recalls
Owners filed 159 complaints with NHTSA about the 2004 Ford F-350, most often about the engine (50% of complaints, typically around 50,000 miles). It is the 3rd most complained-about F-350 model year since 2000 and has 2 recalls.
Most common 2004 Ford F-350 problems
Engine
80 complaints · 50%Half of these problems showed up before 50,000 miles. Parts named most often: engine, exhaust system.
2004 f350 6.0 powerstroke boggs when taking off. Sometimes will act like you turned off switch when you push down the pedal there is no effect. Mostly when driving up the mountain its like it don't go past idle has not stalled yet. 8 injectors replaced front and rear injector harness replaced high pressure pump fuel…
I have a 2004 F-350 superduty 4x4 [6.0 diesel]. I drove through water the depth of the stock tires. The engine ingested water by way of the intake. I was advised by the Ford dealership that the incident destroyed the engine. The air intake is located at the front grill. I believe this is a flaw in design, causing easy…
Fuel system
25 complaints · 16%Half of these problems showed up before 85,500 miles. Parts named most often: fuel injection system, delivery, storage.
My 2004 Ford F-350 6.0 diesel. Hesitate or surges while driving, and/or the engine may stall while driving at all speeds including highway speed, will lose power steering and brakes and when at a stop it will lunge forward. The engine may or may not restart after stall. I feel that this is a great safety concern I…
The contact owns a 2004 Ford F-350. The contact stated that the fuel tank strap was severely corroded and the fuel tank detached from the vehicle. The contact stated that this was the second time the failure occurred. An unknown Ford dealer was contacted and referred the contact to Ford USA. The manufacturer was…
Electrical
19 complaints · 12%Half of these problems showed up before 61,000 miles. Parts named most often: wiring, starter assembly.
2004 Ford f350 developed problems with the engine.** answer required***. The vehicle would run rough. The starter burned out causing the vehicle not to start. The vehicle had multiple fuel system problems. The rear window latch assembly broke. The steering dampner chafed. The long drag link was replaced because it was…
Ford F-350 diesel-2004 car shut down in the passing lane on pa turnpike. Towed to Ford...no insulation on wiring harness, shorted out the truck. The truck stopped dead in the road..now the Ford dealer fixed it by putting insulation over it to get me back on the road. It had been in the shop the week before, and the…
Transmission
18 complaints · 11%Half of these problems showed up before 10,500 miles. Parts named most often: automatic transmission, driveline, axle assembly, clutch assembly.
2004 f350 fx4 ext cab 6.0 diesel torque shift speeds up while driving and at stop lights on its own. (once while backing) my dad will not ride in it any more and claims I am crazy for driving it. Harsh trans lock up at 45 after auto trans was dropped and updated with planetary bulletin at dealer. The trans deal I will…
When truck was put in gear, the transmission would not go in gear. Also, when driving, I let off of the gas pedal, truck would stall, and then engage and then lurch forward, in traffic. Also, same problem in reverse.
Speed control
13 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 20,000 miles. Parts named most often: accelerator pedal, cruise control.
: the contact stated while the vehicle was at an idle or at various speeds, acceleration occurred on its own. The vehicle was taken to the dealership twice but was unable to locate the problem which persisted.
When applying brakes from any speed vehicle surged forward. When consumer attempted to stop vehicle coasted into the middle of the intersection. No impact reported.
Wheels and tires
12 complaints · 8%Half of these problems showed up before 45,000 miles. Parts named most often: tread/belt, sidewall, valve.
Tl contact owns a 2004 Ford f350 crew cab diesel. The vehicle has 6 general 87516 tires, size, p235/85r16. While driving 65 MPH, the tread shredded off the tires and destroyed the fenders. The first fender cost $1,100 to repair. The failure occurred a second time on june 3, 2009. The tires did not lose air during…
While traveling through tn, towing a trailer, the front driver's side tire delaminated and blew. This caused the vehicle to veer across the meridian and almost into on-coming traffic. The damages include the rim, fender, wheel well, front bumper and fairing. This is a estimate, the vehicle goes into the shop tomorrow…
Brakes
10 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 25,000 miles. Parts named most often: foundation components, antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip.
At just under 25,000 miles, my rotors were warped on my 2004 f350 diesel dually (4x4 8'bed crew cab). I do haul trailers under 8000 lbs occasionally but there has been no undo stress on this truck to warrant such a condition so early. Even though my brakes were "in the green" at my last oil change at 20,000 miles…
While depressing the brake pedal it was hard for the consumer to turn the steering wheel. Dealership was notified, but did not resolve the problem.
Steering
9 complaints · 6%Half of these problems showed up before 67,000 miles. Parts named most often: column locking.
2004 Ford f350 developed problems with the engine.** answer required***. The vehicle would run rough. The starter burned out causing the vehicle not to start. The vehicle had multiple fuel system problems. The rear window latch assembly broke. The steering dampner chafed. The long drag link was replaced because it was…
Engine began bucking, sudden power loss and power steering and power brake loss. Mechanic conclusion was that the lining of the fuel tank had dislodged and caused the engine to foul, causing a sudden power loss. Dealer said they had never heard of the problem but we later learned they were very familiar with it, had…
Complaints are owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects. One complaint can name several components, so shares add up to more than 100%.
2004 Ford F-350 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.
Wheels and tires: tires
Risk: If a tire was operated in an over-loaded or over-inflated condition, the tire may rupture resulting in a rapid air loss, which can cause a crash without warning.
Fix: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace any incorrect load range tires. Additionally, if any tire required replacement, it is recommended that the wheel lug nut torque be checked within 500 miles after any tire replacement. Owner notification began on may 21, 2004. Owners should contact. Ford at 1-800-392-3673.
Full defect summary
Certain lariat and king ranch model pickup trucks fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 120, "tire selection and rims for motor vehicles other than passenger cars." some trucks were inadvertently equipped with an incorrect load range tire. This would result in incorrect tire load ratings for the stated vehicle axle gross axle weight rating. Also, the tire may be inflated above the dot listed inflation pressure.
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
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
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
Questions about the 2004 Ford F-350
- What are the most common problems with the 2004 Ford F-350?
- By NHTSA owner complaints: engine (80 complaints, typically around 50,000 miles); fuel system (25 complaints, typically around 85,500 miles); electrical (19 complaints, typically around 61,000 miles).
- How many recalls does the 2004 Ford F-350 have?
- 2 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 2004 a bad year for the Ford F-350?
- It is the 3rd most complained-about F-350 model year since 2000, with 159 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.