Owners have filed 146 complaints on the Ford E-150, covering 1990–2014. The system named most often is Power Train (19 reports). Worst years by volume: 1998, 2013, 2005; cleanest: 1990, 2009, 2014. 8 reports describe a crash, 3 a fire. On average the car was 5.9 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Ford E-150
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 146 E-150 complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 19 Read
When started 3 separate times 4x4 was engaged by itself just barely touched 4wheel drive switch and it went off also did it again when I was driving
In the last two I been having a wrench coming up on the screen and truck loses power and the speed drops down to 5 miles an hour. While the truck is running in idle, it is vibrating. When I stop it and restart it goes away. It happen three times in the last two weeks. After the second time the dealer reprogramed the…
I was driving 65 on the highway and my truck downshift to 3rd gear then back to 5th gear then first gear. Locking my wheels. Tires screeching. I had to pull over and turn my truck off, open the door to try to reset the vehicle. Ive read threads of people having a similar problem and turning off the truck, opening the…
Engine And Engine Cooling 17 Read
A 2006, ford f150, crew cab p/up , caught fire and burned. The vehicle had approximately 9,000.00 miles on the odometer and was bought new. No repairs were done and nothing altered on this vehicle prior to it burning. At the time of the fire the vehicle was parked in mcdonald"s parking lot
The contact owns a 2008 ford e-150. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, a rattling noise emitted from the under carriage. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic who found that the catalytic converter welding had failed and caused the pipes to fracture. The vehicle was not repaired. The…
The contact owns a 2007 ford e-150. While the vehicle was parked, the contact noticed fluid leaking underneath the vehicle. An independent mechanic stated that fluid was leaking from the radiator. The vehicle was repaired and the manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 49,000. Updated 9/4/14
Service Brakes 16 Read
While applying the brakes to park the car the was a loud rifle shot sound, flash and vehicle jolt from under the hood. And the break warning light came on. During repair the mechanic found that the problem was the with the master cylinder cruse control cancelling switch. The switch blew apart and ignited the atomized…
I was driving down a hill and my brakes failed totally. I ran head on into a tree which caused me to blackout. Once rescued from truck I was told the air bag never deployed. So I feel there are two failures here the brakes and the air bag
Master cylinder failed causing crash. There was no warning and after first crash, vehicle continued to plow ahead until four vehicles were involved
Fuel System 13 Read
The contact owns a 1991 ford e150. While driving 35 mph, the contact heard a loud hissing sound coming from the vehicle. He inspected the vehicle and noticed burn markings inside the filler cap as well as outside of the fuel tank. He stated that the components on the inside of the fuel tank were burned. As of october…
Throttle sticks and does not fully return to idle. Must ride the brakes very hard to stop properly. Hove not crashed, but have had near misses. Dealer addressed once while under warranty, but will not address repeated problems, now that warranty has expired, without charging $80 diagnostic fee + repairs. Second…
My ford e150, econo van came to a sudden stall when I was driving on high way. Once it got stalled, I l don't have steering, power and brake control. The van won't start and won't stay idle. Or running, but after like 20 times trying to restart the car, it started running again like normal. The sudden stalling happens…
Engine 13 Read
Truck shook an stop running
Spark plugs ejected from my van
Driving on a city street the truck started shaking and loss all acceleration, it showed a wrench on the dash screen, coasted to a safe place and turned truck off. It restarted fine. Approx 30 mins later on the highway it did the same thing, started shaking, no acceleration and the wrench showed up. Again coasted to a…
Electrical System 11 Read
The contact owns a 2013 ford e-150. While driving 65 mph, an unknown warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was 108,000
On approximately 8/25/2010, while driving on the highway the vehicle suddenly shut down electrically. It couldn't be started by aaa. It was towed to a local repair shop and they found a burned wire that went from the fuse box to a junction box. He told me that this is an engineering defect in the vehicle as the wire…
Engine stalling at red lights intermittent. No engine light. In town. No power steering almost cause accident. This has happened several times
Vehicle Speed Control 8 Read
The contact owns a 2008 ford e-150 van. The contact was driving 45 mph when the electronic throttle control warning light illuminated and the vehicle proceeded to stall. The vehicle was taken to the dealer six times regarding the failure. The manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure…
The contact owns a 2007 ford e-150. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal would become stuck sporadically. The vehicle would lunge forward and the contact had to apply abrupt force to the brakes and shift into neutral in order to stop the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who advised that they could…
On several occasions while braking my foot made contact with the acceleration pedal instead of stopping the truck accelerated and almost caused a collision. The last occurrence put me through an intersection where I barley avoided a side impact collision. The brake pedal travel exceeds the level at which my foot can…
Steering 7 Read
The van wanders back and forth at highway speeds (> 60mph). I had the front end alignment and suspension checked out - all ok. Problem gets worse when pulling a 5000 lb camper - almost a safety issue
12-25-2016 after drooping off maid and gardener here in huatulco mexico my power steering quit. Since going so slow down hill on village street I thought that motor had quit. Realized that motor was running. Then noticed dash warning that said hill descent control fault, power steering assist fault, service advance…
Driving this van is very difficult, it will not hold a straight line ,when you pass big trucks going approximately 65 mph ,the vacuum sucks it up ,and it gets more uncontrollable,causing a minor fish tale. Of course ford checked it out and found nothing wrong .m---ks could not duplicate the problem..do not drive this…
E-150 years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Power Train,electrical System | — | — | |
| 2013 | Air Bags,structure,equipment Adaptive/mobility,service Brakes | 1 | — | |
| 2012 | Engine | — | — | |
| 2009 | Electrical System | — | — | |
| 2008 | Child Seat | — | 1 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | — | — | |
| 2006 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 1998 | Engine And Engine Cooling | 4 | — | |
| 1991 | Electrical System | — | 1 | |
| 1990 | Fuel/propulsion System | 1 | — |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 131 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.1 |
| Worst single series | 3 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 5.9 years |
A model average of 1.1 hides a worst series at 3. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
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How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the E-150?
By complaint volume, 1998, 2013, 2005 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which E-150 years are the cleanest?
1990, 2009, 2014 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Ford E-150 have?
146 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1990–2014. Of those, 8 describe a crash and 3 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.