Tl* the contact owns a 1999 ford e350. The contact was driving 35 MPH when the vehicle exhibited an abnormal pop. Immediately, fuel flooded into the vehicle cabin. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the dealer advised the contact that they had to replace the spark plug. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 372,000 and the current mileage is 372,500 updated 07/06/12 *bf the cylinder heads were replaced as well. Updated 07/12/12
1999 Ford E-350 engine problems
13 complaints (18% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 100,000.
- owner complaints
- 13
- of this car's complaints
- 18%
- typical mileage
- 100,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine5
- Engine: gasoline3
- Cooling system: fan1
At what mileage
Complaints by mileage at the time of the problem.
0k-25k
25k-50k
50k-75k
75k-100k
100k-125k
125k-150k
150k-175k
175k-200k
200k+
Ford E-350 engine problems in other years
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Related investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
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 vehicle stalled without restart.information contained in the odi consumer complaints and obtained from 72 telephone interviews with complainants showed the following:(1) 99% of the complaints were on my 1997 to 2002 subject vehicles.(2) most the complainants reported hearing a loud pop while driving or upon starting up the vehicle followed by a loud, repetitive clicking or popping sound.(3) many of the complainants reported that the popping sound was accompanied by some loss of vehicle power; however, in 99% of the incidents reported, the vehicle did not stall.in the very few incidents where the vehicle did stall, most vehicles could be restarted.(4) only a small percentage of the complainants cited that they smelled gas or a slight burning smell when the incident occurred.(5) in all but a very few incidents, vehicle damage was limited to the engine.in one incident, the complaint reported that the fuel rail was damaged and replaced after one of the spark plugs ejected from the engine; however, the complainant reported that the damage did not result in any type of fuel leak or fire.in another incident, the only incident where a fire was alleged, the complainant reported that no fluid leak was observed, but that a fire resulted after the spark plug had ejected from the engine and he had restarted the vehicle and driven to another location.none of the complainants reported any damage to the vehicle hood.(6) only two complainants reported that they observed what appeared to be some drops of fuel coming from the cylinder where the spark plug had failed or on the spark plug itself; however, each of these complainants reported that there was no smoke or flames as a result of his incident.as the petitioner noted, and odi?s analysis showed, it is possible for a spark plug to detach from the engine cylinder threads in the subject vehicles.however, odi?s analysis of 474 complaints describing such incidents found only a very few alleged any safety-related consequences.none of these showed any evidence of a serious safety consequence.given the large population and relatively long exposure time of the subject vehicles, the complaint analysis indicates that the risk to motor vehicle safety from the alleged defect is very low.in view of the foregoing, it is unlikely that the federal safety agency would issue an order for the notification and remedy of the alleged defect at the conclusion of the investigation requested in the petition.therefore, in view of the need to allocate and prioritize the federal safety agency?s limited resources to best accomplish the agency?s safety mission, the petition is denied.
DP05005
What 1999 Ford E-350 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
1999 ford e350 caught fire and burned to a total loss while sitting cold in my driveway. I bought the vehicle used on nov 8, 2010. Dec 12, 2010 I drove about 3 miles to the grocery around 20:30; I returned home and parked the vehicle in my driveway about 20:45. About 22:15 a passing car observed flames coming from the front of the vehicle and flaring to contact my house. The witness alerted me at my door. I immediately grabbed the garden hose and attempted to spray water into the front grill, left side to put out the fire. I could not see where the actual fire was as the hood was closed, I sprayed where the flames exited the grill. The wind was blowing about 20 MPH and I could not extinguish the flames. The vehicle was facing north, the wind blowing from west to east. The flames began to shoot out from the passenger wheel well in a horizontal streak as the wind stoked the fire. Neighbors called 911 while I diverted the water spray from the vehicle to the house and garage since the van was parked within 2 feet of the garage door and the wind now had flames shooting 8-12' high and brushing the wood garage door. The firemen arrived, knocked the vehicle hood off with a tool and sprayed the engine compartment to extinguish the fire. Due to the wind, the van was completely fire gutted and a total loss. The fire inspector advised me of the ford cruise control recall and said he could find no other possible cause for the fire in the engine compartment as there were no leaks of any kind and no recent repairs in the engine compartment. Local ford dealers have declined to tell me if my VIN had warranty work to repair the switch.
I was doing some city driving in my ford van and all of a sudden it started to sound rough and like my muffler fell off. I stopped had it towed and they told me the spark plug had blown out of the engine. When looking into it seems that it is a fairly common problem. My understanding is that if I had not turned the engine off quickly I could have had a fire in there as there still is gas and combustion going on(the other 9 plugs) now I don't know if or when the other plugs will go on me ands am afraid to drive the car more than a taxi cab ride home.
I have a 1999 chinook class c with a ford e-350 chassis powered by a triton v-10. Shortly after buying it used we had a spark plug pop out. It was an original plug. We had them changed and took a cross country trip. As we were coming up on memphis tn. Another plug blew out. We were on an interchange in a very dangerous place. We could not get out as there was a freeway on both sides. It took 3 1/2 hours to get us out of harms way. Just last weekend it happened again though I drove off the freeway. I have since read that this could cause a fire as the gas is getting pushed out the plug hole and the plug is out and firing. I have done some research and ford says the plugs were not torqued to spec which caused it to happen. We had our original plugs when it 1st happened. I also read online where a dealer had a very low mileage v-10 with original plugs and it happened to him. I think these heads are defective and should be replaced. I cannot find aftermarket heads so I would feel safer. It has always happened going down the freeway. The mechanic at the shop where it is says he has a ford kit to repair the heads. He says it is the only kit for this he has ever seen yet ford denies there is a real problem. I just feel lucky I have been able to get off the road each time. These engines are in many rv's and larger trucks which are harder to maneuver I.e. More dangerous.
Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford e-350. The contact stated that the spark plug has blown out of the head due to the lack of threading needing to keep it in place. The mechanic informed him that the failure has occurred three times within the last five weeks. There are no recalls available for this failure. The mechanic also stated that this could be due to a design flaw. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 139,000 and current mileage was 140,000.
1999 ford e350. Consumer states that while driving he noticed smoke in the cab and the engine started to die. Consumer pulled over the vehicle became engulfed with flames. *mc the consumer believed the fire started in the engine. (ohio traffic crash report)
During normal town driving, a spark plug was blown from passenger-side engine head, second from closest to passenger compartment. No prior issues with engine. Plugs not recently replaced. No obvious tell-tale signs that failure was immanent. Vast majority of vehicle's 140k mileage was long run on interstate. Threads were stripped, ignition coil was destroyed. No information from ford regarding how to fix, other than a dealers suggestions to replace head or replace engine. No information on fords web site.
Spark plug popped out of engine.
Dt: had an engine failure while towing a boat. Had brakes but no power brakes. This happened on july 30, 2005. The service engine light came on and a few second later the engine failed. The module that controlled the fuel injection failed. There was a hole coin the back of it, and it affected the whole engine. Water dripped out of the part when the mechanic took it off.
Discca owns eight e-250 & e-350 ford vans. Two have had fan selector switches overheat and fill the cab with smoke. One is a 1999 e-350 and the other is a 2001 e-250.
Questions about the 1999 Ford E-350 engine
Does the 1999 Ford E-350 have engine problems?
Owners have filed 13 complaints about the engine of the 1999 Ford E-350, 18% of all its complaints.
At what mileage do 1999 Ford E-350 engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 100,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 1999 Ford E-350 engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Ford E-350 have bad engine?
The Ford E-350 model years with the most engine complaints are 2005 (21 complaints), 2002 (20 complaints) and 2001 (17 complaints).
Other 1999 Ford E-350 problems
Tires 24Fuel system 9Steering 6Brakes 5Electrical 5Airbags 3Suspension 3Acceleration 2Body 2Wheels 2Seat belts 1Visibility 1
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