On 25 march 2011, I encountered a loud pop in the door on the driver-side of my 2004 ford f-150 regular cab truck, and the window disappeared into the door frame. I removed the door panel and discovered that the cable mechanism within the window regulator had failed. Without further delay I turned the truck into my ford dealer to have the window regulator repaired, and received a repair bill of $301.86 (the regulator alone cost $159.36); the ford advisor stated that they had the part in stock since the window regulator failure was a common occurrence. I did not inspect the regulator to determine why the cable mechanism had failed. After this incident I visited to determine the extent of the problem, and learned that more than 240 other 2004 ford truck owners had experienced the exact same problem in one door or the other in their trucks. As might be expected when inferior parts are installed in a vehicle, such as the window regulators in the 2004 ford trucks, the passenger-side window regulator also failed. In the second instance I determined that a small, cheap piece of molded plastic on the window regulator had failed because of the immense pressure applied to it when the window was being raised. Details of that failure are listed elsewhere on this website.
2004 Ford F-150 visibility complaints
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In late-june 2012 a loud clunk/thud/pop/small explosion occurred in the passenger-side door of my 2004 ford f-150 regular cab truck, while the vehicle was stopped and idling, and the window dropped into the door frame. When I returned home I removed the door panel and discovered that a small piece of molded plastic, 1 1/8" x 1 7/8" (probable cost to ford about 39 cents) on the window regulator had disintegrated/failed, allowing the regulator cable to release the window. I have found a replacement window regulator on the internet for $70 (ford charges $175 for the part) and will repair the defective item myself. I notified ford of the failure of a less-than-quality plastic piece on the regulator and asked for reimbursement. Ford responded: "there are no factory warranties or programs in effect on your vehicle that would provide financial assistance for your current vehicle concern." however, they did add: "recommend that you keep your repair receipts in case ford initiates a recall or customer satisfaction program in the future based on customer feedback or further engineering review of similar complaints." I see from the large number of complaints on this website by ford truck owners that I am but one of hundreds who have been affected, and obviously, there will be hundreds more; the odds are very high that the majority of the plastic pieces on ford truck window regulators will fail sooner or later, and I seriously doubt that the 2004 ford f-150 truck is the only model year that contains plastic parts in the window regulators. $70 to replace a failed piece of plastic that initially probably cost ford about 39 cents to produce is a sad commentary on quality.
I was parked in a parking lot letting my car cool down before I rolled up the windows and once I proceeded to roll up the window it made a loud thump/pop noise and the window fell between the drivers side doorway. I had my local mechanic fix it on 6/30 and right after leaving his shop, I was driving down the road heard a loud noise come from the passenger side (and almost wrecked into a parked car due to the noise!) and stopped to inspect what happened. I tried the window and it slammed right between the passenger side door. Now two windows and $800.00 later I have them fixed due to the window regulator going out in each one. This issue should be addressed as I called ford and they would do absolutely nothing. Please recall this as this is extremely dangerous.
The window/motor regulator assembly failed in both my drivers door and rear passenger door within months of each other. Both times I was on highways or toll roads when the windows fell in the door and I was unable to pull off to remedy the situation. After searching for remedies online I have found that this a common problem with ford trucks. Why hasn't ford offered a recall for this failure. When my drivers door window fell I was doing 50 MPH on a toll road in the middle of a heavy rain storm. I consider this a safety hazard.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. The contact stated that the rear driver side window suddenly shattered. The rear passenger side window fell into the door panel three different times prior to the failure and the front passenger side window fell into the door panel once. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f150. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the driver's side window fell into the door panel abnormally and exhibited a loud bang. The dealer was notified who advised the contact that the window regulator would need replacing. The remaining three windows regulators were also previously repaired by the dealer due to the same failure. The manufacturer was notified who provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 56,000 and the current mileage was 58,000.
I have a 2004 f150 with 22,000 miles on it and every window regulator in the truck has gone out and send the window crashing down. This is the fourth one. Ford will not recall it, it is a know issue. The dealership told me, "lady its you and thousands like you."
I was driving on the interstate at 65 MPH when all of a sudden my window disappeared startling me. I had my kids in the car who were frightened by the gush of wind. It surprised me and I was not certain what happened my window was just gone on the drivers side.the window had fallen into the door. Apparently after my research I learned that ford has had many problems with its window regulators failing causing this issue. This is extremely dangerous and could cause a serious accident. I hope for before it is too late and harm is done that ford will own up to this problem and have recall to repair the window mechanism that fails. If ford does not do anything than the federal safety agency should.
In my super-cab - without warning the driver's side window fell completely down to the bottom of the door and would not raise back up while in route on the interstate. It was loud and shocking! This occurred out of warranty the first time at 53,354 miles. Yesterday (3/4/12), the passenger window did exactly the same thing and startled myself and my wife. This presents an extremely unsafe and unsecured situation, especially in the winter conditions we experience here in the northwest. There are hundreds if not thousands of similar incidents posted on the internet for this model, 2004-2008.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150 super crew lariat. The contact was driving 5 MPH when the front driver's side power window failed and fell into the door panel. The failure repeated on several occasions with both the front and passenger side rear windows. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was contacted but the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 90,000 and the current mileage was 108,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. The contact stated that the driver, passenger, and rear passenger windows would open and fall into the door panel unexpectedly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was advised that the window regulators failed and would need replacing. The window regulators were replaced. The manufacturer was contacted and the contact advised them of the failure, stating that he had been a vitim of theft as a result of the failure. The manufacturer offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
F150 2004 windows driver side and passenger side window both fell on the same day. I have them propped up at this time. I can not believe there is not a recall on this danger. Both windows same day!
In june 2011, right passenger window dropped into the door. Had to replace window regulator assembly. The same happened in the left passenger window in october 2011, and that window regulator had to be replaced. Told by the dealer that this is common.
Letter from congressman gibbs on behalf of constituent re a 2011 voluntary safety recall notice from webasto to north america, inc for vehicle sunroof glass panels *tgw the consumer stated when he purchased the vehicle, the sunroof did not open. The consumer then received a recall notice in the mail, regarding problems with the sunroof. When the consumer contacted the manufacturer, he was informed the sunroof would be replaced free of charge even if it didn't open. The parts were shipped to an authorized company to perform the repairs. However, when the consumer called to make an appointment, he was told he would have to pay to have the sunroof opened. When the consumer called the manufacturer again, they stated he would have to pay to get the sunroof opened, and they would pay for the parts to be installed.
The driver and passenger window regulator failure driverside window came crashing down when I was driving down the highway on 12/01/11 all I heard was a loud pop then no window almost wrecked cause of the sound then a week later the passenger side window did the same thing but after I tried to put the window up after I got back home the dealer states that there still are no recalls on this issue after all the complaints I read online that goes back 5yrs why isn't no one doing anything about this problem.
There was a "pop" sound, followed by the window crashing down into the door. Upon inspection the point of failure is a small pulley attached to the window lift motor. It is weakly designed with high tension focused at 3 stress points instead of distributed about the whole pulley. I believe this is a common problem, and can startle a driver causing an accident, furthermore, at highway speeds the window could have fallen into or out of the truck causing injury.
This report is for the second failed window regulator for my 2004 ford f-150 fx4 driver side. These repairs are costly and highly reported. This is a safety hazard especially if this would have occurred while the vehicle was in motion a the time of failure. Surprising little action has been taken on this issue...
This is the second report I have filed with the federal safety agency for the same complaint but additional occurrence. While driving on the highway at 1000 at night and traveling 55 MPH, there was a loud bang that sounded like the truck had been shot, followed immediately by the passenger front window dropping into the door. The sound was so startling that it almost caused a loss of control of the vehicle. Ford knows that they have a defect with their window regulators; however, they refuse to recall even though it is a definite safety concern. This is the third window I have had fail in the exact manner on my 2004 f-150. A casual search on the internet confirms that ford has had thousands of complaints for this exact default and is refusing to make a repair or recall to address a known safety issue. The federal safety agency needs to take action on this and force ford to do what a responsible automaker should undertake on their own in order to protect the motoring public.
I was traveling on a main boulevard when all of a sudden the drivers side window slid down with a loud sounding bang. The window did not break. However, what seems to be a spring loaded mechanism, must have broken causing the window to collapse down inside the door. The sound was so loud, it caused a nervous reaction in me which resulted in pulling on the steering wheel to one side. Thankfully, there were no vehicles to that side and I was able to correct my steering to get back into my lane. As if one experience was not sufficient, it happened again 9/1/11. This time on the passenger side door. The same exact experience repeated except that this time I was driving at 75mph on I-25. I expected to find a recall to this dis-functional mechanism. What are the chances of this happening almost back to back within a 6 week period?
The power window on the front passenger side just abruptly stopped working and the window fell down into the door. This appears to be a problem with this vehicle that has not been addressed by ford.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. The contact stated that the vehicle exhibited a loud banging noise. The contact then noticed that the driver and the passenger rear windows were opened. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where they advised her that she needed to replace the window regulators. The vehicle was repaired for the the driver and passenger rear regulators. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000. The VIN was unavailable.
While driving in traffic my rear passenger side window, for no apparent reason, fell violently into the door. This was a very distracting incident that nearly resulted in an accident.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. The contact stated that the glass for the front driver and rear windows fell into the door frame abnormally. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic who performed a diagnostic that located the failure as the window regulators needing replacement. The regulators were replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 20,354 and the current mileage was 33,800. Updated 11/03/11 *bf the consumer stated three of the five power windows failed on the vehicle. The window regulators had to be replaced. Updated 03/08/12
I have had 2 of my window regulators go out and I have been doing some research and found out that this is a common problem. Something needs to be done about this it causes a safety risk since I have kids and when these windows shatter the glass gets everywhere. I have noticed that the same slider on both regulators broke in the same place. Please do something about this before someone's kid or my kids get hurt. Thank you *tr
First incident: august, 2009 I was driving down the highway going approximately 65 miles an hour when the back passenger side window started decending without anyone pushing the button. I was then unable to use the window again. My infant son was in the back seat next to the window and it was raining. I took the vehicle to the ford dealership and had the window regulator replaced. Second incident: january, 2010 once again I was driving and the front passenger side window went down without prompting and never worked again. I am an attorney and was on my way to the courthouse and was forced to leave my car unattended for a short amount of time and obtain continuances on all of my cases that day in order to have my window repaired. I was informed that it was the window regulator and the part needed replaced. Third incident: august, 2011 same scenerio, my husband was driving the vehicle on the highway at approx. 55 MPH when his window decended without prompting and we were unable to make the window work again. I had to have the window regulator replaced. Besides the cost of repairs ($350.00 each window), I believe that this is a safety hazard. I had an infant by the window in the first incident and driving at speed the window could have shattered. Also, all incidents occured while I was driving and proved quite distracting. It could have caused an accident. Last, because I was unable to make the window(s) go back up I had to leave my vehicle unsecured.
All 4 windows regulators broke within a span of 4 months. Window regulators have a steel cable which adheres to a plastic pulley--who designed this poor compatibility? Common sense will tell you that this is not conducive to wear and tear for electric windows. Vehicle is in excellent shape accept for this problem which as a consumer is unacceptable due to inferior products used. Aluminum or another type of metal should have been used for the pulley--definitely not plastic. Reported to ford--can't and won't do anything about this but tell me to take to ford dealer for repairs and pay an outrageous amount for the labor and regulator. I spoke with a local ford service manager and he revealed to me that ford knows this is a problem with several of their vehicles and also the lincolns but because of the cost incurred by issuing a recall that they chose to "wash it under the rug". This is an unacceptable excuse as far as I am concerned. 4 window regulators in a 4 month span to break--something needs to be addressed and brought to ford's management and design departments.
In less than one year I have had to replace three windows in my 2004 f-150. The windows would just fall inside the door and the mechanism no longer worked. As I researched online, I noticed there were numerous complaints for this make, model and year. I feel this should have been a recall. I hope ford motor company looks into this and we will all be reimbursed for our expenses. Thank you.
Hello I own a 2004 f150 I was driving and my drivers side window slid down for no reason I researched the problem and found that this is a common problem among 2004 f150 trucks the window regulator has a plastic part that fails I was lucky that it was a clear day if I had been driving in snow or other heavy inclement weather I would have been in trouble is this agency investigation this issue? I have been told that eventually all four of my windows will fail sincerely [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Window regulator failure: I have now replaced 3 out of 4 window regulators. My out of pocket cost is slightly over $900.00. The failures have been sudden with no warning.one occurred in traffic at 55mph. I live in colorado and weather could pose a health and safety issue. More important is consumer protection. Three failures in just a couple of years is indicative of manufacturer using substandard parts or components. Ford should correct this potentially dangerous situation and compensate those who have had to bear the cost of repair for substandard workmanship and materials. The date of the first and second incidents were close to the listed date the most recent was september 1 of this year. Repair work was done by a local shop records are available to refine the dates and exact mileage.
Failure of second window regulator in two years. Driving down the road this time and nearly swerved off the roadway after I thought that the passenger side rear window had been shot out. Turns out it was the regulator failing. Ford needs to recall this part as a safety hazard before somebody is hurt in a crash caused by the failure of the regulators. Ford knows they have a problem but apparently will not recall or offer a fix.
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