2017 Ford F-250 SD: fire, smoke or burning smell

Filed May 15, 2026 · Fuel system · CA · fire

On 5/8/2026 at 1555 hours, while driving at normal freeway speed under normal driving conditions, vehicle began an exhaust system regeneration cycle. During the course of the region cycle, vehicle began to smoke excessively and realizing this wan not normal, I was able to yield to the right shoulder of the roadway. Almost immediately the vehicle ignited on fire and completely burned to the ground. The fire appeared to have commenced in the engine compartment, driver side near the firewall. The location of which appears to be consistent with reports of fuel filter failures I have read about in the past. The resulting fire ignited nearby brush which burned several hundred feet of brush and resulted in the spillage of diesel fuel and coolant which combined from the resulting melting of the coolant system and fuel tank and lines. This incident put both me and surrounding communities at risk, particularly from the resulting fire and HAZMAT spill. The vehicle was in good running condition prior to this incident. The incident was investigated by the Templeton California Highway Patrol.

Filed Feb 20, 2026 · Engine · 190,000 miles · CA · fire

The contact owned a 2017 Ford F-250. The contact stated while driving 22 MPH and attempting to depress the brake pedal, the brake pedal was firm and difficult to depress. The brake pedal was depressed with both feet and the vehicle started slowing down. There was no warning light illuminated. After coming to a complete stop, the contact saw smoke coming from the grill underneath the windshield wipers and the lower windshield. The contact exited the vehicle and there was fire coming from the engine compartment and entering the cabin of the vehicle. The contact exited the vehicle, ran to the neighbor’s house and grabbed the garden hose and started spraying water on the hood; however, smoke and the fire increased and the fire was too hot for the house to put out the flames. The contact called 9-1-1 for assistance and the Fire Department arrived on the scene and extinguished the Fire. The Police showed up on scene to direct traffic. There was no injuries sustained. A Police Report was filed, but the report number was not provided. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and opened a case and provided the contact with the case number. The failure mileage was approximately 190,000.

Filed Jan 28, 2026 · Electrical · TX · fire

Electrical short behind dashboard. No signs of failure until it caught on fire. Interior was in flames in under 2 minutes.

Filed Mar 5, 2025 · Electrical, Engine · CA · fire

On Tuesday, [XXX], at approximately [XXX] PM, I was driving southbound on [XXX] near Coalinga, CA, when my truck suddenly experienced a failure. I noticed smoke in the side mirror and asked my passenger to confirm. Moments later, a "Low Fuel Pressure" message appeared on the dashboard, and smoke began coming from the hood. I immediately pulled over and attempted to pop the hood, at which point flames erupted from the engine bay. The fire quickly spread, fully engulfing the vehicle within minutes. Emergency responders, including Cal-Fire and CHP, arrived on the scene. The truck was towed by Cal-State Towing Service in Huron, CA. The Fire Captain on site provided an incident card, but the full fire report is expected to take at least a week to obtain. There were no prior indications of mechanical issues before this incident, and no recent repairs or modifications to the fuel system or engine. However, I recently became aware of an ongoing the federal safety agency investigation into fuel leaks and fire risks in Ford Super Duty trucks equipped with the 6.7L diesel engine (TFL Truck Report). The investigation highlights a potential issue with fractures in the secondary fuel filter housing, which could lead to fuel leaks and fire hazards. Given that my truck displayed a Low Fuel Pressure warning immediately before catching fire, I strongly suspect this failure may be related to the issue under investigation. The truck is currently in tow yard storage and is available for inspection upon request. This incident posed a serious safety risk to myself, my father and others on the roadway, and I believe it warrants further examination by the federal safety agency. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jun 22, 2022 · Fuel system · AL

After driving for over an hour at highway speed, I smelled something but could not determine what it was. The next day I drove around town and once when I pulled up to a traffic signal, I noticed the smell again and some light smoke coming from the front of the truck. When I got home, I opened the hood and diesel fuel was dripping off the hood insulator and running all over the engine and around the seals around the hood. I cranked the engine again to see if I could determine where it was coming from and a saw a stream shooting straight up from the center of the engine. I took it to a local Ford dealership, and they repaired it. The top of the fuel filter mounted in the top center of the engine ruptured and sprayed diesel all over the engine. I left the part at the dealership after the repair. There were no dashboard warnings and there was no change in vehicle responsiveness in pressing the accelerator. When I returned from the dealership, the diesel that had spilled reached the exhaust system and smoke came out from under the center of the truck. It half-emptied the fuel tank in 3 days. I know diesel in not as volatile as gasoline, but this was still a dangerous situation.

Filed Dec 26, 2021 · Fuel system · TX · fire

truck has less than 60,000 miles. Driving along the hiway with grand daughter, going to dance , truck dinged said reduced power,and started losing power started to pull over and engine died, battery light came on, went to get out out some one driving by said get out your truck is on fire, as i got out could see fire smoke, coming from area under engine on left hand side, fire was dripping out . Popped hood release, but now less than a 2 minutes later from reduced power had fire boiling out under the hood. one person had a fire ext and we sprayed in the crack of the hood, as too hot to get hood open, paint was turning colors, by time fire dept got there, the truck was engulfed in fire, loud explosions going on, windows has already blow out left hand side tire on fire. By the time Port Lavaca Texas 77979 fire dept got the fire out, nothing left of the truck. but rear bed. Truck had bee going in Regeneration a lot lately , While waiting for Grand Daughter to come out of school in 10 min, it went in and out of Rengen several times with weird, rpms rise and drops. Drove fine, when we left school. was app. 18 miles from home when the truck said reduced power and started to slow down and died. Called Ford customer care, got passed on twice to different parts, then told Office of general counsel would call. after a week i called back could not get a phone number to call. only a fax. when office of general counsel did call about 11 days later, the guy would not give me his name, a phone number, a email address, told him Video on youtube of 2016 ford Test truck in Cal. on side of road, 6.7 diesel i had seen same thing started under the engine compartment and burnt to ground. See several more post about them catching on fire, all around same age and all 6.7 diesels . Then he said just tell your insurance sub ligation, and let them handle it since i had insurance. Calhoun county Texas Sheriffs office and Port Lavaca Texas fire dept has the reports,

Filed Nov 21, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · AK · fire

On Tues Nov 16, 2021 evening we discovered our Ford f-250 super duty diesel 6.7L on fire. Fire department was dispatched. They extinguished the fire and they determined that it was most likely the engine block heater (It was plugged in because of 0 degree temps that evening). The GFCI breaker was tripped. Upon later research, I found the federal safety agency safety recall report 18v-894 dated Dec 18, 2018 found that the vehicle's engine block heater cable is susceptible to moisture accumulation and subsequent fire because of these factors: a female connector angled upwards at 45 degree or greater angle, a low mounting position in the vehicle, and an unshielded or exposed mounting location. On 5/30/2019 we took the vehicle into our local Ford service dealer because of recall #18s45 and they disabled the block heater. On Oct 28, 2019 we responded to recall 19g01and took the vehicle again into the dealer because they reported they had the fix. At that time they replaced the cord on the existing block heater. Consequently, 2 years later, our vehicle succumbed to a catastrophic total loss fire because Ford's recall solution was to simply replace the cord, not to actually address the root cause of the problem, which was the low mounting location and susceptibility to corrosion of the terminals in cold climates. Ford is not cooperating with our requests for them to help us. They advised us that they will no longer be addressing this matter, that they are not going to get involved in helping with our immediate needs (our most immediate need being transportation to and from work), and there is no need to contact them again and they will not be contacting us. Their legal department advised us to consult our insurance company for compensation. By the way, on Aug 17, 2021 we took the vehicle in for its 30,000 mile service, which included full inspection.

Filed Oct 25, 2021 · Fuel system · 40,000 miles · CA · fire · 1 injury

The contact owned a 2017 Ford F-250 hauling an unknown fifth-wheel trailer. The contact stated that while driving at 55 - 60 mph, the smoke odor was detected. The contact slowed the vehicle down to 10 mph, to stop and pull over. The fire started from the vehicle's engine compartment. The vehicle and travel trailer caught fire. The fire department was able to extinguish the fire. The contact was unaware if there was a fire department report. The contact had sustained smoke inhalation injury but did not receive medical assistance. The vehicle was towed to a tow yard and was currently being reviewed by the insurance company. The contact works for the dealer and made them aware of the failure. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.

Filed Aug 13, 2020 · Engine · 28,761 miles · NC · fire

Tl* the contact owns a 2017 ford f-250. The contact stated that there was a recall for an engine block heater core. The vehicle was taken in for that recall repair on 09/04/2019. The recall work was done at the dealer capital ford wilmington (4222 oleander dr, wilmington, nc 28403 910‑799‑4060). On 07/01/20 as the vehicle was placed in reverse there was dark gray smoke coming from under the hood. There was a fire coming from the back of the engine that was extinguished with an extinguisher. The contact noticed smoke was still coming from the air filter element. The contact had put out the smoldering flames from that part also. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer. The vehicle has been there since with the dealer sending pictures to the manufacturer but they had not responded. They suggested the contact to call the manufacturer but they offered no help in getting the repairs done. The dealer has been waiting on the manufacturer since but they have been yet responded. The vehicle still remains at the dealer unrepaired with no progress being made. The failure mileage was 28,761. *dt*jb*dt

Filed Jan 6, 2020 · Steering, Suspension · 26,000 miles · OK

My f-250 had about 26,000 miles on it when I first experienced the "death wobble". While driving at 75 MPH I went over an expansion joint on the interstate in ks. It was at this time the pickup started violently shaking and the steering wheel was dangerously difficult to control with the oscillation. After slowing to around 30 MPH the oscillation stopped. The smell of burning rubber filled the cab. This same even happened two more times within an hour and a half. After the first incident I could feel the death wobble start in the steering wheel a second or less before the violent shaking started. All three times it occurred on the interstate at speeds of 75 and 70 MPH. I do not trust the safety of this vehicle!!!

Filed Apr 22, 2019 · Electrical, Engine · 65,000 miles · TX · fire

While driving on interstate 20, eastbound, my low fuel pressure indicator light came on. I started losing power and we pulled off at the exit that was there. As soon as we stopped, the engine bay was on fire. It gave no indication of odd smells or problems.it seemed to burn the engine compartment completely, all the electrical systems, interior, possibly firewall, etc. It seems this is possibly a known problem.

Filed Dec 27, 2018 · Brakes, Electrical · 36,000 miles · MO · fire

Tl* the contact owned a 2017 ford f-250. While driving 50 MPH, the vehicle caught fire at the bottom of the engine and the brakes failed. The fire department extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. A police report was not filed and the vehicle was towed to a tow yard. The vehicle was deemed a total loss by the insurance company and was not taken to a dealer. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000. *tt consumer stated insurance company determined defective wiring caused the fire both the truck and camper were a total loss.