The contact owned a 2003 Ford F-250. The contact stated that while her husband was driving home, there was black smoke coming from the exhaust, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the residence and turned off. The contact stated that while attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the engine was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 171,000.
2003 Ford F-250 engine problems
37 complaints (32% of all complaints for this car). Typical mileage when it fails: 35,000.
- owner complaints
- 37
- of this car's complaints
- 32%
- typical mileage
- 35,000
- crashes
- 0
- recalls
- 0
Which part fails
- Engine: diesel4
- Engine4
- Exhaust system3
- Exhaust system: manifold/header/muffler/tail pipe1
- Exhaust system: emission control: catalytic convertor1
- Exhaust system: emission control1
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 F-250 engine problems in other years
Specific symptoms reported on the 2003 Ford F-250 engine
Phrases found in the owners' own descriptions, so one complaint can mention several symptoms.
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
Engine stalling
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 vehicles received multiple reports.odi has not yet confirmed ford's categorization of these reports, nor has odi confirmed ford's categorization of the remaining reports (which ford states do not pertain to the alleged defect).ford submitted nearly 19,000 warranty claims, many of which involved claims for a technical service bulletin (tsb 04-13-08) and field service action (fsa 03b05) which ford identified as potential remedies for stalling complaints.odi has not confirmed that either of these are a remedy for engine stalling complaints.several other dealer communications related to engine stall were also submitted as well as over 50 product modifications, 15 of which involve revisions to the software for the electronic engine control unit.further investigation is required and odi is upgrading pe04-070 to an engineering analysis (ea).during the ea, odi will establish and update manufacturer failure report counts, further investigate the frequency and trend of stalling complaints, and determine the scope and safety implication of stalling events.odi will also investigate ford's remedies, their effectiveness, and whether further action is required.
PE04070
What 2003 Ford F-250 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Truck had no check engine light then caught on fire going down the road and burned to ground within seconds Incident report 46-24-05039 08_30-74 US-30 - PA 74 30 W
I have been trying to get the exhaust manifold bolts replaced by several machine shops and did my own checking on the Ford F-250 Web site and everyone tells me the same thing! Ford knows about the problem but is doing nothing to correct! I have finally found a shop that will fix the broken exhaust manifold blots ! But I would like to know what ford truly knows about this problem . To get it fixed they have to replace all the bolts do to the bolts being so rusted ! Now I only have 121, + miles on my2003 and with the bolts broken it starts admitting gas fumes into the cab . I did check your site and could only find but 1 complaint , so if this is an issue with the exhaust manifold bolts braking and all the ford forums are full of complaints where are they being filed at on your site ? And I do believe it is an issue because I have spoken to 5 different shoppes and 1 ford dealer , they all say the same thing SORRY but it is your problem ! ford knows but will not do anything about it ! I am having mine put in the shop for repairs on the week of 7 Feb 2022 , now that I found someone I could afford! I had quotes from I will not do the work because it is a V10 to $1000.00 per bolt please address this ! It won’t help me but maybe it will hold ford accountable for the product !
I have paid over $6.000 dollars to my local ford dealer to fix my truck just to have them tell me there is no way to fix the problem, its a design flaw from ford that can not be fixed. I have been back and forth with ford motor company, I have been lied to, strong along, calls not returned and so on. The design flaw has to do with the egr. And today its seems the 3rd new turbo stopped working and the motor has started to have a bad vibration. This has been a nightmare and even though ford kept telling me they will take care of me, nothing has happened. When the turbo failed as I was trying to get onto the freeway I had no power and nearly was rear ended by an 18 wheeler who was extremely angry. I had to stay off the freeway on other roads till I could get home. The truck developed a bad vibration and I was not sure I would get it home. If I would had been told by ford the first time I took it in of the design flaw and there is no way to fix it, I would have never poured so much money into it. It is a lemon and should have been recalled. I have talked to many people and researched this truck. I found out ford new of this design flaw and that their customers would have these problems but released the truck to us anyway. I now can't afford to put any more money into this truck, I can't fix it, I can't sell it, and ford will not do anything to help me. When I found out I was lied to and caught them and said, I now you have been lying to me and I do not trust you, I was labeled a hostel customer. I ask you, who likes to be lied to? This has been going on into 2 years now. Now I have no truck. I am interning where it asks "when this happened" today's date. Please help. Thank you.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-250. While driving 65 MPH, the vehicle began to stall without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the turbo needed to be replaced. The vehicle was taken to penske ford (located at 8970 la mesa blvd, la mesa, ca 91942, (619) 464-7777), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 72,000.
Failed smog and every time sensors are replaced failure happens again.
The check engine light came on and we pulled over then when I put the truck into drive to pull out it barely moved. We were almost hit bc the truck wouldn't move so I put in in reverse to get out of the road and it did fine. So I tried to pull out again n drive and again it wouldn't go no matter how much gas I gave it. It sounds like something is drownding out or it isn't getting gas. But like I said. It won't go forward in drive or 1st or 2nd. Only in reverse will it move normally. This is major!!! I can't have my kids at risk bc there's something wrong with the truck. I have only had the truck about 3 weeks so it's very frustrating.
My truck shuts off while driving for no reason whatsoever. The lights come and it throws no codes at all. I have experienced this while driving down the road at speeds of 50 or less. But it doesn't matter it still dies just the engine. I have not seen one investigation by the government at all. And as I go online many people are suffering the same fate to where people have gotten into accidents... I want answers!!! We need answers as this is a serious problem. The engine just dies but I don't lose electrical power, but I do lose steering and it's very hard to control the truck at these times. Ford denies everything and will not help at all without money in hand!!! This is wrong... We need government to step in and help!!!
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-250. The contact stated that in order to keep the vehicle's engine on, the hazard lights and headlights had to be activated; however, the lights did not illuminate. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 200,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford f-250. The contact stated that the vehicle made an abnormal noise and stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to a dealer who replaced the oil pump. The contact also indicated that there were multiple failures with the vehicle. At least twelve fuel injectors were replaced by the dealer at least twelve times; however, the main failure was the turbo bracket being unstable. The dealer diagnosed that the four bolts were rusted with corrosion and the bolts, which were not in place and the j-tube internally fractured. The dealer replaced the four bolts and the j-tube. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 100,000.
Questions about the 2003 Ford F-250 engine
Does the 2003 Ford F-250 have engine problems?
Owners have filed 37 complaints about the engine of the 2003 Ford F-250, 32% of all its complaints, more than any other problem.
At what mileage do 2003 Ford F-250 engine problems start?
The typical (median) mileage in owner complaints is 35,000 miles.
Was there a recall on the 2003 Ford F-250 engine?
There is no recall for this problem on this model year.
What year does the Ford F-250 have bad engine?
The Ford F-250 model years with the most engine complaints are 1999 (82 complaints), 2004 (63 complaints) and 2000 (44 complaints).
Other 2003 Ford F-250 problems
Tires 20Brakes 15Electrical 13Fuel system 13Transmission 12Steering 11Acceleration 8Suspension 6Body 5Wheels 3Airbags 2Lights 1Visibility 1
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