When going around curves, hitting small bumps, or stopping, the front end starts to shake violently. Slowing down or stopping is the only way to stop the shaking. The truck has been taken to several repair shops with no avail. They can't find anything wrong. This problem is very dangerous. I'm getting scared to drive it.
The worst 2004 Ford F-350 SD problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Engine49
- Electrical29
- Fuel system19
- Tires17
- Acceleration6
- Body6
- Brakes6
- Steering6
- Transmission6
- Suspension5
- Wheels3
- Airbags1
- Seat belts1
Specific symptoms reported on the 2004 Ford F-350 SD
Stalling 35Loss of power 10Tire blowout 10Check engine light 8Engine failure 6Hesitation 5Pulling 5
Recalls 2
Exterior lighting: brake lights
- What is wrong
- Ford is recalling certain model year 2011 ranger trucks built from january 25, 2011, through april 25, 2011 at the twin cities assembly plant, and service parts distributed to dealers for certain 2004 through 2011 model year ranger trucks, 2002 through 2005 model year excursion vehicles, and 2002 through 2007 model year f-250, f-350, f-450, and f-550 trucks for failing to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 108, "lamps, reflective devices, and associated equipment." the multi-function switch was shipped with a subcomponent (slider) that may experience deformation. A multi-function switch with a deformed slider may malfunction causing the turn signal, tail lights, hazard warning signal flashers and/or brake lights not to activate.
- Risk
- Non-functioning lights could increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the switches free of charge. The safety recall began on august 15, 2011. Owners may contact ford motor company customer relationship center at 1‑866‑436‑7332.
Recall number 11V352000 · Recall details
Electrical system: wiring
- What is wrong
- Certain pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans equipped with 6.0l diesel engines may experience stalling without warning while driving and may or may not restart.
- Risk
- Should the engine stall, a vehicle crash could occur.
- Remedy
- Dealers will upgrade the fuel injection control module (ficm) wire harness or replaced, and/or have a new injection control pressure (icp)) sensor connector installed free of charge. The recall began on july 22, 2005. Owners may contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.
Recall number 05V270000 · Recall details
See all 2 recalls for the 2004 Ford F-350 SD
Defect 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
In a june 7, 2005 letter, ford notified odi that it would be conducting a safety recall of approximately 180,000 ford f-super duty, excursion and e-series vehicles equipped with 6.0l diesel engines to correct two wiring related conditions that could result in engine stall (the federal safety agency recall no. 05v‑270, ford no. 05s34).the affected vehicles were built between september 29, 2003 and may 31, 2004.according to ford, vehicles with the conditions may stall without warning and may or may not restart.ford will instruct owners of vehicles included in the recall to take their vehicles to a dealer to have the fuel injector control module wire harness upgraded or replaced and or have a new injection control pressure sensor connector installed.during a may 2005 presentation to odi, ford identified a number of potential failure mechanisms that could affect engine performance in various segments of the subject vehicle population, including the wiring conditions addressed by 05v‑270.the wiring conditions, which both affect engine fueling, were the most likely conditions to result in engine stall.the recalled vehicles comprise approximately 43% of the subject vehicle population and account for 75 of the 113 odi reports that have a valid VIN (66%).the voq complaint rate for the recall population is 45/100k while the rate for vehicles outside the recall population is 17/100k and their trend (by date of receipt) is declining.based on the analysis, odi believes ford?s actions are sufficient to address the current safety risks and the investigation is thus closed.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety related defect does not exist.further action will be taken if warranted by future circumstances.
EA05003
Technical service bulletins for the 2004 Ford F-350 SD 63
Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.
- When performing any transmission fluid changes or topoffs involving MERCON SP, MERCON LV has replaced all...
- This SKU is a Transmission Line
- This SKU is a Spare Tire Hoist
- Concern during or after programing the VSM. The programming may fail or vehicle symptoms such as...
- This SKU is a front upper ball joint
- Ford: when shifting between park, reverse and/or during 2-3 shift, an intermittent clunk occurs with a...
- Ford: on some trucks, there is a no crank situation and if voltage on transmission range sensor at pin 21,...
- Ford: the restraint control module (RCM) when using vcm II, would have an error code 35 and diagnostic...
- Ford trucks service campaign: vehicles have experienced severe steering wheel and front wheel vibrations...
- 1999-2008 7.3L/6.0L/6.4L/4.5L diesel f-super duty - clean the charge air cooler (CAC) system after certain...
What 2004 Ford F-350 SD owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-350 sd equipped with bf goodrich baja champion all terrain (na) tires, size: ft285/75/r16 (na). While driving 40 MPH, there was an abnormally loud popping noise that came from the lower part of the vehicle. The contact was able to pull the vehicle over to the shoulder, where it was witnessed that a reflector had lodged itself into the rear driver side tire. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the tire failed due to it being punctured and would need to be replaced. The tire was replaced. The tires were replacement tires. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate vehicle failure mileage was 145,006 and the tire failure mileage was 60.
Bought bfg commercial t/a tires from costco lake elsinore, ca on 05-23-2015 I went back to costco with a handling complaint after a recent camping trip first time on these tires. With my 29 foot travel trailer my truck handles very poorly tire side walls feel very soft makes handling a serious safety issue. Truck feels like its wandering and when trying to stop the trailer the tires feel as if they are trying to come of the rims. My truck is a 2004 ford f-350 srw truck more than capable of towing this trailer. The trucks mileage at the time of install was 154601 current mileage is 155061 so I have put a total of 460 miles on these tires. Costco would only rebalace and rotate tires without any of my saftey concerns addressed.
Bought bfg commercial t/a tires from costco lake elsinore, ca on 05-23-2015 I went back to costco with a handling complaint after a recent camping trip first time on these tires. With my 29 foot travel trailer my truck handles very poorly tire side walls feel very soft makes handling a serious safety issue. Truck feels like its wandering and when trying to stop the trailer the tires feel as if they are trying to come of the rims. My truck is a 2004 ford f-350 srw truck more than capable of towing this trailer. The trucks mileage at the time of install was 154601 current mileage is 155061 so I have put a total of 460 miles on these tires. Costco would only rebalace and rotate tires without any of my saftey concerns addressed.
Bought bfg commercial t/a tires from costco lake elsinore, ca on 05-23-2015 I went back to costco with a handling complaint after a recent camping trip first time on these tires. With my 29 foot travel trailer my truck handles very poorly tire side walls feel very soft makes handling a serious safety issue. Truck feels like its wandering and when trying to stop the trailer the tires feel as if they are trying to come of the rims. My truck is a 2004 ford f-350 srw truck more than capable of towing this trailer. The trucks mileage at the time of install was 154601 current mileage is 155061 so I have put a total of 460 miles on these tires. Costco would only rebalace and rotate tires without any of my saftey concerns addressed.
Bought bfg commercial t/a tires from costco lake elsinore, ca on 05-23-2015 I went back to costco with a handling complaint after a recent camping trip first time on these tires. With my 29 foot travel trailer my truck handles very poorly tire side walls feel very soft makes handling a serious safety issue. Truck feels like its wandering and when trying to stop the trailer the tires feel as if they are trying to come of the rims. My truck is a 2004 ford f-350 srw truck more than capable of towing this trailer. The trucks mileage at the time of install was 154601 current mileage is 155061 so I have put a total of 460 miles on these tires. Costco would only rebalace and rotate tires without any of my saftey concerns addressed.
Bought bfg commercial t/a tires from costco lake elsinore, ca on 05-23-2015 I went back to costco with a handling complaint after a recent camping trip first time on these tires. With my 29 foot travel trailer my truck handles very poorly tire side walls feel very soft makes handling a serious safety issue. Truck feels like its wandering and when trying to stop the trailer the tires feel as if they are trying to come of the rims. My truck is a 2004 ford f-350 srw truck more than capable of towing this trailer. The trucks mileage at the time of install was 154601 current mileage is 155061 so I have put a total of 460 miles on these tires. Costco would only rebalace and rotate tires without any of my saftey concerns addressed.
While driving on the highway at around 55mph, the truck stopped running with no prior warning or any prior issue. After it shut off the truck would crank but not start. Incident was very unsafe as the vehicle shut off at highway speeds.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-350 sd. While driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician diagnosed that the oil pump failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 161,000.
The truck started to stall on several occasions as I was attempting to get up to road speed of 55 MPH. The truck was losing speed, jerking and black smoke coming out of the exhaust. There were no indications of engine failure to warn me of any problems, ie. Engine light. This occurred on more than once, causing potential traffic hazard. The cam sensor and fuel injection control module needed to be replaced. The repair costs involved were high thank goodness there were no injuries or accidents due to the stalling. Thank you,
Compare the 2004 Ford F-350 SD
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Questions about the 2004 Ford F-350 SD
Is the 2004 Ford F-350 SD reliable?
Owners have filed 130 complaints about the 2004 Ford F-350 SD, close to a typical F-350 SD model year.
What is the 2004 Ford F-350 SD year score?
The 2004 Ford F-350 SD scores 73 out of 100 (average). The score compares it with the other model years of the Ford F-350 SD: 75 is a typical year, 50 means twice the usual complaints, and serious complaints and recalls lower it.
What is the most common problem with the 2004 Ford F-350 SD?
Engine and cooling, with 49 complaints, typically around 80,000 miles. Next is electrical (29).
How many recalls does the 2004 Ford F-350 SD have?
2 recalls, covering exterior lighting and electrical system.
What year does the Ford F-350 SD have bad engine?
The Ford F-350 SD model years with the most engine complaints are 2005 (56 complaints), 2003 (55 complaints) and 2004 (49 complaints).
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Check its historyFord F-350 SD in the news
- Ford recalls 2026-2027 F-150, 2026 F-250 SD and 2026 F-350 SD and other models over hinge and attachments problem (30,123 vehicles)
- Ford recalls 2026 F-150, 2025-2026 F-250 SD and 2025-2026 F-350 SD and other models over instrument cluster/panel problem (102,159 vehicles)
- Ford recalls 2025-2027 Expedition, 2026 F-250 SD and 2026 F-350 SD and other models over exterior lighting headlights problem (41,748 vehicles)