Items in my bed and liner caught on fire. Engine regeneration for emissions got so hot melted all of the bed liner and caught a new large tv on fire. Ford has a glue on heat shield under bed which fell off. Exhaust gets so hot it caught on fire. They should have put a metal fixed plate or something fixed no a cheap glue on piece of foil. I inspected other trucks all missing!
Ford F-350 fire or smoke problems
94 of the 2,894 owner complaints about the Ford F-350 describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 1996 model year.
- owner complaints
- 94
- worst model year
- 1996
- typical mileage
- 99,970
Is there a fix? There are 7 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Adaptive cruise 10Loss of power 5Won't start 3Transmission failure 2Tire blowout 2Stalling 2Overheating 2Headlights 2
What owners say
We were just driving when the truck started smoking and the brakes wouldn’t work. After a few minutes the truck completely caught on fire.
Items inside bed caught on fire due to exhaust cleaning system getting so hot to burn off pollution in DPF pipe. Dangerous truck to drive contacted ford. No one contacted me. Other ford diesels caught on fire due to this. I’m retired military and don’t have money to buy 50k trucks. Only 80k on truck.
The contact owns a 2006 Ford F-350. The contact stated that while driving 35 MPH, the front of the vehicle started to wobble. While driving over a pothole, the vehicle wobbled violently. The contact was unable to control the vehicle while driving over 35 MPH. While driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact detected smoke coming from the vehicle. The engine warning light was illuminated. The contact called the local dealer, who informed him there were no recalls. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The approximate failure mileage was 99,856.
Tl* the contact owned a 2011 ford f-350. The contact stated while driving 62 MPH, their wife was in the vehicle and heard a pop noise. The contact continued to drive when his wife noticed from the rear view window that the vehicle was on fire from underneath the cab of the truck. The contact pulled over to the side the road. The contact and his wife grabbed their belongings and exit out of the vehicle to move a great distance while the vehicle was in flames. The fire department extinguished the fire. No one was injured and no medical treatment was needed at the scene. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an impound yard. The vehicle was deemed as a loss. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 288,000.
We were hauling a load of logs about an hour away everything was fine when all of the sudden the truck down shifted and white smoke started pouring out from under the passenger side of the hood followed by flames. We had to try to get off the road where we were there was no where to pull off and finally could swing into a state gamesland and someone called the fire dept. I am now out of a truck I just purchased 2 months ago and my VIN number isn't even showing up
We have been maintaining our vehicle and had no warning lights at the time our truck died . At the time of the incident it had oil and water. We were driving on the florida turnpike at full speed when suddenly, the truck started shuddering, and then it completely lost power. A cloud of blue-white smoke came out of the back of our truck. We were lucky to be able to get off of the turnpike to a safe place. We could have been killed. The mechanic has determined that the engine is locked up and can't be fixed. Our truck only has 134,000 miles - it should not have blown up like this.
I was driving and my steering arms caught on fire.
While driving my vehicle to get on to the freeway, the engine started revving and rattling I could smell something burning. When I tried to press on the brakes it wasn't working than the steering locked. I hit my emergency breaks put on my hazard light and turned off the car until a police officer arrived. I purchased the vehicle on 2/28/2020 and when I returned to pick up the truck the next day they could not produce the keys, this took about 2 weeks. On 04/06/2020 approx. 2 weeks after picking up the truck the it wouldn't start, I jumped the truck at which time there was a rattling and knocking sound in the engine, I took it back to the dealership for servicing. I got the truck back again a little over 2 weeks later on 04/23/2020. I feel the truck is so unsafe that it will cause me to get into an accident placing my life that of my family or another driver in a separate vehicle at stake. Upon reviewing all of the documents none of the documents have the same odometer reading and the number is approx. 24000 off.
Tl* the contact owned a 2001 ford f-350. While the vehicle was parked in a parking lot without warning the vehicle caught fired. The contact stated that a coworker informed him that the flames were coming from underneath his vehicle. The contact attempted to extinguish the fire but was unable. The fire department was contacted and extinguished the flames. A police report was filed. No injuries were sustained. State farm was contacted towed the vehicle to a tow lot and deemed the vehicle a total loss. The contact mentioned that the brake fluid light was illuminated and brake fluid was added to the vehicle. The contact mentioned that prior to the fire he noticed that fluid was leaking underneath the vehicle. The contact referenced the federal safety agency campaign number: 09v399000 (vehicle speed control) as a cause of the failure as VIN was included and recall was not serviced. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 109,000.
Related recalls
Electrical system
- What is wrong
- Monroe Truck Equipment (Monroe) is recalling certain model year 2006, 2008 and 2009 Chevrolet C7500 vehicles, 2005-2006 Chevrolet Tahoe vehicles, and 2009 Ford F-350, and F-450 vehicles, equipped with Sure Power-brand battery equalizers or DC-DC converters containing a particular epoxy sealing, aka 'potting', compound. The specific potting compound used in the subject products for insulation was found to be capable of conducting electricity after being exposed to heat.
- Risk
- Once electrically conductive, the material is capable of melting and burning, increasing the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Monroe will notify owners, and Sure Power will replace the equalizers or converters, free of charge. The recall began on March 24, 2014. Owners may contact Monroe at 1‑608‑328‑8127.
Recall number 14V070000 · Recall details
Electrical system: software
- What is wrong
- Ford is recalling certain model year 2011 ford f-150, f-250, f-350, f-450, f-550, edge, and lincoln mkx trucks manufactured from october 25, 2010, through november 20, 2010. These vehicles were inspected using integrated diagnostic system (ids) that had a custom software routine to read the suspect body control module (bcm) serial number. Based on the serial number the bcm was either not affected or replaced. The custom software routine was not reading the correct set of characters, and was not able to identify a bcm that required replacement affected bcms may have the potential for an internal short.
- Risk
- If an electrical short develops, an overheating condition may occur which could result in a vehicle fire.
- Remedy
- Dealer will inspect the body control module and if necessary replace it free of charge. The safety recall began on march 7, 2011. Owners may contact ford motor company customer relationship center at 1‑866‑436‑7332.
Recall number 11V128000 · Recall details
Electrical system: 12v/24v/48v battery
- What is wrong
- On certain trucks equipped with a 6.4l diesel engine, insufficient clearance of the battery positive (b+) wire to the right hand splash shield bolt may result in the battery b+ wire contacting the splash shield bolt.
- Risk
- Long term contact could cause wire chafe, resulting in copper wire being exposed. If this condition occurs, the battery b+ wire could short to ground increasing the risk of a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect the battery b+ wire location and, if necessary, reposition the wire. The recall began on april 3, 2007. Owners may contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.
Recall number 07V140000 · Recall details
Electrical system: 12v/24v/48v battery
- What is wrong
- On certain pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles equipped with 6.0l diesel engines, the engine ground stud that attaches the negative battery terminal eyelet to the engine block may be loose.
- Risk
- If the ground wire is loose, electrical current may flow to the radio suppression strap causing it to heat and potentially melt or ignite adjacent components which could result in a fire.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the engine ground stud and the radio suppression strap and adjacent components will be inspected for damage and replaced, if necessary. The recall began on july 23, 2004. Owners should contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.
Recall number 04V327000 · Recall details
Electrical system: 12v/24v/48v battery: cables
- What is wrong
- Vehicle description: supercab pickup trucks. The positive battery cable is taped to the negative cable which contains a clip to secure the assembly to the side frame rail. If incorrectly positioned, the positive battery cable can contact the air conditioning compressor pulley.
- Risk
- If the cable wears, a complete electrical system failure can occur and potential sparking and/or ignition of flammable material.
- Remedy
- Dealers will inspect and/or modify the battery cable clips to ensure that they are properly located.
Recall number 98V056000 · Recall details
Electrical system: ignition
- What is wrong
- The ignition switch could experience an internal short circuit.
- Risk
- This condition could cause overheating, smoke, and possibly fire in the steering column area of the vehicle.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the ignition switch.
Recall number 96V071000 · Recall details
Electrical system: ignition: module
- What is wrong
- In a heavily loaded vehicle, while in the cruise control mode, the throttle may not reduce immediately when the load on the engine is decreased (such as when the vehicle crests a hill.) this can result in increased vehicle speed without prior warning.
- Risk
- This can result in loss of speed control of the vehicle, and a possible accident.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the electronic engine control module.
Recall number 94V101000 · Recall details
Questions about the Ford F-350 fire or smoke
Which Ford F-350 years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1996 (12 complaints), 1995 (11 complaints) and 2008 (10 complaints).
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