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1999 Ford F-450 SD problems

The most common problem on the 1999 Ford F-450 SD is transmission and drivetrain. It has 11.0 times the complaints of a typical F-450 SD model year.

Typical year11.0x the typical complaints
Owner complaints
66
Recalls
9
Service bulletins
92
Worst area
Transmission

The worst 1999 Ford F-450 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.

  • Transmission
    15
  • Brakes
    13
  • Tires
    9
  • Engine
    8
  • Visibility
    6
  • Electrical
    4
  • Airbags
    3
  • Steering
    3
  • Fuel system
    2
  • Suspension
    2
  • Seat belts
    1
  • Wheels
    1

Specific symptoms reported on the 1999 Ford F-450 SD

Stalling 6Tire blowout 5

Recalls 9

Vehicle speed controlReported October 13, 2009 · 4,500,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Ford is recalling model years 1995-2003 windstar, 2000-2003 excursion diesel, 1993-1997 and 1999-2003 f-250 sd through f-550 sd diesel, 1992-2003 e-150 through e-550, 1995-2002 explorer, 1997 and 2002 mercury mountaineer, 1995-1997 and 2001-2003 ranger, and 1994 f53 vehicles equipped with the texas instruments speed control deactivation switch (scds). The scds may leak internally and then overheat, smoke, or burn.
Risk
A vehicle fire could occur with or without the engine running.
Remedy
Ford will notify owners that dealers will install a fused wiring harness in line with the scds. On 1999-2003 windstar vehicles with a leaking scds, dealers will also inspect the ABS control module connector and repair as necessary. Repairs will be completed free of charge. The safety recall began on october 27, 2009. Owners may contact ford at 1‑888‑222‑2751.

Recall number 09V399000 · Recall details

Engine and engine cooling: engine: dieselReported December 5, 2007 · 1,176,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On certain heavy duty trucks equipped with 7.3l diesel engines, the camshaft position sensor located on the engine of the vehicle may function intermittently, possibly resulting in an engine stall.
Risk
In the event of an engine stall, a crash could result without warning.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the sensor and replace it with an improved camshaft position sensor free of charge. The recall began on december 29, 2007. Owners may contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332.

Recall number 07V553000 · Recall details

Vehicle speed controlReported August 1, 2006 · 1,200,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On certain trucks equipped with speed control, gasoline or natural gas engines, the speed control deactivation switch may overheat.
Risk
Overheating could result in smoke or burn and an underhood fire.
Remedy
Dealers will install a fused wiring harness into the speed control system free of charge. The recall began on august 7, 2006. Owners may contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332. (note: also see recalls 05v017 and 05v388)

Recall number 06V286000 · Recall details

Parking brake: conventional: mechanical: linkage and cableReported March 11, 2002 · 51,846 vehicles affected
What is wrong
On certain pickup trucks equipped with manual transmissions, failure of the front parking brake cable input button could result in failure of the parking brake system to hold the vehicle stationary.
Risk
This could result in unintended vehicle movement and a vehicle crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the front parking brake cable and the controller and verify the performance of the parking brake system. Owner notification began april 5, 2002. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑866‑436‑7332.

Recall number 02V068000 · Recall details

Tires: valveReported February 14, 2001 · 102,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: trucks equipped with commercial truck tires that have steel cords in the tire sidewall. The valve stems may have been torn or damaged during assembly and could leak causing sidewall damage.
Risk
If not maintained, could result in a sidewall zipper failure. A zipper failure during inflation of a damaged tire could result in injury to someone near the tire.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the valve stems for leakage, and will replace both the valve stem and the tire if leakage is present. Owner notification began march 28, 2001. Owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact ford at 1‑800‑392‑3673.

Recall number 01V046000 · Recall details

Vehicle speed controlReported March 30, 1999 · 898,739 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: certain 1997-1999 rhd explorer equipped with 4.0l ohv/sohc engines and cruise control built from may 29, 1996 through march 4, 1999; 1998-1999 explorer/mountaineers equipped with 4.0l ohv/sohc or 5.0l engines or 1998-1999 rangers equipped with 2.5l, 3.0l ffv/efi or 4.0l engines and cruise control built from january 5, 1998 through march 4, 1999; 1998-1999 mustangs equipped with 3.8l, 4.6l 2-valve or 4-valve engines and cruise control built from march 2, 1998 through march 4, 1999; 1999 f250/f350/f450/f550 (over 8,500 lbs.) trucks equipped with 5.4l or 6.8l engines and cruise control built from march 2, 1998 through march 4, 1999; and 1999 f-53 stripped chassis equipped with 5.4l or 6.8l engines and cruise control built from march 2, 1998 through march 4, 1999. A cruise control cable can interfere with the speed control servo pulley and not allow the throttle to return to idle when disengaging the cruise control.
Risk
If the cruise control is used and this condition is present, a stuck throttle could result, which could potentially result in a crash.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the cruise control cables. At the present time, the replacement cables are not available. Customers are being advised not to use the cruise control system until a replacement can be made.

Recall number 99V062001 · Recall details

Air bags: frontal: sensor/control module-inactiveReported December 1, 1998 · 20 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: light duty trucks. The cast tow hooks changes the crash pulse of the vehicle in frontal barrier impacts and the air bag sensor was not calibrated to this new crash pulse which may cause the air bags to deploy in lower speed impacts than design intent.
Risk
Unexpected air bag deployment can result in personal injury.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the cast tow hooks with forged hooks.

Recall number 98V303000 · Recall details

Power train: manual transmissionReported September 24, 1998 · 4 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: medium duty trucks built on a 165" wheel base, 4x2 chassis-cabs equipped with a 6.81 engine, 5 speed manual transmission and optional 5.38:1 rear axle ratio. The two-piece drive shaft can be damaged if the vehicle is driven at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour.
Risk
This condition can result in underbody damage or for the drive shaft to separate from the vehicle.
Remedy
Dealers will replace the drive shaft on these vehicles.

Recall number 98V235000 · Recall details

Steering: gear box (other than rack and pinion)Reported May 29, 1998 · 90,000 vehicles affected
What is wrong
Vehicle description: medium duty trucks and chassis-cabs. One or more of the four rivets on the lower steering shaft flex coupling may not have been crimped during the sub-assembly process.
Risk
If a rivet is not crimped, the flex joint can rotate on the shaft and there would be a reduction in or loss of steering control.
Remedy
Dealers will inspect the lower steering shaft rivets and replace any shafts with uncrimped rivets.

Recall number 98V116000 · Recall details

See all 9 recalls for the 1999 Ford F-450 SD

Defect investigations

Engine stallingOpened June 22, 2006, closed December 7, 2007

In a december 3, 2007 letter, ford advised the federal safety agency that it will conduct a safety recall to replace the cam position sensor (cps) in approximately 1.2 million subject vehicles to address reports of engine stalling.a new design cps with improved performance and durability will be installed as a remedy.owner notifications will begin in december 2007. The subject vehicles are durable, full-sized, medium duty trucks commonly used for commercial purposes, rescue/emergency response, and commercial or recreational towing.cps failure is comparable to unexpectedly turning the key off since the signal it produces is vital to the electronic engine control system.cps signal loss terminates fuel injection resulting in an engine stall.once stalled, the engine may restart right away, or may restart after a delay (typically 5 to 10 minutes), or may not restart at all.in addition to exposing the driver and other motorists to crash risk due to loss of motive power or vehicle disablement, engine stalling also effects the power assisted steering and braking. Through consumer interviews, odi determined that cps failures occurred without any form of warning, at any vehicle speed (50% at highway speeds), and under any driving condition, such as accelerating.consumers reported that about a third of the vehicles failed to restart, with another third reporting delayed restarting.half the vehicles that did restart experienced another stall on the same or a subsequent drive cycle (before cps replacement) re-exposing those consumers to the risks associated with a stalling event.in their voq reports, half of the odi complainants described difficulty controlling the vehicle due to lose of power assist systems, especially those who were towing at the time of the incident. The one alleged injury incident occurred in an intersection when a subject vehicle stalled while turning across oncoming lanes of traffic.although unsubstantiated, the complainant alleged an injury to a child occupant during odi's interview.the other crash allegations mostly involved low speed, loss of control incidents often caused by lack of power assist; no injuries are reported in these incidents, and property damage, if any, was minimal.consumers also reported other incidents with significant safety risks, such as disablement in a lane or on a shoulder of a high-speed roadway or interstate, or extended disablement in remote areas during severe weather conditions. The population above is ford's estimate of the 1.4 million subject vehicles produced that are currently registered.the ford complaint and warranty counts noted above are current as of ford's last submission dated june 21, 2007; they do not include f-450, f-550, or econoline counts as these products were not formally within scope of the investigation when failure information was requested.warranty data analysis indicates that about half the claims involved a stall while driving event ( ford's assessment) and that poor cps durability was a longstanding concern.ford reported that the new cps design should meet or exceed their 10 year, 150k mile life expectancy design requirement.

EA06012

Engine compartment firesOpened March 22, 2005, closed August 2, 2006

Ea05-005 is closed with ford?s actions in recalls 05v‑017, 05v‑388, and 06v‑286, recalling approximately 6.7 million vehicles equipped with texas instruments speed control deactivation switches (scds).the brake systems in these recalled vehicles generate a vacuum that can potentially cause the scds to fail and, in certain switch installation orientations, catch fire.ford is also including the entire population of 1998 explorers.ford has informed odi that testing to determine the cause of failures in the 1998 explorers will continue after this investigation is closed.odi believes that the vehicles exhibiting the factors causing scds failure described in this report correlate well with the observed failure rates on these vehicles by model and model year.the closing of this investigation does not constitute a finding by the federal safety agency that a safety-related defect does not exist in the non-recalled vehicles manufactured with scds that are not included in ford?s recalls.odi will continue to monitor the non-recalled population for incidence of engine compartment fires.the agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.see attached closing report for details.

EA05005

Rapid tire deflationOpened August 19, 2002, closed August 22, 2003

This investigation was opened on certain ford pickup trucks and vans to evaluate the effects of a valve stem ejection (with rapid air loss) and a slow leaking valve stem on vehicle handing.during the investigation, odi evaluated over 1,100 complaints and warranty claims, conducted vehicle dynamic testing on a subject vehicle with the failure mode replicated, interviewed owners, and examined complaint vehicles in the field.the results of the test program indicates the effect of a valve stem ejection on these vehicles is easily controlled. Further, with a population of almost 900,000 vehicles, having two to four years of exposure, odi is aware of only 3 minor crashes and is unaware of any injuries.the small number of crashes relative to the large population of vehicles is consistent with the testing which was performed. Therefore, this investigation is closed.see the attached report for full technical details.

EA02018

Sector shaft fracturesOpened March 2, 2001, closed August 19, 2003

This ea was opened based on a response received from ford motor company to an information request (ir) submitted during sq00-018.ford stated in an internal service message that it had changed the steering gear sector shafts and pitman arms installed 1999 model year f-series super duty vehicles on march 22, 1999.ford stated that these design changes were implemented to make improvements in vehicle steering and handling, and that virtually all of the reported fractured sector shafts were the result of extraordinary, possibly multiple, impacts.an engineering analysis closing report is attached.

EA01009

Parking brake failureOpened March 13, 2000, closed January 12, 2001

On may 11, 1998, ford motor company filed a defect information report concerning parking brake failure on certain 1999 f-350 super duty vehicles built at the kentucky truck plant from january 26, 1998 through april 24, 1998; recall 98v‑101.the reduction in parking brake effectiveness may occur on some of these vehicles, and is caused by the rust preventative coating the surface of the parking brake lining material which reduces the frictional characteristics at the lining and rotor interface.on march 13, 2000, odi opened rq00-010 on parking brake failures on 1999-2000 model year super duty f-series vehicles, on the basis of six failure reports on those vehicles.odi now has 10 reports of parking brake failure on the 1999 subject vehicles, built outside of the recall population, including three crashes.the data in the above table does not include parking brake failures on the recalled 1999 f-350 vehicles.the data received from ford in its response to the rq00-010 information request, revealed a high failure rate for the 1999 f-450/550 vehicles (1200r/100k), and a high failure rate of the 1999 f-250/350 vehicles, manufactured outside several of the recall build months.it is recommended that an engineering analysis be opened to address the parking brake problem in the 1999 model year super duty f-series vehicles.

RQ00010

Technical service bulletins for the 1999 Ford F-450 SD 92

Bulletins tell dealers how to fix known problems. A warranty extension means the manufacturer pays for that repair for longer.

See all 92 bulletins for the 1999 Ford F-450 SD

What 1999 Ford F-450 SD owners say

Most recent owner complaints, unedited.

Filed Feb 4, 2010 · Fuel system · MD

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford f450. The contact was driving various speeds, the vehicle would shut down while driving due to the delaminated fuel tanks. Excessively large amounts of smoke has been seen in the engine area of the vehicle. Ford advised the contact that they are not responsible for the failure or repair. The failure and current mileages were unavailable. Updated 04/05/10

Filed Dec 16, 2009 · Fuel system · MD

The contact has a fleet of ford ranger ranging in age from 1999-2007 that all have a problem with tank dilapidation. The liners in all of the fuel tanks are wearing out and costing the vehicles to stall. This has been happening to their fleet for the past 6 years. The contact will send a copy of all the vehicles in question along with the VIN number when the form is returned

Filed Aug 3, 2009 · Steering · 70,000 miles · MN · crash

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford f450 super duty. The contact stated that the front passenger side tie rod detached from the vehicle while driving between 45-50 MPH. The contact crashed into the guard rail, but there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to his residence. The manufacturer has not yet been notified. The failure mileage was 70,000. Updated 08/31/09 *bf updated 09/03/09.

Filed Mar 17, 2008 · Engine · 108,806 miles · TX

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 ford f450 super duty. Five years ago, the contact's vehicle would completely shut off while driving 55 MPH. He would turn the key back, which would clear the computer, and the vehicle would restart. The failure worsened to the point where he had to replace the sensor five times. There were no warning lights prior to the failure. In december of 2007, the contact discovered the federal safety agency campaign id number 07v553000 (engine and engine cooling:engine:diesel). He took the vehicle to the dealer in january of 2008 to have the recall repair performed. The dealer stated that they replaced the sensor, but could not crank the vehicle because the starter was burned. The contact replaced the starter himself on february 28, 2008. The dealer stated that they would take the vehicle back and give him a call. The contact was informed that the engine was "dusted" and had "blowback" (a cracked head on the engine). The dealer stated that the engine needed to be replaced. The contact stated that there were no failures with the vehicle prior to visiting the dealer. He further stated that the oil was not contaminated with antifreeze, which was the usual occurrence with a cracked head. The contact informed the dealer to only repair the issue with the sensor and nothing else. On march 14, 2008, the dealer stated that they replaced the sensor, but still could not crank the vehicle due to low compression. On march 17, 2008, the dealer stated that the engine was blown. The purchase date was unknown. The current mileage was approximately 208,000 and failure mileage was 108,806.

Filed Oct 22, 2007 · Engine · 130,000 miles · AR

99 ford f450 was stalling on freeway, wouldn't start, very shaky. Replaced cam position sensor worked for awhile, having problems again.

Filed Sep 9, 2007 · Tires · 30,000 miles · PA

Firestone tire blew out in truck, causing loss of control, jacknifing and damage to truck.

Filed May 14, 2007 · Engine · 120,000 miles · CA

Engine cutting out, engine died at mid intersection with horse trailer on. I towed it out of the way and replaced it with a new cam position sensor.

Filed Apr 24, 2007 · Electrical, Engine · 88,000 miles · UT

I have a 1999 ford power stroke diesel. In may of 2006 I had a cps failure which caused my vehicle to shut down intermittently while traveling, mostly in intersections and at stops. The problem continued for several weeks until I could identify the cps as the cause. Since then I have changed out three cps units on three other superduty's. I replaced all of the units with international parts due to the excessive cost of the unit from ford. Unfortunately, I did not save the defective parts being all to happy to discard them!

Filed Mar 20, 2007 · Electrical · 43,000 miles · OK · fire

Tl* - the contact owns a 1999 ford f450 super duty. The contact stated that he had stopped the vehicle, put the parking brake on , and left the vehicle running. Then he noticed smoke coming out of the hood and opened the hood. The contact saw that the fuse box and the wires located near the driver' s side fender were on fire. The vehicle was completely engulfed in fire and was a total loss. The contact stated that the fire department took a report. The current and failure mileage were both 43000.

Filed Apr 7, 2006 · Engine · 50,000 miles · OH

Dt*: the contact stated a dark spot of oil was observed in the driveway below where the vehicle's motor would normally be located while parked. This vehicle is only driven once a week. When the vehicle was observed, the oil pan was found to be severely rusted and oil was leaking through the pin holes. It was taken to the local service dealer where the oil pan was replaced.

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Questions about the 1999 Ford F-450 SD

Is the 1999 Ford F-450 SD reliable?

Owners have filed 66 complaints about the 1999 Ford F-450 SD, 11.0 times a typical F-450 SD model year.

What is the most common problem with the 1999 Ford F-450 SD?

Transmission and drivetrain, with 15 complaints. Next is brakes (13).

How many recalls does the 1999 Ford F-450 SD have?

9 recalls, covering vehicle speed control, engine and engine cooling and parking brake.

Was there a recall on the 1999 Ford F-450 SD transmission?

Yes, 1 recall: 98V235000. Check your VIN to see if your car still needs the free repair.

What year does the Ford F-450 SD have bad transmission?

The Ford F-450 SD model years with the most transmission complaints are 1999 (15 complaints) and 2008 (11 complaints).

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