1997 Ford E-350 problems
NHTSA has received 96 complaints about the 1997 Ford E-350, and 26% of them involve tires. Next are brakes (20%) and engine (15%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 96 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Tires 26% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 5 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 10 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 70,000 miles 29 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 4 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 6 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 5 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 2 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 4 |
What the data shows
Of the 29 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 70,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 5 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 10 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 84% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Ford E-350 with enough data (48 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 5 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Crash right front,wheel bearing nut sheered off, rotor broke, wheel, tire ,and hub assembly came off vehicle. Wheel and tire undamaged.. Updated 06/22/06
Cruise control possibly stuck causing driver to loose control of the vehicle, run off the road,hit a guardrail, return to the road when the vehicle overturned and slid down the road. One passenger was ejected form the vehicle and died all other passenger had no evident injuries. *nlm
Consumer has a 1997, ford, e350 van. The original tires with 27,700 miles. Tire size lt225/75r16 DOT# unknown. Rear passenger firestone steeltex tire tread separated going 65MPH. Vehicle turned 180 degrees & hit the guardrail front & rear, and was totalled. Firestone will be contacted. *slc
The #3 spark plug on my '97 ford e-350 van blew out (about 1 year after the plugs were changed) while starting to drive slowly in a parking lot. I have been told by more than one mechanic that this is common on this engine (5.4 l 8-cylinder) and that it is a design defect. I have not had the money to get it fixed yet (estimated by mechanic to be $1500 to pull the head and repair).
I looked over my 1997 ford e-350 club wagon before inspection last year and noticed the fuel tank straps were inadequate and rusting heavily. These vehicles should be investigated and cited for the same recall the ford f150's were this week. The two straps are thin and of poor quality -- my tank is 35 gallons and I am afraid to fill it more than half full until I get new straps installed or reinforce the existing ones. Every trip, I worry about it falling out and catching fire or causing an accident.