1997 Ford F-150 exhaust system problems
Owners reported exhaust system problems in 62 complaints for the 1997 Ford F-150, 2% of the complaints on file.
At a glance
- Complaints
- 62 2% of this year's complaints
- Typical mileage
- 100,000 miles 19 complaints with mileage
- Crashes and fires
- 3 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 3 and 0
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
When exhaust system problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 1 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 1 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 1 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Of the 19 exhaust system complaints that report mileage, the median is about 100,000 miles, and 11% were reported before 60,000 miles.
These complaints mention 3 crashes, 6 fires, 3 injuries.
What owners wrote
Dt: on july 2 2005 while driving down the road the throttle cable broke. The owner was coming down a two lane highway. The consumer noticed that the accelerator wasn't being pushed, the cruise control wasn't on, and the vehicle was speeding on its own. The consumer engaged the parking brake, while going 50-55 MPH. After engaging the parking brake, the truck took about 3/4 of a mile to come a stop. The vehicle finally hit an oak tree and stopped and no air bags deployed.
With no previous indications that anything was wrong, upon starting engine heard loud clacking sound, shut off and towed to mechanic. Who said it was an internal problem that could only be fixed by ford dealership or a machine shop. It was a holiday so we took it to a machine shop who verified his previous encounter with the same model engine before that a rod was bent which cracked the piston, caused from a "defect in ford's intake head gasket", which leaked water into the engine.
Other problems reported for the 1997 Ford F-150
- Engine 543 complaints
- Tires 334 complaints
- Fuel system 269 complaints
- Brakes 260 complaints
- Body & structure 231 complaints
- Cruise control 227 complaints
- Suspension 214 complaints
- Steering 213 complaints