1997 Ford F-250 problems
NHTSA has received 348 complaints about the 1997 Ford F-250, and 14% of them involve tires. After that come brakes (10%) and fuel system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 348 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Tires 14% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 21 and 20
- Injuries and deaths
- 12 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 114,000 miles 93 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 | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 1 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 8 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 7 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 17 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 18 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 16 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 2 |
| 200k+ miles | 10 |
What the data shows
Among the 93 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 114,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 21 complaints mention a crash; 20 complaints mention a fire; 12 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 3rd most-complained-about out of 25 model years of the Ford F-250 with enough data (193 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 10 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.
1997 ford f25. This was the second spark plug to blow out of head. First repair cost $450.00, this time it cost me my truck, 2 cameras, GPS, laptop computer and several other items as the truck cought on fire when spark plug hit fuel inection rail an started a fuel fire that burnt the truck to ground. Total loss. Burned my hands trying to save items in cab. Had a fire extinguisher, but high pressure fuel lines sprayed fire to fast. My girl friend, her dog, and I had 30 seconds to get out.
Rear brake failure on numerous occasions. Finally resulted in crash. Dealer could not find any problem. Self diagnosis of raising rear of vehicle while idling in drive with rear wheels spinning rear wheels could not be stopped with full brake pressed. No braking on rear wheels. Disconnecting wire to proportioning valve results in normal rear brake operation. Possible cause is ebcm or proportioning valve.
While traveling on arizona state hwy 87 north from payson as entering into pine arizona I struck a large truck from rear. This caused significant damage to the driver side of the truck actually breaking the frame, pushing the frame thru the bumper and requiring the fire department to utilize the jaws of live and releasing the steering when from my chest. Injuries included skull fracture, broken femur, chest and heart contusion. Airlifted to nearest hospital.
The brake pedal had to be pumped in order to get the vehicle to stop. The front and rear rotors have been replaced 5 times. The parking brake cable failed and was replaced. The radiator failed 3 times and the heater core failed. *nlm
I own a 1997 ford f250 truck. On the below listed date, while driving at 0430 hrs in the morning on a two lane roadway, the third spark plug on the passenger side blew out of the cylinder head. I looked up information on internet and found that this problem has been occurring without warning or fault of the drivers/owners for a number of years. This just happened today and I have not contacted any repair service yet. It is obvious that this is a problem and ford has not recognized the design fault.