2003 Ford F-350 SD problems
NHTSA has received 164 complaints about the 2003 Ford F-350 SD, and 33% of them involve engine. Next are fuel system (15%) and electrical system (9%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 164 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 33% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 45,000 miles 136 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 | 38 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 25 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 22 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 11 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 11 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 9 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 7 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 3 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 4 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Of the 136 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 45,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 30,000 miles (46 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire; 4 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 12th most-complained-about out of 24 model years of the Ford F-350 SD with enough data (113 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 4 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.
Car accident, my truck's back end started to skid, I side swiped the jersey barriers and went back across the highway and went through the guard rails. The truck went down the ravine and flipped over end over end landing on its roof.
Dt: contact statesdthe front passenger side tie rod broke ,causing an accident. Consumer's vehicle was going approximately 65 MPH when the accident occurred. The vehicle was at a body shop to be repaired. The vehicle has not been to a service dealer yet.
Ford motor company put out defective coolants on their 6.0l diesel engines. I have/had 2003 f350 king ranch truck with 67,000 miles. Ford warranties diesel engines to 5 year 100,000. On june 24, 2008, I was driving when my truck overheated. I pulled off the road and called ford north scottsdale. They said that the ejr coolants are not good on those trucks and most likely it gave out. They told me to get it to the nearest dealership.
2003 f350 6.0l diesel - sudden loss of power.display lights come on but won't start, does not crank over at all. Has happened three times. Only have 5124 miles on it. First breakdown happened at 900 miles, sitting still. 2nd breakdown happened at low speed. Third breakdown happened today 10/12/03 at 75 MPH. Stuck in high speed traffic with family waiting for tow.given different reason at each repair by different dealerships.
Wiring harness melted, had to be replaced. Dealer at first attempted to say it was a loose oil cap that caused the problem, then after a week for repair simply said the wiring harness melted and had to be replaced. Vehicle was in shop over at 4,000 miles, because the high pressure oil cap fell off of the vehicle, and it lost all of its oil, numerous times in the shop for injectors, ford knows about the problem but refuses to fix the truck.