1997 Ford F Series problems
NHTSA has received 55 complaints about the 1997 Ford F Series, and 35% of them involve engine. Next are electrical system (13%) and fuel system (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 55 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 35% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 13
- Injuries and deaths
- 1 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 118,000 miles 44 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 | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 7 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 9 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 5 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 4 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 5 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 8 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 3 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Of the 44 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 118,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 96,000 miles (17 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 1 complaint mentions a crash; 13 complaints mention a fire; 1 injury reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 90% 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 6th most-complained-about out of 6 model years of the Ford F Series with enough data (6 complaints in that window).
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.
My son applied his brakes on a 1997 ford f-150 and tried to avoid hitting the car in front of him, however; he claims the steering wheel "locked" prohibiting him from avoiding the wreck. He said it was like when the steering wheel locks when you don't have the key for the car. I would like to know if there are any known issues with the steering wheel locking on 1997 ford f-150's or if this is simply a by-product of the anti-lock break feature.
Fire started in engine area after being parked for approximately 2 hours. Vehicle at a complete loss. Firefighters could not determine cause of fire other than it originating in middle of engine compartment. *nlm
Truck started; however, would not go into drive. Connector for cruise control shut off on brake master cylindar was burnt. Occured while in parking lot with engine shut off. Appears that the brake relay leaked brake fluid into connector causing short. Ford did not replace connector. Cruise control no longer functions. Ford only replaced brake relay at my cost. Did not replace fried connector.
'97 ford f-150 4.2l v-6, lower intake gaskets failed, leading to hydrolocked engine. I have read hundreds of instances of this happening. Truck is now inoperable.
Throttle hung three times: one under cruise, twice without. All instances started at highway speeds when temps where extremely cold. Pumping peddle to break acceleration only allowed for partial deceleration. Repeated attempts required to reduce speed. Could have caused fatality in second occurrence as icy conditions and stopped vehicles could have resulted in a major collision. Shifting into neutral and pumping breaks allowed for a controlled stop.