Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (engine, cooling system, oil leaks, timing chain, exhaust).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1999 Ford F-250 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 1999 Ford F-250. The contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that the check engine light illuminated for approximately 30 seconds. The contact would turn off and restart the vehicle and the vehicle would return to normal operation. The contact stated he took his vehicle to several independent mechanics and was informed that the camshaft sensor was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that similar vehicles were included in NHTSA Campaign number 07V553000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 300,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 Ford f-250. When the contact exited and returned to the vehicle, it made an abnormal sound when it was restarted. Suddenly, a fire erupted under the hood, which spread to the cabin of the vehicle. The driver fell and hurt her knee while attempting to exit the vehicle quickly. Medical treatment was required. The fire was extinguished by the fire department. There was extensive damage to the front end of the vehicle. The insurance company was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was notified. The dealer was not contacted. The cause of the failure was not determined. The VIN was not available. The approximate failure mileage was 300,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 1999 Ford f-250. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire under the hood while parked on the side of the road. The failure occurred without warning. The contact extinguished the fire with snow. A police report was not filed. There were no injuries. The dealer and manufacturer were not contacted. The cause of the failure was not determined. The failure mileage was 69,000.
This is my 2nd replacement of a throttle position sensor. Very expensive repair! $500-600 (basically a new pedal assembly.) what is disturbingly unsafe is the driver will lose all throttle response anytime and unknowingly random timing. Could be on the freeway (with traffic on your butt! Could be at a light turning left! Could be crossing a intersection or railroad crossing that you were stopped at! It is very unnerving to step on the pedal and have no response when your very own safety is at stake! I feel Ford is hiding this issue for decades and gouging the consumer multiple times! Please help me right this wrong. I notice a lot of posting on others having this issue for years!!! …
Spark plug numbers 2 and 7 blew out of the cylinder head. Number 2 blew out while driving down the highway and number 7 blew out starting off at a green light on a main street. There was a strong odor of gas when this occurred and serious vibration from the engine misfiring. This created a potential explosion hazard since the air/fuel mixture is designed to ignite from an ignition source. This jeopardized my safety as well as the safety of others around my vehicle. This is a known problem to Ford and needs to be addressed for all vehicles manufactured that are affected by this problem. Mileage has nothing to do with this as owners of these specific vehicles with aluminum heads have had this issue at less than 100,000 miles.
I was heading back to college in brookings sd, when I was stopped waiting for a train to pass. After the train passes I put it from park into drive and right when I started moving I hear a loud pop. After I drive another block to a gas station to look under the hood I came to the conclusion that I had blown a spark plug. And it took out the ignition coil with it and striped the threads on the head. Along with that there was gas everywhere on the drivers side of the engine block. That's not only sucks because I had to pay to get it fixed, I'm in college I don't have money to pay for this. But if that gas would have hit I spark my truck could have blown up. Please take responsibility for ur mistakes Ford.
I was driving down interstate 75 and suddenly I lost power and had a extremely loud piping noise coming from under the hood . I stopped immediately and checked under the hood I could not tell with the engine off so I restarted it and inspected it and found that my number 2 spark plug had blown out of the cylinder head after buying a new coil pack and spark plug set I discovered that all the threads had blown out of the head with the spark plug and after changing one of the other spark plugs I found that it was barely holding in .I think that the heads design was poor and weak and is s safety hazard.
#6 spark plug blew out of the head. I had it repaired two days later. Two days after that, the #3 spark plug blew out of the head while I was driving at 25mph. During both incidents gasoline fumes and exhaust filled both the engine compartment and the passenger compartment.
A major loss of power while towing a load. The loss was significant enough the first time that the truck could not shift into higher gears. Could only manage 55 MPH max. When I arrived home, took it to my local dealer to have it repaired. They had it for 10 days and were unable to locate any problem. They reprogrammed it, again, and gave it back with a significant bill. The problem persists. The next time I used it to haul a load, it did it again, only this time I was attempting to pass. Could not complete pass and fortunately was able to get back in behind the vehicle I was trying to pass and avoid a head on collision. It's dangerous! The problem is subtly worsening. Since that last episode I did some research of my own, besides contacting Ford corporate direct numerous times and the dealer, I discovered there is a history of all sorts of trouble with their v 10. …
This engine with aluminum heads blew out spark plug numbers 2 and 7. First occurrence on aug 11 2015 and the next jan 14, 2016. The first incident occurred driving down a highway and the next occurred starting from a stop light. There was a lag in power and then a loud banging noise and a strong odor of gas. This created an explosion hazard as well as put my safety in jeopardy as well as that of those around me. Since the air/fuel mixture is being blown out of the engine on the compression stroke and the coil firing normally this created a deadly situation. This problem is known to Ford and the company is refusing to do anything about it for all vehicles with these particular engines that are having these problems. This shouldn't even happen with an engine. It's a manufacture/design fault. It needs to be addressed and fixed. …
NHTSA investigations
Spark plug ejection from cylinder head
On September 6, 2005, odi received a petition requesting that the agency investigate allegations of engine spark plug ejection in certain model year 1997 through 2004 Ford vehicles with triton v-8 and v-10 engines.odi received a total of 474 non-duplicative complaints on the subject vehicles where the complainant, or the dealer repairing the vehicle, reported that a spark plug detached from the cylinder and/or…
Engine complaints in other F-250 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are engine problems on the 1999 Ford F-250?
NHTSA has 82 complaints about the engine & cooling of the 1999 Ford F-250, 14% of the model year's 581 complaints. The component named most often is engine (25 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1999 Ford F-250 engine problems?
No. NHTSA lists no engine & cooling recall for the 1999 Ford F-250, though it has 14 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 1999 Ford F-250 engine problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 136,000 miles, and 9% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 2 fires and 1 injury to engine & cooling problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.