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-350 SD owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
3 car pile up. Our truck was the 3rd vehicle. Impact speed 35 to 45 MPH. We have a 1 ton truck that had the frame bent and motor mount that broke. Repair damage est. To be $9,000. The air bags did not deploy.
Truck has 56K miles on it. My wife was driving a couple of miles from hom ewhen she heard a loud bang or pop noise which shook the truck. The truck then continued making a loud noise, she drove back home and after looking at the engine, I determined that a coil pack had blown off. The spark plug was also attached to it so the next morning I called my local Ford dealer, av Ford and they said more than likely it's what they call a 'blown plug'. They estimated the head should be replaced since this would strip the threads of the head. The service advisor said this is a common problem and that both heads should be replaced at a cost of $5800 because otherwise I might have the same problem again in a short amount of time. I did some research online and found that this problem is very common with the Ford v10 engines from about 1999-2003. …
I owned a 99.5 Ford f350 with the 7.3l diesel and manual transmission. At around 30K miles, driving down the highway at 65 MPH while towing a loaded trailer, the truck shut off. This left me with no power steering and no power brakes or ABS brakes. Had the incident occurred on a steeper grade or busier time of day, it could have been deadly. After pulling over to the shoulder, the truck restarted and ran briefly before shutting down again. It had to be towed at that point. The truck was still under warranty. After the second attempt at fixing the truck, which LED to another high speed stall with loss of control, they finally replaced the cam position sensor (cps). I had told them that this was probably the problem when I had it towed the first time. It seems common knowledge among Ford 7.3l diesel owners that this part fails without warning at as early as 500 miles on the odometer. …
I have had two major problems with this truck. My first issue was very dangerous in my opinion. The cam sensor went out which caused my truck to suddenly stop while I was driving it. Every system shut down including brakes. More than once I was going 70mph and it suddenly stopped - I had to guide myself to the shoulder and stop the truck with no brakes. Very very scary! I had the truck to several dealers al told me they had no idea what was wrong. Finally I talked to my cousin, a Dodge mechanic, he explained that Ford knew of a serious defect with their cam sensor on that year truck - he explained what it should cost to fix it. I took it to a private mechanic and he fixed it in his shop for exactly what my cousin said it would cost. Ford still has not acknowledged they knew of a problem. Second problem was with my brakes. …
Took my truck to the laird noller Ford dealership for a cam sensor recall in November 2008. They could not make the repair that day and my appointment was rescheduled for after christmas 2008. The dealership told me that there was a recall on the parking brake module and they would replace it at the same time they replaced the cam sensor. Approximately a week after christmas (it was a Wednesday) I took it back in for the repairs. They told me they would have it done at the end of the day, but at the end of the day they called back and said it would not be done until the next week. So, that next Monday (January 3rd ish 2009) they called, I went to pick up my truck and all the recall repairs were made. Everything was good until September 17th 2009. I had my truck parked in my driveway, the emergency brake set (it has a manual transmisson), so it would warm up that morning. …
Spark plug blew out on v10 engine. Only has 74000 on the engine. In the owners manual it stated the first major tune up wasn't until 100000. Local Ford dealership wanted $5000.00 to fix the problem. Says it was very common on the v10 for this to happen. Ford won't fix the problem ,and this didn't make sense to me. Why were a few f350 super crew trucks blowing spark plugs. They say it was heavy duty, but it was not. If this was so common that even the tow truck driver knew exactly what was wrong when he picked up the truck then it must be a design flaw Ford should fix this problem. My wife was driving the truck when this happened on the freeway with our 6 year old triplets. She barely made it to the emergency lane, and almost was hit twice. Ford was lucky because if anything had happened to my children I would be in court getting lots of money from Ford.
I am the owner of a 1999 Ford f-350 diesel super duty truck with duels. While driving, the check engine light will come on intermittently. When this happens, the truck will not accelerate. It's still running, but you can't go any where. Pressing the gas pedal is useless. Sometimes the light will go off and acceleration is restored. Other times, I have to steer the truck over to the side of the road and either put the truck in park which will sometimes make the check engine symbol disappear or turn the truck off and restart it. This makes for a very dangerous situation where I am at risk of being rear-ended. I am very fortunate not to have been in an accident yet and pray I won't be. Please help or point me in the right direction to get help! Thank you!
We have a 1999 Ford 7.3 diesel (112,000 mi), this is the second cam position sensor to go out. In this instance when the sensor went out the truck shut itself off, as if the ignition had been turned off. It died just before I was about to go down a very steep hill. Had the truck died while going down the hill, I would not have been able to stop the truck without power brakes. We also have a 2002 f350 7.3 liter diesel that has one cam position sensor replaced. This is a very common problem with the 7.3 liter trucks and in my opinion a dangerous one, since the truck turn themselves off with no warning. With the engine off, there is no power brakes or steering on a truck that weighs several tons, this is a dangerous situation.
The cam position sensor on my '99 Ford f-350 w/ 7.3l power stroke is failing intermittently. These failures cause the engine to shut down instantly with no warning. When the engine shuts down there is a loss of power steering and brakes. This has occurred in traffic on interstate 283 in pa causing the vehicle to loss steering and brakes in rush hour traffic with no warning. On one other occasion this occurred in a parking lot causing loss of control of the vehicle while turning due to loss of steering and brakes when the vehicle stalled, causing a minor collision with a curb. No property personal injury occurred. This is a common problem with these vehicles and in my opinion is a very serious safety issue.
Vehicle began having random stalling or not starting without cranking for a long duration. Finally vehicle stalled in traffic and would not restart. When vehicle stalled a loss of power brakes and power steering was noticed despite the vehicle being a manual transmission and in gear and being back driven as termed by Ford motor company. Vehicle required a tow truck to deliver to dealership, where it was determined the cmp sensor was defective. Trouble code p1111 was found by technician. I was told this was a "problematic" part and I should carry a spare in case it happened away from the city. As a result I chose to purchase a spare part and keep it in the glove box for just such a repeat occurrence.
Related recalls
Engine and engine cooling › Engine › Diesel
On certain heavy duty trucks equipped with 7.3l diesel engines, the camshaft position sensor located on the engine of the vehicle May function intermittently, possibly resulting in an engine stall.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect the sensor and replace it with an improved camshaft position sensor free of charge. The recall began on December 29, 2007. Owners May contact Ford at 1-866-436-7332.
NHTSA investigations
Engine stalling
The cam position sensor (cps) provides a critical signal to the subject vehicle (sv) engine management system, the loss of which results in an engine stall.during pe06-011, Ford stated in their response to odi that it is continuing to investigate allegations of cps related engine stall and further advised that an update will be provided upon completion of the investigation.Ford data shows that 20% of the 716,000 svs…
Engine stalling
In a December 3, 2007 letter, Ford advised NHTSA that it will conduct a safety recall to replace the cam position sensor (cps) in approximately 1.2 million subject vehicles to address reports of engine stalling.a new design cps with improved performance and durability will be installed as a remedy.owner notifications will begin in December 2007.
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-350 SD years
Frequently asked questions
How common are engine problems on the 1999 Ford F-350 SD?
NHTSA has 32 complaints about the engine & cooling of the 1999 Ford F-350 SD, 23% of the model year's 142 complaints. The component named most often is engine › diesel (12 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1999 Ford F-350 SD engine problems?
Yes — NHTSA recall 07V-553 (diesel, Dec 5, 2007). Recall repairs are free at authorized dealers.
At what mileage do 1999 Ford F-350 SD engine problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 102,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 3 crashes, 1 fire and 6 injuries 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.