Most common 2004 Ford F-350 problems
Share of the 159 complaints; one complaint can involve more than one system. "~" is the median mileage when the problem started.
Ford F-350 complaints by model year
Best F-350 years: 2009, 2007, 2013. Years to avoid: 1999, 2000, 1997. Compare all years →
2004 Ford F-350 recalls (2)
Exterior lighting › Brake lights
Ford is recalling certain model year 2011 ranger trucks built from January 25, 2011, through April 25, 2011 at the twin cities assembly plant, and service parts distributed to dealers for certain 2004 through 2011 model year ranger trucks, 2002 through 2005 model year excursion vehicles, and 2002 through 2007 model year f-250,…
Remedy: Dealers will replace the switches free of charge. The safety recall began on August 15, 2011. Owners May contact Ford motor company customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332.
Tires
Certain lariat and king ranch model pickup trucks fail to comply with the requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 120, "tire selection and rims for motor vehicles other than passenger cars." some trucks were inadvertently equipped with an incorrect load range tire.
Remedy: Dealers will inspect and, if necessary, replace any incorrect load range tires. Additionally, if any tire required replacement, it is recommended that the wheel lug nut torque be checked within 500 miles after any tire…
NHTSA defect investigations
Federal safety investigators have looked into 2 possible defects involving the 2004 Ford F-350:
Engine stalling
Twenty five of the odi failure reports are duplicative of Ford complaints.twenty odi reports do not contain a VIN (and May or May not be duplicative of Ford reports).the 14 alleged crashes and 2 alleged injuries were all minor.submitted during preliminary evaluation (pe) 04-070, Ford's response to odi's information request (ir) letter contained about 5,000 consumer reports (mors) and 8,700 field reports (cqis).Ford…
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…
What 2004 Ford F-350 owners say
Engine & cooling all 80 →
While driving at 40-50 MPH the vehicle will lose power and then then stalls while moving leading to loss of power. The loss power of affects the power steering posing a direct threat for an auto collision due to the difficult in steering the moving vehicle into an emergency lane. Avoided several accidents with this truck. Once it is stalled it can take numerous times to restart the vehicle. This issue seems to occur more on slopes going up hill. This does not seem to occur as often going downhill or on areas with no incline. Currently vehicle has 126,931.8 miles on it. Regularly serviced and otherwise running fine.
Intermittently while driving engine shut off followed by the meters on the dashboard reading zero. Then, vehicle stalled. The consumer put vehicle into neutral and restarted. When this happened before lost control of vehicle. The dealership performed several diagnostic tests, and replaced the PCM ground/engine ground,and wiring going to the PCM. The failure still existed. The consumer invoked the lemon law because the dealership was unable to rectify the failure. Consumer advised that the engine stalled and resulted in the vehicle leaving the roadway. The vehicle entered the front yard of home and damaged the lawn. There were no injuries or damage to the vehicle.
Fuel & propulsion system all 25 →
Takata inflators; my vehicle started all types of problems intermittent ones that cost me several thousand dollars never fixing the problem this is were it all began,,.my vehicle died going up fairly steep hill to grave yard, it immediately rolled back shoving a family members vehicle down hill a ways until they turned away from the cliff edge leaving me all alone.until going through a run off ditch stopping over it into 2 trees. I had no steering no brakes and thank god the trees were there to stop my truck if not their was a 100 foot cliff next.. I know nothing about recalls or such I just tried to fix my truck problem by problem as symptoms came on I have all types of recent receipts that all came from silverish dark maybe even gray matter stuff in the tank. When I get my bank statement I will itemize all and submit them when final cost is over.
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 Ford f-350. While driving various speeds, the vehicle stalled without warning. The contact placed the gear shifter into neutral and was able to restart the vehicle. In addition, the steering wheel became difficult to maneuver. While driving various speeds, the battery, oil pressure and check engine warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the fuel injection control module failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they did not have a record of the vehicle being serviced. No further assistance was offered. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.
Electrical system
The contact owns a 2004 Ford F-350. The contact stated that while driving approximately 76 MPH with his wife in the front passenger seat, the vehicle shuddered uncontrollably and stalled. The contact and his wife were concerned for their safety. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to regain control of the vehicle and pulled over to the side of the road. The vehicle failed to restart and was towed to the residence. The contact stated that as an independent mechanic, he used a code reader to retrieve diagnostic trouble codes for the fuel control module wiring harness failure. The contact related to the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 05V270000 (Electrical System). The contact stated that the fuel control module wiring harness failure had caused warning lights to fail to illuminate as needed. …
For unknown reasons on 12/20/13 at 0030 hrs my truck caught on fire as it sat in my driveway. I drove the truck last on 12/14/13. The fire started in the engine compartment on the drivers side. I have owned the truck for about 8 months and it had 105000 miles on it when I purchased it. The fire department advised it could be due to some type of electrical issue near the master cylinder. I told them that I have not done any work under the hood in months and that was oil/filter change. Still under investigation.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 2004 Ford F-350 a good car?
Based on 159 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, the 2004 F-350 rates average: 1.3× as many complaints as a typical year of the F-350 at the same age. Complaint counts don't account for sales volume or individual maintenance, so have any used car inspected before buying.
What is the most common problem with the 2004 Ford F-350?
The engine & cooling — 80 complaints, 50% of all complaints for this model year, most often about engine › diesel. Next are the fuel & propulsion system (25) and electrical system (19).
How many recalls does the 2004 Ford F-350 have?
There are 2 recalls for the 2004 Ford F-350, the most recent from July 13, 2011 (brake lights). Recall repairs are free at any authorized dealer — check whether yours has been done with the VIN recall check.
What are the best and worst years of the Ford F-350?
The best years by complaints, compared at the same age, are 2009, 2007 and 2013. Years to avoid or approach with caution: 1999, 2000 and 1997. See the full Ford F-350 years comparison.
At what mileage do 2004 Ford F-350 problems happen?
The median mileage reported in complaints is about 50,000 miles; 49% of problems with a recorded mileage started before 50,000 miles.
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.