MANUFACTURER INSTALLED TRANSMISSION WIRING INCORRECTLY AT FACTORY, RESULTING IN SHORT CAUSING OTHER OPERATIONS TO FAIL. *YC
1998 Ford F-250 complaints
Owner reports filed with NHTSA about this vehicle, newest first and reproduced as filed. They are unverified accounts: one proves nothing, and a pattern across many is the thing worth reading. Back to the full 1998 record →
DRIVE SHAFT MAKING NOISE. YH
TORSION BARS FAILED. YH
BOTH FRONT TORSION BARS BROKE WHILE VEHICLE WAS SETTING IN THE GARAGE. IT APPEARS TO BE RELATED TO COLD WEATHER STRESS OR THE TORSIONS BARS WERE HEAT TREATED TO HARD. DID NOT FLEX BETWEEN THE COLD WEATHER (0 -10 DEG) AND THE WARM GARAGE (45 DEG
WHILE DRIVING AT ANY SPEED AND APPLYING THE BRAKES, THE RIGHT REAR BRAKE WILL LOCK UP, CAUSING VEHICLE TO SLIDE. ALSO DRUMS GOT VERY HOT. THE CONSUMER HAS HAD PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE 7 TO 8 TIMES, AND THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN IN THE SHOP FOUR TIMES FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. SINCE THE LAST TIME THAT IT HAS BEEN REPAIRED, PROBLEM HAS NOT REOCCURRED. *AK
HAVE HAD 4 FAILURES IN THE REAR SUSPENSION SYSTEM. FIRST TIME, THE TRACTION BARS WERE MAKING A HORRIBLE METAL-METAL CREAKING/GRINDING NOISE; TRACTION BARS WERE REPLACED. SECOND TIME THE ENTIRE BRACKET BOLTED TO THE FRAME CAME LOOSE, SLIDING AND BANGING AROUND ON THE FRAME; TRACTIONS BARS, TRACTION BAR BRACKETS, AND TRACTION BAR BOLTS ALL REPLACED. THIRD TIME AIR SPRING (AIR RIDE SUSPENSION) LEAKED DOWN AND CAUSED THE TRUCK TO PULL TO ONE SIDE (TRUCK WAS NOT LEVEL; DRIVER'S SIDE REAR RODE VERY LOW, PASSENGER SIDE FRONT RODE VERY HIGH); AIR SPRING WAS REPLACED. FOURTH TIME THE TRACTION BAR (PASSENGER SIDE) BROKE; SERVICE CENTER NOT OPEN, PLAN ON TAKING IT IN TOMORROW. REAR WINDOW SEAL HAS BEEN 'FIXED' TWICE, YET CONTINUES TO LEAK WATER INTO THE CAB, LAST TIME SHORTING OUT SOME AFTERMARKET ELECTRONICS BEHIND THE REAR SEAT. BRAKING AT HIGHWAY SPEED (50-75) RESULTS IN A FRONT-END VIBRATION, ROTORS WERE TURNED BY THE DEALER RECENTLY DUE TO A FRONT DISC BRAKE PROBLEM THAT RESULTED IN THE INSIDE PAD WEARING DOWN TO BARE METAL AND MUCH GRINDING (WEAR INDICATORS ARE ON THE OUTSIDE PAD AND WERE NOT ENGAGED (SQUEAKING); SO THEY WERE NOT INDICATING PADS NEEDED REPLACEMENT). THE OTHER SIDE PADS WERE WORN NON-PARALLEL TO THE PAD BACKING (PAD WAS THICKER ON ONE EDGE THAN THE OTHER).
Reading these
NHTSA publishes every complaint as the owner wrote it and investigates only a fraction. Spelling, capitalisation and judgement are the filer’s own. What carries weight is repetition: the same component failing the same way across many filings, and whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Full record for the 1998 Ford F-250 → · Every F-250 year → · How the figures are calculated →