The longtime owner's What Broke? and When did it Break? Thread
 

I don't know if a thread like this already exists (I didn't see one) so I'll try starting one. I'm the original owner of my 1997 F250 Supercab 5.4L 4WD and just put together my "what broke" history. Thought this may be useful to others, and I'd be curious to see how others have fared.

Electrical:

Bad coil one at 78,000 miles 5yrs, another 131k 14yrs

Starter 86,000 miles 6yrs, again 120,000 miles 9yrs, again 131,000 miles 14yrs all were due to corrosion of the selonoid

Door switches (door ajar problem) 86,000 miles 6yrs these were a problem for a long time before I got them fixed though.

Multifunction switch (turn signals/wipers/etc) 126,000 miles 12 years

Alternator 134,000 15 years


Suspension:

Tie rod failed 101,000 miles 8yrs, also replaced sway bar

Lower ball joints 114,000 10 years, again at 128,000 13 years (I was not happy, Ford actually replaced them the 1st time so they were OE parts).

Upper ball joints 127,000 12 years

I'm currently on my 3rd set of shocks, but part of that is because I put Ranchos on as my 2nd shocks and absolutely hated them.



Heating/Cooling:

Heater core failed 101,000 miles 8yrs

Radiator 115,000 miles 10 years

A/C compressor 114,000 10 years

Transmission coolant line failed 119,000 11 years

Climate control blend door motor 120,000 miles 11 years

Brakes:

Brake line failures (mainly rust through) 127,000 miles 12 years, another soon after so I eventually replaced all lines and hoses.

Brakes- general. First brake job at 60,000 miles, several more since (now at 133,000 ,miles). All calipers and rotors were replaced at least twice, parking brake lever (at rear wheels) has been an ongoing problem (gets stuck from rusting). Parking brake shoes (I have rear discs with mini drums for parking brakes) disintegrate about every 6 years.


Other stuff:

Manifold (drivers side) rotted away 113,000 miles 10yrs, passenger side at 127,000 miles 12 years

Belt tensioner and idler pulley 113,000 miles 10 years

Rear pinion seal leak at 119,000 11 years

Rear axle seal leak at 124,000 12 years

Wheel bearings/hubs 124,000 miles 12 years

Gas tank strap failures at 117,000 miles 11 years (rust)



Body Rust - I’m in Wisconsin
Bottoms of all doors started rusting within 5 years (not the exterior). I slowed the progression with various rust inhibitors over the years.
At 13 years, body rust finally caught up with me big time in a single winter. Rusted through bottom of drivers side door, lower front of bed on drivers side, and all rocker panels. I did a bunch of body work and am spraying Fluid Film rust inhibiter everywhere I can now.

Mine is a 2004 but 97-03 body style
Other than regular maintenance stuff I guess I can say Im pretty lucky. The only thing that has gone bad on me was driver side wheel bearing and that was about 100,000 miles on the truck-124,000 on it now. So here is a list.

driver side wheel bearing
exhaust pipe rusted off
battery went bad

I don't know what the previous owners did as far as maint but I replaced the EGR and DPFE at 236K miles on my 97. They looked original.

There is a website that is used to track the info and reliability of certain makes/models/years. I forget what it is called. Truedata or something like that.

driver side wheel bearing 90k miles
idler arm 99k miles
inner and outer tie rod ends both sides 100k miles
upper and lower ball joints both sides 100k miles

Starter: 80K
Catylitc Converter: 80K
All new Brakes at 60K.

Thats what I have done.

But before I owned it.... The engine had a sensor go bad and locked the engine. The truck was under warranty so Ford put in a whole new engine! I have about 160xxx on the drive train, trans, axles etc. and about 80xxx on the engine! And nothing has really gone wrong other than what I mentioned before and the usual maintenance like pulleys, hoses, plugs, wires, filters, etc.

Truck is a 98 4.6L 4x4

D

Got truck with 72,000 miles, drove it problem free until 96,000 miles and had power steering pump replaced (under warranty). Nothing until 110,000 then had a shock break and replaced original motorcraft battery.Now up to 123,000 and still running great.

Oh i forgot had to replace 1 coil around 80k, cause i thought it would be a good idea to "wash" the motor :devil:

The biggest failure I've had was the head gaskets started leaking oil. The rest is just normal stuff that breaks on all cars. The headgasket oil leak is the only thing I consider a poor design failure..

Let's see... Mines an 03 and I got it with 79k. It has 168k now. 4.2 L engine

105k Replaced Intake Gasket and was supposed to replace isolator bolts so I wont count the other times I had to back into that thing due to my ignorance.

140k Replaced clutch and slave cylinder

145k changed both idler pullies and the tensioner went ahead and changed the belt too. It looked to be oem. (yea duh well when ur a broke college kid lol.)

150k Replaced Master Cylinder (clutch)

167k Air compressor began having trouble. I went ahead and changed it and the orfice tube before anything major happened. (Live in GA so screw trucks that dont have A/C)

Other than that I've done probably 2 sets of pads but I drive a ton. The truck has been great. Im glad I have it


Yea

I just want to clarify that I'm not implying that "things that broke" are necessarily design or manufacturing problems. When you own a truck for almost 15 years, things are going to break and/or wear out. Overall, I've been very happy with my F250.

That said, there are a few things on my list that I do think were either design issues or manufacturing defects or just things that bug me.

• The door switches were definitely a defect, as a lot of others had this same problem. Not a biggy though.
• The manifolds rusting down to nothing seem to be an issue (according to mechanics I've talked to, its "only on Fords"). I honestly don't know why, but the fact that both my manifolds eventually needed to be replaced, and the conditions my "New" ones are already in is not anything I ever experienced with other vehicles.
• The parking brake engagement levers on the rear wheels that rust together (freezing the parking brake) are clearly a design flaw. Mine were frozen within a few years. This is on the the rear discs with the small drum just for the parking brake.
• The location of the starter solenoid on my 5.4 is so exposed that mine constantly corrodes and fails (3 starters already all for the same reason). I even put stuff on it to try to slow down the corrosion.
• The rusting on the bottom inside of my doors was either a design or manufacturing problem. Mine started rusting within the few years (all three doors). I'd lump the rocker panels in this same category. Either design them so water doesn't get in there, or design them so it can more easily and completely drain out.
• The gas tank straps breaking (due to rust) also bugs me just because stuff that's as important as the straps that keep the gas tank from falling off the truck should be a bit more corrosion resistant (fortunately I had skid plates that kept the tank from completely falling off). I'd say the same for the brake lines, but every manufacturer seems to use crappy brake lines.

Several of these are due to rust/corrosion and if you don't live where your truck is exposed to lots of road salt, these probably aren't a problem for you, but for those of us that do, we'd like to see better. Overall, the body of my truck has fared really well and I've only had some isolated rust problems where water/salt were able to be trapped.
I would add that my truck is kept outside 100% of the time.

WrongDave you seem to have had bad high overall failures for that time and mileage.
.
2002 screw at 155,000.
Usual failures;
coils, plugs, DPFE, 2 sets of shocks, second set if tires after the originals, 2 sets of brake pads after the originals, disc player OD, dealer replaced one lower ball joint, dealer replaced one exhaust manifold for rusted off stud, replaced the dip stick tube for rust off, replaced right side cat as result of PCM failure on 2 cylinders, driver side power window switch, rocker rust out on driver side.
Not counted as failures, I had a custom towing transmission built, added high capacity radiator with cooling fan, oil pressure/ trans temp gages.
Motor is still in perfect quiet condition have only used 5w20 MC oil and filter changed every 5000 miles.
Towed a couple summers 12,000 lbs gross trailer loads.
Mine was bad enough but good I hav'nt had all your luck.
.
Local Ford yard guy says Chrysler is really bad for electronics and GM has a lot of motor issues he sees by the parts they sell.
So anybody complains about Ford should have one of the other makes to be happy about.
When we keepem a long time, these things become the norm.
You put up with a lot, good luck.

Broke- The Owner
When- A long Time Ago & STILL!

LOL Honestly, It's been pretty good to me for the most part. Other then the normal maintenance, the tranny went twice. But, that was my doing!

Really? I don't think my experience is that unusual. It looks like a lot when it's all on one page, but that's over a period of almost 15 years (I got my 97 in early fall of 96). Maybe it's because I've kept detailed records and have all my repairs listed (rather than trying to go from memory and missing a bunch of stuff). Back in the early to mid 80s I had two 70s F150s (a 77 and a 78) . I needed two because one always seemed to be broken, and those trucks were only like 5 to 7 years old. My current 15 year old F250 is in way better shape than either of those were when they were half that age. Of course those were a hell of a lot easier and cheaper to repair though.

Dave, good that you have taken it in stride.
We have Fords here from 1985 that was just taken off the road for rust and a leaking front seal in the trans. A 76 SC, 76 F250, and an 88 that we still keep as a fall back.
I had an 85 F150 that is still running but not used on the road any longer.
I have had Fords since 1973 so your not alone in what had to be done to keep then going.
At my age I am not going to do a lot of on going work on them any longer.
I guess it's all in how you look at it.
Good luck.

I guess I'm going a little the other way. I did almost all my own work on those old 70s trucks back in the 80s, but when I got new "modern" trucks I quickly found they were a lot more difficult to work on and since they were new and I didn't want to screw something up, I had the pros do pretty much everything but the oil changes (I had to keep some of my dignity intact). But now that my new truck is old and I don't really drive near as many miles as I used to, I've been getting back into working on it myself--well at least as much as I feel comfortable doing.