Problems · by component
2002 Ford F-150 fuel/propulsion system problems
26 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2002 Ford F-150 cite fuel/propulsion system, 3% of all 955 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
26
3% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
1
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the fuel/propulsion system
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“DRIVING DOWN [XXX] THE STRAPS ON MY GAS TANK BROKE BECAUSE THEY RUSTED THRU CAUSING GAS TANK TO DROP AND SPILL FUEL ALL OVER [XXX] IN IOWA CAUSING SO MUCH FUEL SPILLED OUT THEY HAD TO CLOSE ONE LANE OF TRAFFIC....THE FIRE DEPT CHIEF OF WHITING, IOWA, STEVEN SNYDER, Can verify what happened....THERE IS A POLICE REPORT BUT I DIDN'T HAVE IT FILING OUT THIS REPORT”
“Unknown cause of incident. Vehicle is available for inspection. Vehicle spontaneously burst into flames. No reproduction due to incident happening on 09/02/2022. Vehicle inspected by Fire Department and California Highway Patrol. No warnings or symptoms leading up to incident. On 09/02/2022 I attempted to help my wife that was stranded out State Route Highway 36 in her 2009 BMW 750 LI at the Van Duzen Grange. I had been hooked up to her car for approximately 10 to 15 minutes with my truck idling when she screamed, " Your truck's on FIRE!" I barely got myself out of the cab when a ball of flames shot through the dashboard. 3/4ths of the truck was consumed in fire in less than 5 minutes. Fire Department arrived approximately 10 minutes later and doused the fire. Everything in my truck was destroyed. My wife's BMW suffered severe damage to the front end.”
“I was driving my truck and it began vibrating; shortly thereafter it was running as if half the engine was working , with a loss of power. I pulled the fuel filter and there was trash all in the filter. I bought another filter and replaced it and ran the truck again and it was working fine. Shortly thereafter the same thing happened again, loss of power, running like half the engine was working and then stalled. After a few minutes it started up but ran terrible. I got it home. I pulled the fuel filter and it was loaded with trash again. I called the Ford dealer and spoke to a mechanic and he advised he has fixed numerous trucks like mine and the gas tank was deteriorating from the inside and clogging my fuel filter. He said there is a recall for the truck and that the fuel tank needs to be replaced. Please help me as this truck only has 75,000 miles and is like brand new, garage kept and well taken care of. Thank you for your time in this matter and I look forward to hearing from you soon.”
“MY FIANCE AND I HAD TO PLACE ARE FULL SIZE SPARE ON THAT CAME WITH TRUCK IT WAS BRAND NEW WE HAD NO CHOICE BC THIS WAS FRIDAY EVENING AND OUT LOCAL TIRE SHOP WAS CLOSED TELL TODAY (MONDAY) YESTERDAY WE DROVE 7 MILE TO COLLINSVILE TO CHANGE BRAKES AFTER WE FINISH WE LOAD OUR 3 KIDS AND BEFAN TO HIDE HOME ANOTHER 3 MILES FROM HOME WE NOTICE THE TRUCK SHAKING THEN WE HEARD LOAD POP AND TAIL OF THE TRUCK LOST CONTROL FOR ABOUT 2 SECOND ONCE WE GOT CONTROL BACK WE PULLED TO SAFETY TO ONLY SEE THE DRIVER SIDE OF THE BED CRACKED TORE AND SHATTERED. EVEN THE HOSE WHERE U FUEL U TRUCK UP AT HAD BEEN DAMAGETTING WHEN WE CONTINUED TO EXAMINE THE TIRE IT WASN'T BLOWN AND IT'S STILL HOLDING AIR. BUT PLZ EXPLAIN TO ME HOW THE ENTIRE CENTER SECTION OF TREAD RIPPED OFF FOR NO REASON AND NOT ONLY PUT MY CHILDREN IN DANGER BUT DAMAGED MY TRUCK TO A SEVERE EXTENT ? IT'S A FULL SIE HERCULES TERRAIN TRAC SIZE 16 HAD NOTHING WRONG WITH IT TELL NOW.”
“MY 2002 F150 TRUCK DROPPED THE FUEL TANK ON 5/26/2017. MIRACULOUSLY, MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER WEREN'T KILLED. MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER WERE USING THE TRUCK, HELPING A FRIEND MOVE. LUCKILY, THEY JUST LEFT MCDONALDS RESTAURANT WHEN IT BROKE. THEY WERE ON A SIDE STREET AND WERE FORCED TO STAY WHERE THEY WERE. THE EASTPOINT FIRE-DEPARTMENT WERE CALLED ON SCENE DUE TO GASOLINE LEAKING OUT OF THE TANK INTO THE STREET. THEY STAYED WITH THE VEHICLE UNTIL AAA WAS CALLED. THEY TOWED THE TRUCK ON A FLATBED TRUCK AND DELIVERED IT TO MY GUYS AUTO REPAIR, GRATIOT, ROSEVILLE, MI. MY TRUCK HAD A RECALL ON IT FOR SAFETY STRAPS, WHICH WERE THE CAUSE BY BREAKING. I TRIED TO GET IT FIXED AT DORIAN FORD, CLINTON TWP.,MI. 2 YEARS PRIOR, BUT WAS GIVEN A 'RUNAROUND' BY DORIAN FORD, TELLING ME TO BRING IT IN FOR REPAIR IN 2 MONTHS TIME. I FORGOT WHEN THE 2 MONTHS WERE UP AND DORIAN FORD DIDN'T TRY TO CONTACT ME. I AM FORCED NOW TO PAY OVER 1500 DOLLARS TO REPAIR MY TRUCK, WHICH I AM THE ORIGINAL OWNER. I AM GRATEFUL BEYOND BELIEF THAT MY FAMILY OR I WEREN'T KILLED. PLEASE ADVISE ME ON WHAT I CAN DO IN LIGHT OF EVERYTHING IE...COMPENSATION FOR SAID REPAIR, ETC. THANK-YOU.”
“FUEL TANK STRAPS BROKE WHILE DRIVING STRAIGHT ON CITY STREETS PUTTING A HOLE IN THE TANK AND SPILLING OUT FUEL WHILE DRIVING. FORD HAD A RECALL ON THE SAME YEAR & MODEL OF VEHICLE, HOWEVER OURS WAS NOT RECALLED.”
Showing 6 of 26 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 10, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.