Problems · by component
2013 Ford F-150 fuel/propulsion system problems
126 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2013 Ford F-150 cite fuel/propulsion system, 5% of all 2,796 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
126
5% of all complaints
Crashes
1
Reported by owners
Fires
3
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the fuel/propulsion system
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“On vehicles equipped the R680 six speed transmission, the oil lines break off at the Quick Disconnect to the transmission oil cooler due to metal fatigue. When this happens, it causes 14 quarts of automatic transmission fluid to be pumped out onto the roadway from the front of the vehicle and on the tires and roadway. Several things can happen when this happens. 1. Loss of control resulting in a crash. 2. Vehicle stopping on roadway and unable to continue. 3. Roadway gets covered with oil may cause other vehicles to crash. 4. Enviornmental issues. I am reporting this because it is a problem that is common and should be addressed. The problem is well documented on the internet and YouTube. (Ford F150 Transmission Cooler Lines Breaking.) In my case the line snaped off when I was in my driveway. Very lucky.”
“My 2013 F150 had been acting strangely in showing a wrench on the LED screen and shutting off the electrical components on my dash. when this happens, it also sticks the transmission in between 3-5th gear. I am unable to shift down to 1st or 2nd gear, or up to 6th gear. After this happened a few times, it started to shift me in to Park and stop my wheels from turning. This happened to me 3 times while traveling down the highway at 80mph. All 3 times, it lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to screech my brand new tires and leave marks on the ground as if I had slammed on my brakes. It returns to normal and continues down the road.”
“As I was pulling out onto the road it died blocking a 2 lane road at around 5AM so was pitch black luckily cars where paying attention & saw me I was able to roll it back off the road. Had a mechanic look at it after being towed back home he noticed fuse 27 was melted that is fuse for the fuel pump. Currently awaiting how much it will be to fix.”
“Vehicle dash lights will come on while driving (wrench light specifically) and vehicle looses all power and drops to 0 RPM 0 Speed. This has happened multiple times and is extremely dangerous! After 4 months, we finally got our appointment at a Ford dealership where they diagnosed the lead frame needs to be replaced. Truck is a 2013 Ford F150 with 114,000 miles and there is a bulletin for this concern but the truck is out of warranty by age. The total bill is $1,769.54 and I contacted Ford to see if they would help for customer satisfaction and was told no.”
“Not sure if it is the powertrain or the intercooler for the turbos but when you press the gas to get on the highway or at high speed on the highway and press the gas the check engine light blinks and the vehichal goes into limp mode. Easy to recreate and doesnt seem like ford has a recall for it or even a fix. Every eco boost truck ever made seems to have this issue and if you get rear ended because of it , that sounds like a safety hazard to me. The only fix I have seen from the f150 forums to youtube or anywhere on google is to drill a 1/16 hole in the intercooler and let sludge and condensation drip all over the place. Does not sound like a great fix to me.Not even sure if the intercooler is the culprit or if it's the power train.Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.”
“My 2013 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor experienced the failure condition described in TSB 15-0137 causing sudden and complete loss of power, with no previous warnings, due to the fuel pump relay fuse holder melting and the fuel pump abruptly shutting off. This occurred while my son was driving the vehicle and while he did an admirable job of getting the truck off to the shoulder with no power, he was nevertheless on a freeway onramp around a blind turn with a merge where drivers were attempting to accelerate to highway speed, thus placing him in a dangerous situation for the hour or so it took to get a tow to the Ford dealer for repair. This failure mode (and subsequent repair) has had a TSB for 9 years and clearly has the ability to cause a safety concern, as it did in this case. Had I known about this TSB, I would have implemented it proactively given the severity of the potential failure and the high likelihood for it causing a safety issue. There are already dozens of complaints on this exact topic in NHTSA's database. Please consider elevating this safety-related defect to a full recall.”
Showing 6 of 126 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 3, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.