Problems with 2004 Ford F-150 ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

Bought vehicle from individual he stated mileage on odometer 125k and 2008 went to get insurance and it's a 2004 and mileage was 240k plus

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. the contact stated that the vehicle stalled and the accelerator pedal hesitated when depressed. as a result, the vehicle made an abnormal puttering sound while in drive. in addition, the electrical system failed. the spark plugs were changed multiple times. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who stated that the spark plugs should not be touched because they were ford certified spark plugs and tear easily. a special onsite ford mechanic repaired the spark plugs. the accelerator pedal and stalling failures were not repaired. the manufacturer and dealer were not made aware of the failures. the failure mileage was 233,000.

Electrical fire front passenger side after vehicle was turned off while pumping gas.

Refer to nhtsa campaign 11v107000. ford recall number 11s18. vehicle was manufactured at norfolk, va plant. my vin was not included in the original or expanded recall; however, it is now exhibiting the same problem; airbag warning light flashes twice x five times, then remains on. possible clockspring jumper wire chafing. wear could cause electrical short and unexpected airbag inflation while driving. this first occurred about ten days ago, but then the vehicle sat in the driveway for eight days. current mileage is 115544. today i called ford customer service and was informed there was no warranty action or active recall that would cover this investigation and repair. i believe the recall should be further expanded to cover this incident. it began with vehicles made at the norfolk va plant.

2004 ford f150. vehicle shut off while driving with a boat in tow and would not re start. had to have vehicle towed. dealer diagnosed as failed fuel pump driver module. i was stranded in traffic, very dangerous. this is a known problem with ford f150 2004-2008. the module corrodes and causes a short circuit that blows the fuse to the pcm and results in total failure of the pcm, thus rendering the vehicle inoperable. this should be a recall item!!!

Tl* the contact owned a 2004 ford f-150. while the vehicle was parked in the driveway, a neighbor alerted the contact that the vehicle was on fire. there were no warning indicators illuminated prior to the fire. the fire department arrived and extinguished the fire. a fire report was filed. there were no injuries. the vehicle was totaled. the dealer and the manufacturer were not contacted. the failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

I was driving down the highway about 40 mph and the driver side window just fell to the bottom inside the door.i hadn't touched a thing. the 2004 ford f150 has only 23,000 miles on it.i bought it new. i have read there has been alot of problems with this. is there a recall or replacement?

We've had a lot of issues with this truck but the main issue is when we drive down the road it misses a lot and the smell of fuel in the truck. we've taken it in and they said a lot of other people have had the same issues with there truck like ours. please contact us asap.

My husband was driving home this past sunday and was starting to turn into the drive when the left passenger window fell down into the door. he had not put it down or up - it just fell down. this is now the 4th window we have replaced in this truck. the other three have been replaced, to the tune of $350.00 each. when i brought this to the attention of the service manager at the local ford dealership, he said there was nothing that he could do - the window regulators just break. i contacted the ford 800 number and was told the same thing - nothing to be done - just a broken part - even though it happens a lot. he said there was no recall on it so there was no help they could give. so, i guess i'll be paying another $350.00 and pray they don't start dropping again since ford won't admit they have a problem.

On my way home from the lake, my vehicle starting idling rough. pulled over to check things out, couldn't find any noticable issues. retarted vehicle and engine started smoking. i raised the hood and smoke was billowing out from the coil atop the number 2 spark plug, drivers side, looking from front to rear of engine. had thevehicle towed to bill collins ford of louisville,ky.they informed me that the spark plugs needed changing. upon removal, 4 of the eight spark plugs broke off in the engine head. this cost me $857.00 to change 8 spark plugs that normally i could do myself. the breaking of spark plugs in this type engine, 5.4l triton, is a well known issue, that ford motor company knew about. yet they have yet to do a recall. instead, they developed a tool to take these broken sprk plugs out, yet the consumer still has to pay sometimes upwards of $2,000.00 for the repair. ford used a substandard part in their vehicles and refuse to honor the customer. they no lonegr use that type engine, but anyone with a 5.4l triton engine from ford will have to pay a lot of money to change eight spark plugs when the time comes. i could not put my vehcile into gear when this happened, that seems like a safety concern to me!

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. the contact stated that the vehicle experienced stalling without warning. in addition, the seat belt would not latch. the dealer diagnosed that the vehicle's software needed to reflashed. the vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. the contact had the engine replaced after it was diagnosed that there was water in the oil pan and a fuel rod failure. the failure recurred. the manufacturer was notified of the failures. the vehicle was repaired. the failure mileage was approximately 50,000.

Fuel pump driver module, back side of module corroded away exposing circuit board causing the fuel pump to stop running and leaving me stranded during a snow storm,seems to be a common problem on 2004-2008 ford pickups. i consider this a poor design and should be a recall, lot of garages installing new fuel pumps at 300.00 a crack when its a easy to replace 80.00 dollar part. *tr

Bought 2004 f150 brand new, never off road, all scheduled maintenance completed: son driving on interstate at 65mph, heard loud breaking noise, severe rattling, shaking, no power, coasted down ramp and to side road. towed to mechanic--rod through the oil pan. mechanic verified that oil was pumped properly through motor.. same mechanic has worked on this car since we have had it. we have had to have all 4 door window motors replaced (twice-second time, we fixed front door windows and had back door windows wired up) , the back glass replaced for leaking, the 4 wheel drive sensors replaced, the transmission rebuilt, the overhead cam system replaced and now this. *tr

On my 2004 ford f150 xlt lariat supercab, the passenger rear window regulator has now failed. the driver's one went first (within three years of ownership), then the front passenger one (a few months later) then the rear passenger one ( about a year after the first) and now this. all four regulators have had to be replaced from the original factory installed ones. this latest one occurred while the truck sat parked in the driveway unoccupied; all the others happened on the roadway while the vehicle was in motion. *tr

Replaced two window regulators in vehicle. driver's windown and passenger window.

As i was backing upward into my garage, i slowed down and the truck rolled forward and i quickly pressed the gas to resume backwards. this caused the check engine warning light to come on along with my od/off indicators on the dashboard. my reverse gear stopped pulling. i'm afraid had this been in route it might have been more serious of an issue. *tr

Driver side power window, this is the forth time i have to have window repair on my truck, previous time before last one, was in july only 4 months ago i had to pay almost $300 to repair window, and now last time paid $425 dollars to repair that very same window and this time is the window regulator. window will make a loud noise and drop, unable to bring it up or closed again. *tr

Passenger side power window collapsed into the door while driving. briefly heard a pop/bang in the door thinking something hit the door, then the window went straight down without control. now i have no way of retrieving the window back up and securing it. plus unable to secure my vehicle or keep the elements of weather out of my truck. i will not use the truck to pick up my you children in this condition. i presume that this could be a significant safety hazard in similar situations with a distracted driver loosing attention to driving or in a severe weather condition. i will take it to a ford service dealer and share my displeasure with this incident. for my safety and everyone else safety, i will get this repair. this incident is severe enough to hurt or kill someone if it is not addressed. i am still shaking with fear while typing this complaint. *tr

I own a 2004 ford f-150. in 2012 i had my e-brake light start flashing at me. i brought it into the mechanic and had them look it over, they said they couldn't find anything wrong other then the wiring under the dash was probably bad, so i brought it to a brake specialist and they said the same thing, nothing wrong with cylinder or brakes, that it was the wiring under the dash. i'm truly not safe using my e-brake as i'm not sure if it is working or not. my interior lights started coming on also when i would turn on my headlights, everyone knows you shouldn't have the interior lights on while driving at night anyway. i have read several articles where other ford f-150 owners are having the same problems. i think this needs to be looked into and a recall should go out. *tr

In late-june 2012 a loud clunk/thud/pop/small explosion occurred in the passenger-side door of my 2004 ford f-150 regular cab truck, while the vehicle was stopped and idling, and the window dropped into the door frame. when i returned home i removed the door panel and discovered that a small piece of molded plastic, 1 1/8" x 1 7/8" (probable cost to ford about 39 cents) on the window regulator had disintegrated/failed, allowing the regulator cable to release the window. i have found a replacement window regulator on the internet for $70 (ford charges $175 for the part) and will repair the defective item myself. i notified ford of the failure of a less-than-quality plastic piece on the regulator and asked for reimbursement. ford responded: "there are no factory warranties or programs in effect on your vehicle that would provide financial assistance for your current vehicle concern." however, they did add: "recommend that you keep your repair receipts in case ford initiates a recall or customer satisfaction program in the future based on customer feedback or further engineering review of similar complaints." i see from the large number of complaints on this website by ford truck owners that i am but one of hundreds who have been affected, and obviously, there will be hundreds more; the odds are very high that the majority of the plastic pieces on ford truck window regulators will fail sooner or later, and i seriously doubt that the 2004 ford f-150 truck is the only model year that contains plastic parts in the window regulators. $70 to replace a failed piece of plastic that initially probably cost ford about 39 cents to produce is a sad commentary on quality. *tr

This truck has only been used three times in five months. it was parked on a parking pad unattended for three days an 10 hours. the main electrical wiring started a fire inside of the truck on its own. if it had not been found at 3:00 am it would have most likely kill two people in their beds. updated 03/12/12 *bf *tr

I have owned this truck since 2004, no serious issues. this past friday i noticed power was still going to my truck when it was turned off. the power accessory relay was clicking vigorously then stopped, no power inside my vehicle. i started the truck and everything worked except for the radio. i went for a drive than and then the reverse lights came on the door buzzer was going off, as i went to stop i heard a grinding noise occur than stopped. was able to get it home. i have 30 years of mechanic experience and tried to find a possible short. when i removed the passenger side rocker panel i found the harness covered in rusty water. now doing research on the internet, i have seen hundreds of people complaining about this issue, that ford wont cover. it turns out many people had to have wiring harness replaced costing thousands. while conducting my research i have found out water is leaking through the windshield the rear window and wiring harness that travels through the firewall. please help, ford will not admit to their mistake. *tr

Truck was parked in the parking lot at 5:45 am on 12/17/2011 at my place of employment. at approximately 4 pm several employees and i heard what we thought was someone's alarm going off. they went to parking lot to see what was going on and saw flames inside my truck around the dashboard on the drivers side. the noise was actually the horn blowing. we did not attempt to open the door, we called the fire department. upon arrival they put the fire out. the truck had been parked all day & i never entered it after i arrived at work. the truck is destroyed. *tr

I leave my windows up on the truck. it is cold (winter time) truck was in the garage. i went to the garage and the window on the passenger side was down. i cranked the truck, pushed the button and the window would not come up. i took the truck to the dealer they said the front door window regulator had to be replaced. this cost $344.66 to replace the regulator. since the first replacement, the two back windows have done the same thing. i assume if my truck is having this problem others are also. this appears to be a defect and the company should pay for the repairs. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. the contact stated that the vehicle was taken to the dealer for routine maintenance. the contact was advised that there was a spark plug shortage and that the wires would need replacing. the manufacturer was not contacted and the vehicle was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was unavailable. the vin was unavailable.

The power window on the front passenger side just abruptly stopped working and the window fell down into the door. this appears to be a problem with this vehicle that has not been addressed by ford. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2004 ford f150. the contact was driving 55 mph when the steering wheel seized. the contact merged the vehicle off the highway, turned the vehicle off and waited thirty minutes before restarting. the vehicle resumed as normal. the dealer inspected the vehicle and advised the contact that the upper and lower steering shaft had rusted together. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vehicle was not repaired. the failure mileage was 103,188. the alternator was replaced. updated 02/28/12

Failure of second window regulator in two years. driving down the road this time and nearly swerved off the roadway after i thought that the passenger side rear window had been shot out. turns out it was the regulator failing. ford needs to recall this part as a safety hazard before somebody is hurt in a crash caused by the failure of the regulators. ford knows they have a problem but apparently will not recall or offer a fix. *tr

I was traveling on a main boulevard when all of a sudden the drivers side window slid down with a loud sounding bang. the window did not break. however, what seems to be a spring loaded mechanism, must have broken causing the window to collapse down inside the door. the sound was so loud, it caused a nervous reaction in me which resulted in pulling on the steering wheel to one side. thankfully, there were no vehicles to that side and i was able to correct my steering to get back into my lane. as if one experience was not sufficient, it happened again 9/1/11. this time on the passenger side door. the same exact experience repeated except that this time i was driving at 75mph on i-25. i expected to find a recall to this dis-functional mechanism. what are the chances of this happening almost back to back within a 6 week period? *tr

While driving in up state ny, going about 30-35 mph, my rear passenger window started to open for no reason. by the time i was able to pull over the window was completely open and fell down into the door. i was unable to close the window and the ford dealership i brought the car to look at to try and fix it told me the regulator was broken and needed to be replaced. the dealership was able to get the window closed and taped it shut. i was 300 miles from home and i had to get home to try and get the window fixed. ps: this is the second time this has happened to me. about 2 years ago the same thing happened to the drivers window and i had to get the regulator replaced ford needs to own up to it's default and announce a recall on all it's window regulators

While i was driving, the rear drivers side window made a loud pop and the window just fell down. the window will not go back up. it is stuck down. i could not find any recall on the window but googled and found that is a problem for a lot of ford f150 owners. *tr

After starting the truck, and having seemingly normal operation. it started to run rough and had a marked loss of power. the check engine light did not initially illuminate, giving no indication of a serious problem. thinking this was a temporary problem, we continued home. the next day my wife took the truck on her normal daily routine. she notified me later that the truck had gotten worse and that it was very rough and low on power, to the point of making merging very dicey. we took the car to the dealer for diagnosis and they found a wiring harness had chafed through due to a riding condition on an air conditioning line. this affected coil number 4. the dealer repaired the chafed wire and returned the car to service. the ironic thing(or disappointing, depending on your perspective) was that we had the car in for a recall campaign for a chafing wire in the airbag system. *tr

I was driving my 2004 ford f150 lariat on us 50 going west bound in heavy traffic around 5:30 in the evening driving 70 mph. i heard a loud pop (as if a gun was being fired), which startled me to where i swerved into the lane beside me. luckily there was not another car right beside me or else this would have definitely lead to an accident. i turned out to be something within in the electrical system of my driverside windows controls. the window fell down as soon as i heard the pop. i called one of the local ford dealers and was told that it would be about $400.00 to fix and that they have to fix this sort of problem all the time on the same makes and models of my truck. i then asked if there was a recall and was told that there was not. i am not able to afford repairs at this time, so i am having to just deal with the fact that i do not have a window on the driverside anymore. this whole incident could have caused a serious accident. ford should really do something about this before it does. *tr

All 4 windows regulators broke within a span of 4 months. window regulators have a steel cable which adheres to a plastic pulley--who designed this poor compatibility? common sense will tell you that this is not conducive to wear and tear for electric windows. vehicle is in excellent shape accept for this problem which as a consumer is unacceptable due to inferior products used. aluminum or another type of metal should have been used for the pulley--definitely not plastic. reported to ford--can't and won't do anything about this but tell me to take to ford dealer for repairs and pay an outrageous amount for the labor and regulator. i spoke with a local ford service manager and he revealed to me that ford knows this is a problem with several of their vehicles and also the lincolns but because of the cost incurred by issuing a recall that they chose to "wash it under the rug". this is an unacceptable excuse as far as i am concerned. 4 window regulators in a 4 month span to break--something needs to be addressed and brought to ford's management and design departments. *kb

On 25 march 2011, i encountered a loud pop in the door on the driver-side of my 2004 ford f-150 regular cab truck, and the window disappeared into the door frame. i removed the door panel and discovered that the cable mechanism within the window regulator had failed. without further delay i turned the truck into my ford dealer to have the window regulator repaired, and received a repair bill of $301.86 (the regulator alone cost $159.36); the ford advisor stated that they had the part in stock since the window regulator failure was a common occurrence. i did not inspect the regulator to determine why the cable mechanism had failed. after this incident i visited www.nhtsa.gov to determine the extent of the problem, and learned that more than 240 other 2004 ford truck owners had experienced the exact same problem in one door or the other in their trucks. as might be expected when inferior parts are installed in a vehicle, such as the window regulators in the 2004 ford trucks, the passenger-side window regulator also failed. in the second instance i determined that a small, cheap piece of molded plastic on the window regulator had failed because of the immense pressure applied to it when the window was being raised. details of that failure are listed elsewhere on this website. *tr

Window regulator failure, third occurrence within a year. first incident was left rear window, then right rear window now right front. all three incidents occurred while driving, causing a hazardous distraction to the driver. two incidents happened in foul weather further disrupting the driver.

In less than one year i have had to replace three windows in my 2004 f-150. the windows would just fall inside the door and the mechanism no longer worked. as i researched online, i noticed there were numerous complaints for this make, model and year. i feel this should have been a recall. i hope ford motor company looks into this and we will all be reimbursed for our expenses. thank you. *tr

2004 ford f150 supercrew. window regulator failure, resulting in a loud crashing sound while driving the vehicle; once almost resulting in a crash. this has happened with 3 regulators now. *tr

Driving at 50 mph my truck dies. tow to a ford dealership (thomas ford, beverly ma.). diagnostics show blown pcu. dealer replaces pcu at my expense. finds that, or says that, the pcu was blown by the fpdm. ford does not have any in stock and 3 months behind in production due to bad economy. dealer pressures me into buying used fpdm because 3 other trucks on lot has same problem and they will buy part if i don't. 3 months without truck if i don't. dealer also says i should complain to ford motor company direct because (they believe) it should be a recall. fmc did nothing. not even expedite a new part. pcm was $970 part only and fpcm was $343 part only. fpcm cracked because mounted on dissimilar metal under spare tire.

I attempted to raise my front passenger-side power window on my 2004 ford f-150 supercab. i heard a loud pop and the window began to lower automatically. when it was completely inside the door, it stopped. i am now unable to raise this window. i was personally at a stop when the window failed, however, there are numerous accounts of this failure occurring in moving vehicles creating a safety hazard. *tr

no significant events lead up to.... 3 out of 4 windows on my 2004 ford f150 fx4 had to be replaced because out of the blue they come crashing down. i have spent about 700 dollars so far on this defect and have to go in tomorrow to get my passenger side window fixed which will put me over 1000. ford needs to recall these window regulators and i should get every penny i have spent on these pathetic devices back. come on ford, really? i feel like i and everybody else in this same situation have been taken advantage of for ford to make an extra buck. who is going to be the one to raise the [xxx] flagged and take ford to the bank on this one. information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6). *tr

I have lost 4 window regulators over the space of 2 years. i have replaced the drivers front , pass front twice pass rear once. i currently have a broom handle holding up drivers rear. this has gotten very old and tiresome. i worked for ford dealerships for 27 years and i am very disappointed with the apparent disregard of quality is job 1. *tr

While i was driving the truck on local roads, the passenger side electrically controlled window which was fully up suddenly slowly receded down into the door of the truck and now cannot be raised back up. the window is not broken, and the noise when i press the window control seems to indicate that the motor is still working properly. i have called several repair shops (and the dealer), and the conclusion so far (hearing the description but without inspecting the vehicle) is that the window regulator needs to be replaced. *tr

Was driving home from work and my rear driver's side window dropped to the bottom for no apparent reason. i don't even use the window much. pulled off door cover and found cable apart and wound and tangled behind motor. called my buddy to see if he had it happen to his and before i could say anything he said he just came in from cramming a board in his rear widow make it home. they seem to be really poorly made. *tr

Driving on the freeway my drivers door window starting coming down on its. i looked to see what was going on next thing it came crashing down and all i heard was glass shatter. not a good thing to happen driving down the freeway. *tr

2004, 4.6 ford explorer pickup spark plugs break off, can't get them out, causes much damage, cost $$$$ to get repaired that i don't have! there are many many people on website forums who have this same problem. some even say the ford dealership they took their truck to couldn't even get the spark plugs out either. is there a recall? *tr

2004 ford f150 heritage anti-theft system can cause engine to quit while driving or prevent from starting. during failure the 'theft' light on the dashboard will blink rapidly. vehicle has completely stopped on interstate highway nearly causing accident due to loss of steering control and braking. contacted ford dealer who said i should replace the battery. the battery was replaced and did not correct problem. had complete electrical system checked and no problems with system. *tr

While driving on the freeway my passenger side window unexpectedly fell through the door. when i pressed the button to open the window a tad the regulator broke and the window began to fall. a week later the second back passenger window came crashing down also. thankfully it was while i was at the store and the car was stationary. i had to fix this out of pocket last week for about 700.00 for both windows, the repair guy at ford said this wasn't covered or issued as a recall. now fastforward to yesterday, my side driver window comes falling down and i had to use a doorstop to hold it up. i feel this is a widespread issue that ford has not come to terms with. this should have been a recall issued years ago. checking the internet there a numerous sites where angry customers of ford are experiencing this problem way to frequently.(ex. http://www.carcomplaints.com/ford/f150/2004/windows_windshield/window_does_not_roll_up.shtml) we have always bought ford, but with the recent problems this might change. *tr

2004 ford f150 supercrew 4 door - window motor/cable failure. i started to "roll" the passenger door front window down and immediately the window just dropped all the way inside the door leaving no window available on that door. no window, no protection from the weather, no security, etc. the window would not come up and remained down inside the door. i've read about this as a common problem that looks like a real obvious recall situation. please make ford responsible for this failure as it apparently can happen over and over because of inferior parts. this is my first occurence in my 23 months of ownership - thank goodness. there are so many similar reports and i ask that you be fair to the consumers and force ford to recall these parts with a suitable replacement part. please treat them equal with toyota and any other manufacturer. ford has a bad door cable or mechanism and they should be held responsible for this issue. *tr

In 2008 i purchased a 2004 ford f-150 lariat( 4 door). in march of this year ( 2010) the power window mechanism on the front drivers side failed, causing the window to drop into the door panel. the front drivers side passenger door failed in june of this year with the same result. today, sept 7, the rear passengers side door window mechanism failed causing the window to drop into the door. i have done some research on the internet and i find the failure of the power window mechanism to be fairly common. this is a definite safety hazard as an unexpected lowering of the window can cause items inside the truck to fly around inside the cab and create a safety hazard to the driver. it would seem that ford has had an unusual number of this failures and should make the repairs at their cost in order to prevent serious accidents. *tr