2002 Ford F Series Engine cooling Problems
- Complaints
- 10about this part
- Share
- 29%of 34 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 77,249miles
- Trend
- Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.
NHTSA recorded 10 complaints about the engine cooling of the 2002 Ford F Series, 29% of the 34 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 77,249 miles. 1 a fire, according to the filers.
Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“I woke up last week to the sound of a car alarm. I looked outside and the front of my Ford f 150 was engulfed in flames. It was so hot the tires melted into the driveway. We had not driven the truck in several days. It appears the fire started in the engine as the entire front of the vehicle is incinerated.”
NHTSA complaint #10192067, filed 2007-05, 75,000 miles“I bought my truck under the assumption that I wouldn't need to do a major tuneup until 100,000 miles. Prior to that, I had to get one at 60,000 miles, 3-5 months after that one of my spark plugs shot out of the motor, leading to having to have the head replace. I received no reasonable explanation on what would have caused that or why would it happened. The dealership and Ford wanted to charge me 3,600 dollars to fix it. I was wondering if anyone else had this problem with a Ford f150 or had there been some kind of recall? …”
NHTSA complaint #10211075, filed 2007-12, 65,000 miles“2002 Ford f150 5.4 liter engine 2 months ago I had a spark plug thread failure on my f150. It cost 400.00 to repr the vehicle so that it could be driven. 1500 miles later I have another thread failure causing another plug to be spit out of my6 cylinder head. I have been told by dealerships and mechanics that this is a common problem and that I can replace the heads with new ones but that they can not guarantee that it would not happen again. Or I can have both heads removed and have inserts machined into the heads to prevent anything from failing again. The cost of this process is 2200.00. …”
NHTSA complaint #10210866, filed 2007-12, 98,000 miles“I made a trip to california and right before I left I had the oils changed on my truck. My truck had about 15,000 miles on it. The trip was 1,000 miles round trip and it used 2 1/2 quarts of oil. I took it to the dealer and was told that it was normal to use that much oil. And they changed the oil to a different weight to do a test on oil consumption. It still uses oil and now the motor smokes when you first start it up. And if it sits for a couple of days it will know loud when you start it. The for d dealer said this is normal.”
NHTSA complaint #10010566, filed 2003-03, 15,000 milesRelated service bulletins
- 10029029Dec 29, 2008Jerr-dan: anti stall feature for ford f series light duty chassis with v10 gas engine and an engine drive clutch pump. Model years unknown.
Engine cooling: other model years
| Year | Complaints | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 3 | 33% |
| 2004 | 2 | 29% |
| 2002 | 10 | 29% |
| 2001 | 12 | 27% |
| 2000 | 10 | 24% |
| 1999 | 12 | 33% |
| 1998 | 7 | 35% |
| 1997 | 21 | 45% |
| 1996 | 2 | 13% |
| 1995 | 2 | 13% |
| 1993 | 1 | 20% |
Other parts of the 2002 Ford F Series
8 complaintsEngine
6 complaintsTransmission and drivetrain
4 complaintsElectrical system
3 complaintsVehicle speed control
3 complaintsBrakes
2 complaintsOther or unknown
2 complaintsSteering
2 complaintsElectronic stability control
1 complaintsBody and structure
1 complaints
← All problems reported for the 2002 Ford F Series
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology