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2002 Ford F-150

The Verdict

5 Total Klunk

The 2002 Ford F-150 has 955 owner complaints filed with NHTSA. The most reported issues are engine (383 complaints) and body (312 complaints). With a Klunk Score of 5/100, it earns a "Total Klunk" rating. If you're shopping for a Ford F-150, consider the 2009 model year which has 66% fewer complaints.

Safe Bet

The 2009 has 66% fewer complaints

View the 2009 Ford F-150 dashboard →

5

Klunk Score: Total Klunk

Among the most complained-about vehicle years on record. Strongly consider alternatives.

How is this calculated?

The Klunk Score ranks this vehicle year against all others in our database based on total owner complaints filed with NHTSA. 100 = fewest complaints (top tier), 0 = most complained-about. Scores above 60 are better than average; below 40 means more problems than most.

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Under the Hood

Each number is a complaint. Darker = bigger problem.

YearBodyBrakesElectricalEngineTransmission
20004688027433747
20015576820144171
20023124314238375
2003141278514365
20041233122155315208
200549310914028593
2006176868619940
2007172375118843
200814934459842
200913433547132

By Category

Engine
383
Body
312
Electrical
142
Transmission
75
Brakes
43

By Severity

1
393
2
399
3
10
4
153

Worst Problems

Compare Against

See how the 2002 Ford F-150 stacks up against rivals.

Complaints

Engine 1

Cruise control kicked on and won't go off. Gas fumes come from the AC unit. When driving the truck started speeding up. Now the truck is parked.

3mo ago
Body 2

Front seatbelts on 2002 Ford F-150 become unlatched unexpectedly while driving. This has been noticed over the last two or three years occasionally, but has been getting worse. Seat belt has become unlatched about 5-6 times during a 600 mile road trip. Seat belt was confirmed by two passengers that it was indeed latched correctly and nothing pushing the release button. Seatbelt was confirmed to be latched by firmly tugging on seat belt to witness that it was latched. Both passengers confirmed that the seatbelt become unlatched randomly while driving. Passenger and driver safety is at risk. If driver seatbelt comes unlatched while driving or during accident, the driver could loose control of truck and put other drivers at risk. The unlatching does not show any warning signs as to when it will become unlatched. Seatbelt just becomes unlatched and starts to recoil without warning. Ford service just says that the truck is out of warranty and that they dont cover seat belt replacements as there is no open recalls for such. Seatbelt is still currently installed on vehicle but can be available for inspection on vehicle or removed for inspection.

14mo ago
Engine 1

Just learned of recall.

16mo ago
Engine 2

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 INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

24mo ago
Engine 2

The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made a loud sound. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed and determined that cylinder #3 spark plug had blown out, but no repair was recommended at the time. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 108,000.

26mo ago
Body 2

The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated while at a tire shop to have the tires rotated, the mechanic was unable to remove the tires due to the lug nuts being swollen. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and suggested to the contact to call the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

29mo ago
Body 1

The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the rear driver's side and rear passenger's side doors failed to open from inside or outside the vehicle. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously serviced due to the failure. The failure mileage was 70,000.

32mo ago
Brakes 2

Systems failed. Recalls incomplete

32mo ago
Body 2

The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 45 MPH and attempting to pass a slower vehicle, the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the pedal suddenly extended to the floorboard causing the vehicle to immediately accelerate faster than intended. During the failure the speed increased to over 75 MPH before the contact shifted the transmission into neutral and the vehicle decelerated. The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure on two other occasions and the cruise control feature was never activated during the failure. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 94,000.

35mo ago
Engine 4

The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated that she observed smoke emanating from under the vehicle near the engine compartment. The contact stated that she opened the hood and flames erupted from the engine compartment near the battery. The contact threw dirt on the engine to extinguish the fire. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a complaint was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 200,000.

35mo ago
Electrical 4

The contact owned a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while his wife was driving at 50 MPH, she crashed into a tree. The air bags failed to deploy upon impact. The contact's wife was taken to the hospital where she was treated for a concussion, multiple hematomas to her right thigh, right abdomen, and head; as well as three fractures on her vertebrae. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed from the scene to an independent tow yard where it remained in their possession. The dealer nor the manufacturer had been notified of the failure. The contact was informed by his insurance that the vehicle was a total loss. The failure mileage was approximately 280,000.

39mo ago
Electrical 1

Speed control deactivation switch

40mo ago
Body 2

The contact owns a 2002 Ford F-150. The contact stated while opening the driver’s side rear door, the door failed to unlatch. The contact also attempted to open the passenger’s side rear door; however, the door would not unlatch. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the wiring harness in the doors needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 80,000.

41mo ago
Engine 4

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.

47mo ago
Transmission 2

I have a 2002 Ford F-150 and The problem is with the transmission my vechile acts like it's going in reverse and when it goes to backup it seems as something is locked I been over the brakes and rear end and yet nothing has came up I even replaced the transmission filter to see if that would help but nothing so I been having to drive my truck with no reverse and today the overdrive light on the shifter started blinking what is the problem with these transmission please Ford do a recall to fix the transmission

47mo ago
Engine 1

1. Coils on top of spark plug get moisture in them when there is just the right kind of rain storm. This makes the coil or coils fail until the dry out. This seems to make the coil eventually go bad. Yes, it is available for inspection. 2. Not sure if its a combination of heat and moisture but sometime right away and sometimes a few minutes into driving the coil or coils fail and the engine loses power. Then if seems to be a random, unpredictable occurrence until it dries out, Very Unsafe. If one coil fails it loses just a little power, but if more than one fails it loses a lot of power and stalls at times. This is why I am writing it up. A few time now, I have gone to pull into traffic and then I lose power and either have to run off the road or just upset the car behind me if they are not too close. 3 & 4. I have advise all the Ford dealerships in my area trying to find one that has a fix yet. The only fix Ford has, is a new designed coil, which does not appear to be any better. The dealership just replaces the coil. I have had all my coils replaced, some 2 or 3 times. 5. It depends, sometime the engine light will come on and advise which coil is misfiring and sometimes if does not. Right now my engine light is on and it displays the #6 coil misfire. Then the engine light will go out after it dries out and stops failing or it will stay off if the coil had gone bad again. I am sure its not just the F 150, but the 4.6 liter engine that is in other vehicles. I started keeping track in 2012. I wrote a letter to Ford in 2015 and they replied, there was no recall. I have several repair receipts and the letter from Ford if you need that. Just search on your site and you will see many complaints. One example Manufacturer Communication number: 041601. If you google "ford fix for moisture in coils" you will see many forums trying to figure out a fix and just complaining.

49mo ago
Body 2

Left rear passenger door will not open. Door is jammed. This will not allow rear passengers to quickly exit vehicle if pinned in due to crash or fire.

50mo ago
Engine 2

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.

51mo ago
Body 2

The contact owns a 2002 Ford Think Neighbor. The contact stated that after entering the vehicle and attempting to secure the front driver’s seat belt latch into the buckle, the seat belt latch failed to lock into place. The seat belt loosened and unlatched from the buckle while the contact was driving. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 20,000.

54mo ago
Electrical 2

I went to get a state inspection and a code came up Po174

60mo ago

955 total

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