Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure on the 2001 Ford F-150
4 fires 4 of the 127 reports for this failure mention a crash, a fire, an injury or a death. Those are the owner's words on the complaint form, not a verified finding, and one report can mention more than one.
When fuel tank, filler or evap failure gets reported
Owners of the 2001 Ford F-150 report fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure at a median of 129,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 98,000 miles and a quarter after 167,000 miles, from 116 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 88,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 75,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 218,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 143,000 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75,000 miles | 98,245 miles | 129,200 miles | 167,000 miles | 218,000 miles |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Of these reports, 4 a fire is mentioned. Owners write their own complaints and the agency does not verify them, so read this as what the reports say happened rather than as a confirmed count.
Putting it right typically runs $250–$1,800 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure on other years
The same failure is reported on 22 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2018, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2024 at 145,000 miles.
By volume the 1997 carries the most reports, with 206; the 2001 has 127. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. While driving at speeds of 70mph the fuel tank fell from the vehicle. There was a large quantity of gasoline spraying from under the vehicle and onto the highway. The contact was able to move the vehicle off the roadway without further incident. The vehicle was towed to his residence where the contact made repairs to the vehicle. The fuel tank straps had fractured causing the fuel tank to fall from place. The dealer was unable to provide any assistance. The manufacture was not contacted. The failure and current mileages were 103,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f-150. The contact stated that while traveling at speeds of 60 MPH, the fuel tank fractured from under the vehicle and onto the roadway. The vehicle was inspected by an independent mechanic who advised the contact that the two straps holding the fuel tank had broken. The failure and current mileages were 162,852. Updated 11/23/10 *cn updated 11/30/10 updated 08/01/11 *bf updated 1/27/2012 *ln
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 ford f150. While driving approximately 60-65 MPH, there was an abnormal dragging coming from under the vehicle. The contact discovered that the fuel tank was semi-fractured from the vehicle. Both straps were fractured and the fuel tank was hanging from the vehicle by the fuel line. A police report was available. The vehicle was towed to his place of residence. The manufacturer was contacted but would not provide any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure and current mileages were 191,000.
Also reported on the 2001 Ford F-150
Misfire or rough idle
Other engine problem
Cruise control failure
Other speed control problem
Other seat belt problem
Other electrical problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 127 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel tank, filler or evap failure happen on the 2001 Ford F-150?
Across 116 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 129,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 98,000 miles and a quarter after 167,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel tank, filler or evap failure on the 2001 Ford F-150?
127 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.7 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed