Fuel pump failure on the 2004 Ford F-150
When fuel pump failure gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Ford F-150 report fuel pump failure at a median of 90,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 125,000 miles, from 20 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 21st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 140,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 96,541 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
10% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41,559 miles | 67,888 miles | 91,450 miles | 125,948 miles | 138,100 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
Putting it right typically runs $600–$2,600 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 26 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2020, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 170,000 miles.
By volume the 2013 carries the most reports, with 65; the 2004 has 20. 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.
The computer processor will not retain any information, causing the vehicle to shutdown completely. The consumer took vehicle to the dealer, and it remained there for 21 days while this problem was being repaired. The repairs were done and the consumer received the vehicle back, but the problem recurred. *ak the vehicle broke down while in motion. After the second time the fuel pump was replaced it broke down again. *sc
Tl*the contact owns a 2004 ford f-150. The contact stated that the vehicle loses power while driving 45 MPH. The vehicle was taken to the shop three times within two years to replace the fuel pump. The vehicle operates normally for a few months, but will lose power and start surging shortly afterwards. The VIN was unavailable. The current mileage is 87,000 and failure mileage was 25,000.
On mon. March 1 of this year I went to my truck, a 2004 ford f-150 to go to work and it wouldn't start. I had it towed my local repair shop and was informed later that day that the "fuel pump control module", which is mounted on top of the gas tank, had corroded and shorted-out. This module is designed to regulate gas flow from the fuel pump and when it fails, it completely shuts down the pump...no gas means no go. I was then informed that ford motor co. Does not have any and that the part is on back-order until may!! After calling 9 different ford dealers and getting the same answer of "good luck in finding one as there has been a run on these in the northeast due to heavy salt use" it seems no-one has any. I know this was not a safety issue in my case but to tell customers to wait 2 months before they can get their truck back is insane. And if it happens while driving it could be a major problem. I just feel ford should have been better prepared for this ...2 month wait is unheard of. *tr
Also reported on the 2004 Ford F-150
Other visibility problem
Window regulator or power window failure
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
Other body or interior problem
Other suspension problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 20 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 pump failure happen on the 2004 Ford F-150?
Across 20 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 125,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel pump failure on the 2004 Ford F-150?
20 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.1 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