Fuel pump failure on the 2011 Ford F-150
1 fire 1 of the 12 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 pump failure gets reported
Owners of the 2011 Ford F-150 report fuel pump failure at a median of 75,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 miles, from 8 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 33rd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 60,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 80,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 19,720 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A window that narrow is the signature of a part that fails on its own schedule rather than on how the car is driven — which is usually a design or supplier problem rather than wear and tear.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 59,480 miles | 68,000 miles | 73,000 miles | 78,000 miles | 79,200 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, 1 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 $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 2011 has 12. 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.
I have had numerous instances of the engine of my f-150 eco -boost shutting down while driving. The engine will run fine for hours and then it will begin to sputter and crap out and die. The 1st time this happened I was traveling 65 miles on hour on the freeway when it just started crapping out like it was out of gas. It barely ran until I could get off the freeway. I have taken it to my local ford dealer 5 times for the same issue. I have had it stop running on at least 10 occasions. Only 1 time did the dealer get a code which indicated the high pressure fuel pump was failing. Replaced that. Three days later the same thing happens again in the exact same way. It will run fine and then all of a sudden it decides that it wants to crap out and start sputtering. I was told by the dealer when this happens turn the engine off, take the key out of the ignition, wait a few minutes then put the key in the ignition and try to start. I have had to wait as long as a few minutes to over an hour for the computer to reboot and allow the truck to restart. This has happened in some very remote locations where it would have required that I hike as…
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While driving approximately 3 MPH, the fuel gauge switched from full to empty and the odometer failed to provide the accurate reading. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the fuel pump sensor was replaced. The odometer was not repaired and the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The approximate failure mileage was 82,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2011 ford f-150. While driving approximately 50 MPH, the steering wheel seized and the power steering warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle then lost power. The contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the fuel pump relay box failed and caused the fuel pump to burn. The mechanic stated that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called cavalier ford lincoln greenbrier (1515 s military hwy, chesapeake, va 23320, phone: 757) 424-1111) and was informed that he would be responsible for the diagnostic and repair fees. The vehicle was not repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that they knew about the failure and, in order for the vehicle to be repaired, there would be a fee. The approximate failure mileage was 78,000. The VIN was not available.
Also reported on the 2011 Ford F-150
Other powertrain problem
Other engine problem
Other steering problem
Other speed control problem
Other electrical problem
Other visibility problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 12 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 2011 Ford F-150?
Across 8 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 75,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 70,000 miles and a quarter after 80,000 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 2011 Ford F-150?
12 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 0.0 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