Exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin on the 2002 Ford F-250 SD
Only 6 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin gets reported
There are 6 reports of exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin on the 2002 Ford F-250 SD, 6 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 100,000 miles. It is the 15th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 64,500 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 $250–$2,000 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 6 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2019, at a median of 5,000 miles, and latest on the 2001 at 85,000 miles.
By volume the 1999 carries the most reports, with 11; the 2002 has 6. 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.
2002 ford f-250, exhaust leak developed just after 50,000 miles. Right side manifold had split. Ford refused to warranty it, even though it was only 4 1/2 years into a 5 yr/ 50,000 mile emissions warranty. There is a recall on the mounting studs that changes them to stainless steel. They have a problem with the factory studs rotting out. They also have made improvements to the holes in the manifold. They were enlarged to resist cracking. Both manifolds had to be replaced along with the broken studs. All old parts are in my possession. Otherwise the truck is in like new condition. *jb
I heard a sound coming from my exhaust and after looking over the exhaust I notice that I had some exhaust manifold studs and nuts that hold the exhaust manifolds to the engine heads had either broken or snapped off causing the exhaust leak I heard. After seeing that I had an issue with the exhaust studs I took my 2002 ford f-250 super duty with 6.8 liter engine to the dealership were I have my service work done and had 1 of the service technicians look at the issue. I was told at the dealership that ford motor company knew of the problem with the studs and nuts that was used when my truck was manufactured and knew of that problem since 1997 through 2005. Yet ford motor company will not do anything to resolve this issue. From 1997-2005 ford motor company used steel studs and nuts for attaching the exhaust manifolds to the enines on there 5.4 liter and 6.8 liter engines. That's a period of 9 years of using parts that were faulty for use in manufacture. The failure of these exhaust studs and bolts can and will cause the exhaust manifolds to warp thus the consumer having to replace the exhaust manifolds as well. Also with the failure…
Two manifold bolts snapped off each side of my 02 6.8 liter engine. The rest are horribly rusted. The truck has only 37000 mi on it. There has been a tsb concerning this, but it is a huge and common problem. There needs to be a recall for the people out of warranty,as it does concern emissions and the leaking of exhaust gases from before the cat. *tr
Also reported on the 2002 Ford F-250 SD
Misfire or rough idle
Other engine problem
Other wheel or tire problem
Other electrical problem
Loss of braking
Premature brake pad or rotor wear
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 6 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 6 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 exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin happen on the 2002 Ford F-250 SD?
Across 6 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 65,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is exhaust leak or fumes in the cabin on the 2002 Ford F-250 SD?
6 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