Other powertrain problem on the 2004 Ford Ranger
1 crash 1 fire 2 of the 18 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 other powertrain problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Ford Ranger report other powertrain problem at a median of 50,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles, from 12 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 15,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 135,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 121,100 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.
42% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13,800 miles | 31,500 miles | 50,500 miles | 74,263 miles | 134,900 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 crash and 1 a fire are 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 $400–$4,500 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 21 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2010, at a median of 1,600 miles, and latest on the 2025 at 115,000 miles.
By volume the 2019 carries the most reports, with 53; the 2004 has 18. 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.
2004 ford ranger 3.0l 5spd automatic transmission changes gears in an excessive amount when inclining over the slightest hill (eg 5th to 4th to 3rd to 4th to 3rd). Is not healthy for a transmission to act this way when not under strain.*ak
Dt: 2004, ford, ranger xlt, front brakes on driver's side are grabbing. The vehicle has been in repair shop twice. Consumer can mash the brakes down, and hears a grinding sound. Dealership has looked at the truck, and they could not find any problems. When the weather is cool the brakes feel like they are freezing up. Also, has been inspected by the dealership, who still could not find the cause of the problem. In addition, the front seal on the transmission was defective. The truck was having problems with the seal when it was taken to dealer for brake problems. The owner told the dealership to fix what ever necessary, and the seal was not fixed. The vehicle has 40,000 miles.
2004 ford ranger fx4. Auto transmission slips frequently, and also seems to "float" gears even at highway speeds. Transmission cannot seem to find right gear at times and often goes into either too low or too high of a gear. Transmission makes scraping noise when put into reverse. When shifting from one ghear to the next, (applicable to all gears) it often "jolts" the vehicle as opposed to making a smooth transition. Visited dealer on three occasions, nothing has been done because "no code comes up on the obd computer". Problem still occuring. Date given is date at which problem began.
Also reported on the 2004 Ford Ranger
Airbag inflator rupture
Other body or interior problem
Other engine problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other wheel or tire problem
Other suspension problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 18 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 other powertrain problem happen on the 2004 Ford Ranger?
Across 12 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 50,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 30,000 miles and a quarter after 75,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other powertrain problem on the 2004 Ford Ranger?
18 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