1988 FORD F150 — Complaint #133168
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:AUXILLARY TANK:SELECTOR DEVICES filed January 27, 1999
NHTSA complaint #133168 (ODI reference 834059) concerns a 1988 FORD F150 and was filed on January 27, 1999. The owner reports the failure occurred on November 15, 1998. The report was geocoded to Texas based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as fuel system, gasoline:storage:auxillary tank:selector devices, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD F150 cohort independently describe similar fuel system, gasoline:storage:auxillary tank:selector devices failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 1988 FORD F150 shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
DOUBLE TANK SHUT OFF VALVE FAILED TO OPERATE WHENEVER FUEL FILLED ONE TANK AND OVERFLOWED TO THE OTHER TANK. INSTEAD OF CUTTING OFF WHEN FULL, THE TANK OVERFLOWED AND CAUSED FUEL TO LEAK. DEALER NOTIFIED. AND WILL NOT CORRECT PROBLEM UNLESS COST GOES TO CONSUMER. *AK
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 133168 |
| ODI Number | 834059 |
| Date Filed | January 27, 1999 |
| Failure Date | November 15, 1998 |
| VIN | 1FTEX15H1JK |
Similar FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE:STORAGE:AUXILLARY TANK:SELECTOR DEVICES Complaints for 1988 FORD F150
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1988 FORD F150. WHILE THE VEHICLE WAS PARKED, THE CONTACT LOOKED UNDERNEATH IT AND NOTICED FUEL LEAKING. HE DISCOVERED A RECALL FOR THE SAME FAILURE FOR THE 1989 MODEL. THE DE
VEHICLE HAS DUAL TANKS AND GAS IS COMING FROM FRONT TANK FILLING UP THE REAR TANK, AND CAUSING GAS TO SPRAY OUT OF GAS CAP. THE CAUSE IS UNKNOWN. PLEASE PROVIDE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION.*AK
CONSUMER HAS TWO TANK ATTACHMENTS TO TRUCK, WHEN REAR TANK IS FULL OF GASOLINE, FRONT TANK WILL LEAK OUT GASOLINE ONTO GROUND, DEALERSHIP IS AWARE OF PROBLEM.*AK CONSUMER IS STATING THAT THE VEHICL
FUEL TANK: PUMPS FLUID FROM ONE TANK TO ANOTHER , LEAKING THROUGH SELECTOR VALVE INTO OTHER TANK. *AK CONSUMER STATES WHEN THIS FAILURE OCCURRED BOTH TANKS WERE FULL AND GAS SPRAYED OUT THE FILL S
FUEL OVREFLOWS FROM ONE TANK TO ANOTHER, CAUSING A HEAVY SPILLAGE 0F FUEL WHILE DRIVING .VEHICLE HAS DUAL GAS TANKS. OWNER IS VERY CONCERNED FOR SAFETY. *AK
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.