2021 FORD F-550 SD — Complaint #1768719
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:DIESEL filed September 16, 2021
NHTSA complaint #1768719 (ODI reference 11433239) concerns a 2021 FORD F-550 SD and was filed on September 16, 2021. The owner reports the failure occurred on September 2, 2021. The report was geocoded to Indiana based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as engine and engine cooling:engine:diesel, 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: yes, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. 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 F-550 SD cohort independently describe similar engine and engine cooling:engine:diesel 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 2021 FORD F-550 SD shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
While driving down the road at approximately 45 mph, under normal conditions, with no warning indicators the low fuel pressure light came on. When the driver stopped the vehicle he lost all power and observed smoke emanating from the underside and hood of the vehicle. Prior to him exiting the vehicle he observed flames shooting out from under the console towards his feet. Upon exiting the vehicle I saw flames under the hood of the vehicle and utilized his supplied fire extinguisher to attempt to put the fire out. This was futile and to our benefit he had a pressure washer and 119 gallons of water that he was able to put into action to subdue the fire. Noting that the drivers side front fender melted off and a hole melted in the drivers side hood from the fire. The entire engine compartment was burned as well as melted components and plastic in the passenger compartment of the vehicle from the fire.
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 1768719 |
| ODI Number | 11433239 |
| Date Filed | September 16, 2021 |
| Failure Date | September 2, 2021 |
| VIN | 1FD0W5HT3ME |
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.