1998 Ford E-350: common problems

Owners of the 1998 Ford E-350 filed 63 complaints with NHTSA, most often about tires and fuel system. Details by component below, with sources.

Key figures

Owner complaints: 63
involving a crash: 3

What fails most often

1 Tires 22% of all complaints
2 Fuel system 14% of all complaints
3 Service brakes 14% of all complaints
4 Engine and cooling 13% of all complaints
5 Electrical system 8% of all complaints
6 Steering 5% of all complaints
7 Suspension 5% of all complaints
8 Vehicle speed control 5% of all complaints

Circle size and colour show each component’s share of NHTSA complaints. Schematic only, not a drawing of the exact model.

Tires: 14 complaints (22% of all).
Fuel system: 9 complaints (14% of all).
Service brakes: 9 complaints (14% of all), 2 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
Engine and cooling: 8 complaints (13% of all).
Electrical system: 5 complaints (8% of all).

Symptoms owners describe

How many of the 63 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).

tires: bulges, blowouts9 · 14%
brake failure4 · 6%
knocking, grinding or other noise3 · 5%
loss of power / limp mode3 · 5%
stalls while driving3 · 5%
engine failure or replacement2 · 3%
jerking, harsh shifts2 · 3%
won't start2 · 3%
smoke, burning smell, fire2 · 3%
vibration2 · 3%

Components owners complain about

Component	Owner complaints	involving a crash
Tires	14	0
Fuel system	9	0
Service brakes	9	2
Engine and cooling	8	0
Electrical system	5	0
Steering	3	0
Suspension	3	0
Vehicle speed control	3	0
Powertrain	2	0
Structure	2	0
Air bags	1	1
Engine	1	0
Equipment	1	0
Exterior lighting	1	0

What owners report

Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.

Brake failure resulted in vehicle rear ending another vehicle. While attempting to stop the vehicle's brakes failed and as a result the vehicle rear ended a stopped vehicle. The vehicle was rented from uhaul. A uhaul technician came and inspectd the vehicle.
Service brakes · crash · 2004-01-07 · NHTSA complaint #10052212
Rear ended another vehicle at 25 to 30mph and both driver's and passenger's side airbags did not deploy. Dealer has seen.
Air bags · crash · 1998-04-29 · NHTSA complaint #822899
Spark plugs potentially eject from cylinder heads due to bad engineering design using aluminum heads with insufficient amount of threads to hold spark plugs when in motion. Newer vehicles were re-engineered to eliminate this happening. Request recall and repair.
Engine · 2020-01-23 · NHTSA complaint #11301435
The contact stated that the van was idle when he noticed smoke coming from the instrument panel and vents. The vehicle became engulfed in flames. The fire department extinguished the flames. A fire report was not filed. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 200,000.
Vehicle speed control · 2014-01-27 · NHTSA complaint #10561718
I was hunting for something to break the window out with but had no luck finding anything. After about 20 or so minutes I finally noticed that the front door locks were in the up position indicating that the doors were not locked.
Structure · 2012-06-24 · NHTSA complaint #10462882
While driving the contact experienced a loss of power and the engine would began to malfunction. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who confirmed that the fuel system was delaminating. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 198,910 and the current mileage was 202,300.
Fuel system · 2011-03-23 · NHTSA complaint #10392628
The van was sputtering the whole way and I eventually had to have it towed to a repair shop after a complete engine failure. Ford had just issued the recall on dec 6th, 2007, and they honored the repair. The second cps incident happened on feb 23rd, 2010.
Electrical system · 2011-03-03 · NHTSA complaint #10386300
Vehicle loss of power, then rough running. The flakes are in the filter I have added between tank and fuel pump. They are small pieces of grey or silver paint. I am going to have to replace fuel tank in order to rectify the problem. I replaced the filter this morning, put approx.
Fuel system · 2008-12-09 · NHTSA complaint #10251254

When owners complained

NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.

19984
19998
200011
200112
20028
20032
20042
20052
20085
20091
20101
20113
20121
20141
20181
20201
20221

Comparison

By complaint count this model year ranks 4,699 of 36,656 model years in the NHTSA data (top 13% most complained about).

On average one model year of the E-350 has 27 complaints (44 years in the data). This year has 63, above average.

What to check before buying

Tires. Tire age by DOT code, bulges, wear pattern.
Fuel system. Fuel smell, leaks, rough running, fuel-system codes.
Service brakes. Pedal feel, ABS operation, leaks, discs and hoses.
Engine and cooling. Radiator and fan after a frontal hit, coolant level and condition, overheating.

Other years of this model

Questions and answers

What are the most common problems with the 1998 Ford E-350?

Owner complaints to NHTSA most often mention: tires, fuel system, service brakes. Total complaints: 63. The most frequent symptoms in complaint texts: tires: bulges, blowouts (14%), brake failure (6%), knocking, grinding or other noise (5%).

How many service bulletins (TSB) were issued for the 1998 Ford E-350?

NHTSA lists 0 manufacturer service bulletins for this year. A bulletin tells dealers how to diagnose or fix a known issue; it is not a recall.

Should I buy a 1998 Ford E-350 from a US auction?

Owner complaints describe defects, not crash damage. Before bidding, check the components listed above and review the lot photos: VinWind builds a report of visible and hidden damage by VIN.

Other 1998 models

Read also

Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-05.