Recall Register

1988 Ford F150: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 2 recall campaigns for the 1988 Ford F150. The newest campaign is 96V071000. NHTSA received the report on 25 Apr 1996. The NHTSA record gives the component Electrical System / Ignition. NHTSA has 139 complaints on file for this model year. 6 NHTSA investigations name this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 96V071000, in the NHTSA record

Dealers will replace the ignition switch.

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.

NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on . Complaint file through . Recall file through .

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

2 campaigns, newest first. 7,957,400 units in total.

  1. 96V071000Received . 7,900,000 units.

    Electrical System / Ignition

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    The ignition switch could experience an internal short circuit.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    This condition could cause overheating, smoke, and possibly fire in the steering column area of the vehicle.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Dealers will replace the ignition switch.

    Report filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

  2. 88V146000Received . 57,400 units.

    Visibility / Glass, Side/Rear

    Defect, in the NHTSA record
    Sliding rear window may contain glazing panels which do not meet requirements of FMVSS 205.
    Consequence, in the NHTSA record
    A fractured window may contain fragments that are largerthan the 425 grams allowed.
    Remedy, in the NHTSA record
    Replace suspect window panels.

    Report filed by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: .

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

139 complaints, 170 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

  • 1988 Ford F150
  • All 1988 vehicles
1988 Ford F150: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component1988 F150All 1988 vehiclesF150, all yearsMentions
Electrical System329.4158.724756
Fuel System, Gasoline170.667.1294.529
Engine and Engine Cooling76.5118.18413
Service Brakes, Hydraulic58.896.161.710
Power Train58.864.738.510
Seat Belts58.8117.925.310
Structure52.951.837.49
Visibility47.132.415.28
Tires29.432.155.75
Vehicle Speed Control23.546.230.44

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 18.

Complaints that report a crash
3
Complaints that report a fire
47
Injuries in the complaints
4
Deaths in the complaints
1
Date of the newest complaint
31 May 2011

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 1988 Ford F150, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 1996, with 58 complaints.

Investigations

NHTSA investigations that name the 1988 Ford F150
NumberTypeSubjectComponentOpenedClosedCampaign
EA91044Engineering analysisLOSS OF BRAKE EFFECTIVENESService Brakes, Hydraulic30 Oct 199130 Oct 199292V026000
PE91077Preliminary evaluationLOSS OF BRAKE EFFECTIVENESService Brakes, Hydraulic23 May 199131 Oct 1991
PE91017Preliminary evaluationFORD TRUCK INCONSISTENT VEHICLE CONTROL.Service Brakes, Hydraulic27 Nov 199017 Apr 1991
DP89005Defect petitionF-SERIES FUEL TANK FIRESFuel System, Gasoline26 Jan 19891 Aug 1989
PE89020Preliminary evaluationFIRESVehicle Speed Control / Linkages7 Dec 19881 Jun 1989
PE89003Preliminary evaluationSTEERING COLUMN DROPSSteering13 Oct 19888 Feb 1989

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

  1. 19660
  2. 19680
  3. 19731
  4. 19753
  5. 19761
  6. 19775
  7. 19789
  8. 19799
  9. 19804
  10. 19813
  11. 19820
  12. 19831
  13. 19841
  14. 19851
  15. 19861
  16. 19873
  17. 19882
  18. 19894
  19. 19904

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

Official channels

Cite this page

Recall Register. 1988 Ford F150: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/ford/f150/1988/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through .

Sources

Source
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence
US government work, public domain
Recall file through
30 Sep 2026
Complaint file through
30 Sep 2026
First complaint in the file
1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file
FORD MOTOR COMPANY

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 1988 Ford F150?
7,957,400 units in 2 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Ford F150 have for all model years?
NHTSA lists 46 recall campaigns for the Ford F150, model years 1966 to 1990. 2 of them name the 1988 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 1988 Ford F150 name most often?
Electrical System: 56 of 170 component mentions, or 329.4 per 1,000. For all 1988 vehicles the figure is 158.7 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 1988 Ford F150 open?
No. Each of the 6 investigations that name this model year has a closing date in the NHTSA file.