NHTSA Opens Petition on 7.3L Cam and Lifter Failures in 2021-22 Ford E-350, F59 and F-750

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened defect petition DP26011 on October 23, four months after receiving a petition that says Ford’s 7.3L gasoline V8 can wear out its camshaft and lifters at idle and then quit at highway speed with little or no warning.

The agency’s record covers 2021-2022 Ford E-350, 2021 F59 and 2021 F-750 vehicles with the 7.3L. The record doesn’t give a vehicle count or name the petitioner, and Ford hasn’t responded in it. The petition itself is filed under ODI number 11764421.

The petition

According to NHTSA’s summary, the petitioner says oil pressure at low idle, about 6 psi, does not lubricate the lifter rollers and cam lobes enough, and that the resulting wear can end in catastrophic engine failure. The petitioner also says Ford knew the root cause, released a software calibration that raises idle to about 1,000 rpm, and neither issued a recall nor notified owners.

Those are the petitioner’s allegations as NHTSA summarizes them. The agency opened the petition to decide whether to grant or deny it, not to confirm a defect.

Ford’s service bulletin

Ford already has a repair procedure for cam wear on this engine. Technical service bulletin 25-2322, dated July 16, 2025, supersedes 25-2200 and covers 2021-2025 E-Series and F-650/F-750 with the 7.3L, 2020-2025 F-53 and F-59 chassis, and 2020-2025 F-Super Duty trucks with the 7.3L (and the 6.8L from 2023). That is a wider list than the petition’s.

The listed symptom is an upper-engine ticking or tapping noise at idle, sometimes with a rough run, misfire and codes P0301 through P0308. The stated cause is excess wear of the camshaft and/or valve tappets. A technician pulls the oil filter and looks for metal. Debris means a new long block. No debris means removing both cylinder heads: if the damage is limited to the camshaft and tappets, the fix is service kit LC3Z-6250-D with a new camshaft and all tappets, and anything else gets a long block.

Ford’s published labor times for the two repairs, in hours:

• E-Series: 18.9 for camshaft and tappets, 21.3 for a long block
• F-Super Duty: 21.5 for camshaft and tappets, 19.7 for a long block
• F-53/F-59: 22.5 for camshaft and tappets, 20.7 for a long block
• F-650/F-750: 23.5 for camshaft and tappets, 21.7 for a long block

The bulletin describes noise and wear. It does not mention sudden loss of power, and as filed with NHTSA it does not mention an idle-speed change.

Complaint data

NHTSA’s database lists 20 complaints on the 2021 E-350. Five describe engine failure, and two name the camshaft: one reports camshaft and lifter failure that required a replacement engine (incident July 31, 2024, filed January 31, 2026), the other camshaft lobe and valve tappet wear. Three of the five come from one fleet owner. The 2022 E-350 has 14 complaints, none naming cam parts and one reporting engine failure at 67,000 miles. The 2021 F-750 has one complaint, with no description in the record. We did not pull F59 complaints, so they are not in these counts.

None of the engine complaints we read reports a crash or injury. The one crash in the 2021 E-350 file is a brake failure.

The 120-day clock

Under 49 CFR 552.8, NHTSA is to notify a petitioner of its decision within 120 days of receiving the petition. Counted from June 13, that lands around October 11. The investigation record is dated October 23 and does not address the difference. If NHTSA grants the petition, section 552.9(b) has the agency open an investigation. A denial requires a Federal Register notice with reasons within 45 days.

The agency has other Ford engine files open. We covered its 1.0L timing belt case, now an engineering analysis covering 135,551 vehicles, and the GM 6.2L V8 recall that also turned on oil.

If your 7.3L ticks at idle, ask the dealer to follow TSB 25-2322 and keep every repair order. Then file an NHTSA complaint that cites DP26011.

Does your 7.3L tick at idle? And if the petition holds up, should Ford recall every affected van and chassis, or is a service bulletin enough?

Sources: NHTSA ODI investigation record DP26011; Ford TSB 25-2322 (NHTSA); NHTSA complaints database; 49 CFR Part 552.

About the Author

Shawn Henry

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Shawn Henry has spent years writing about cars, and it shows—not in a resume kind of way, but in how he talks about them. He's the type who'll notice the weird trim option nobody remembers and actually know why it mattered. At Backfire News, he covers pretty much the whole spectrum: off-road trucks and trail builds, performance cars, racing, and the collector market. He's comfortable getting into the technical weeds, but he never forgets that most people read about cars because cars are fun, not because they want a spec sheet. His beat runs from classic and collector vehicles to overlanding culture, modified performance builds, new automotive tech, and the industry news that actually affects what ends up in your driveway. Mostly, though, Shawn thinks the best car stories are about people—the builds they pour money into, the road trips, the communities that form around a shared obsession. That's the stuff he likes writing about, and it's what you'll find in his work here.

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