On May 17th while on a trip to Seneca, SC my 2010 Ford F250 Diesel truck ran out of fuel while at highway speeds with fuel still being registered on the fuel gauge and 55 miles to empty on the computer. This placed me in a very dangerous condition since there was no forewarning of the impinging event and it resulted in the loss of all power to the steering and brakes. Fortunately I was not in a situation which required extensive use of either the steering or brakes; however it did result in blocking traffic and creating some minor hazard. The vehicle was towed to the nearest dealership (Family Ford in Florence, Al) where diagnostics were performed and no problems were indicated. I requested the fuel tank be removed to determine the cause of the problem but was informed Ford would not authorize this maintenance.
The vehicle computer recorded a fuel economy of 17 mpg and 55 miles to empty, which your diagnostics say is good, then I should have had over 3 gallons of gas remaining in the tank. The analog fuel gauge and the on board computer were in agreement on the remaining fuel. The fuel pump obviously loss suction which makes me think it is not pulling suction from the bottom of the tank but probably some distance above the bottom leaving over 3 gallons of fuel unusable. If Ford believes this is acceptable and is correct by their design, I can accept that but your instrumentation should be recalibrated for this condition or it should be published that the vehicle will not function properly when near empty (at or near 60 miles remaining to empty).
Having technicians perform troubleshooting by boiler plate methods and not applying some degree of common sense is not an acceptable way to perform maintenance on your vehicles. The troubleshooting maintenance performed on my truck was totally unacceptable. The problem still exist and will reoccur, I hope for your sake it does not result in bodily harm or a death.
I believe Ford could find and fix this problem and I feel it should be resolved. If Ford believes they have fulfilled their obligation on this issue and are satisfied with the actions they have taken to correct the problem, I would like for it to be noted in their response to this letter.
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