I will start by saying that I have hated this truck since the day we bought it for the family landscaping business. I didn't want to buy it in 2017, but I was overruled by my father because we desperately needed to replace our Triton V10 Dump truck in a pinch. I never wanted a pickup truck and certainly not this POS.
I have argued back and forth about getting rid of it and now I believe the engine is going to take a dump. Every other month since I've owned it, it has been in the shop for something, mostly computer or electronic problems that cause the truck to randomly die or through the transmission out. I believe the timing chain may be shot now. It only has 81k miles and I have taken great care of it with oil changes every 3500 miles, transmission flushing, undercarriage treatments etc. (anything it ever needed I did without hesitation) I have put so much money into it and it always breaks down at the worst possible time.
It was significantly underpowered for our line of work, it cannot tow our equipment. The fuel consumption is off the charts, the turning radius is awful, it can't handle a snowstorm (even with chains and weight in the back, it won't push 4" or more) it absolutely fails on off-roading, slips on wet roads even with aggressive tires, eats oil like crazy, and shakes and carries on when ever it has to tow something. The plow draws so much power from it that it often shuts down and won't start back up again when snowplowing.
There is also some sort of problem with the fuel pump where it will not start up when it's warm. I have taken it back to Ford hundreds of times and they deny problems....of course it's out of warranty now, so I want it gone. It has been towed several times and has never really done much "work." Everyone says 6.2L are great, but I think I got a real dud. I think the engine is about to give up, and it sounds like a diesel when it's running now. Any workload on it results in it shaking violently. Please tell me that it needs to go away so I can convince my family to get rid of it!!!!!
-Carolyn

 

As you may or may not know, all trucks are not the same.

Taking things one at a time,
You don't go buy a pair of dress shoes to go working in ditches and the same goes for specking out a truck. They should be built and spec'd for the job they are expected to do.
There is also an electrical problem with your vehicle that no one has been able to pin down and repair.
Regular oil changes for many vehicles are not enough !
It must be the oil specified in your owner's manual . All oil is not the same either.

The tip off tells us that the connections or set up in the electrical system is not capable of supplying the power needed by the plow.
You can't expect a plow for a F550 diesel to be easily handled by a 350 with a 6.2 not spec'd for plowing.
No matter what you do with that truck , it is not the truck for all you expect from it.

Who decided on this size vehicle and the equip you are expecting it to perform with ?

 

Check MAF. You can even unplug the electrical connector and restart, does it die again. If it doesn't then your MAF is probably bad. This is easy to test as long as you know where the MAF is.

Check starter solenoid. Next time it doesn't start:
1) engine off key out
2) jumper cable one red alligator to S terminal of the starter solenoid
3) turn the key to ON or RUN position but do not attempt to start
4) jumper cable the other end of red alligator to battery positive terminal post
If it starts this way but not with the key or FOB then you likely have a bad starter solenoid
S terminal is the smallest terminal on the solenoid check and see if you can locate the letter S.

 

Hanky,
You did not read the whole story. *I* did not want this thing. I wanted to looked at used dump trucks to replace the F450 with the triton V10. My father refused to go searching for trucks, he only wanted to go to the local Ford dealership. He could not afford a new dump truck. I didn't want to buy new. I was overruled on that decision because I was still young and in the army at the time. The Ford dealership swindled my father into buying this piece of junk, saying that it could handle the towing. I knew it could not handle anything because I was a DIESEL MECHANIC in the army. I know full well that a gasser is not going to do what a diesel can do, no matter what they try to tell you at the dealership. The Triton V10 was gas and came pretty close, but the 6.2L engine is so weak it's scary....no comparison at all whatsoever.
Having said that....I am well aware that no two trucks are the same. No kidding, I never expected this thing to do what our older 450's could do.....BUT this truck SHOULD BE ABLE TO TOW A TORO LAWN MOWER WITHOUT PITCHING A FIT. It was marketed as a "Super Duty" but there is nothing super about it except the price of it. We bought it new and have maintained it beautifully, but it is still failing. It has never "worked hard" a day in its life and is washed and waxed professionally.
As far as the oil is concerned, it has ONLY ever gotten the type and amount of oil specified in the owner's manual. Full synthetic SAE 5W-30. I didn't think I also needed to state that.
Ford put the plow on it; I did not pull a plow off of a 550 and stick on it. It was a brand new truck with a brand new Western plow. I can't plow 4"....that is really nothing. If an old scout could handle snow, this thing should have been able to handle 4" of snow. In no way did I ever say that I expected this truck to work like a 450 or 550......BUT I do expect better than what this is. I have to admit that I prefer diesels; I have a 2011 6.7L F450 dump truck that I adore and that thing can handle anything you throw at it....yes it's more expensive, but it gets the work done and I love it.
My problem is that I have always wanted to do away with the F350, now that I am taking over the business and am out of the Army. It is NOT registered to me, but my father's business and the issue is convincing him to let it go....it's beyond time to rid of it. So tell me expensive, scary problems with the truck so I can show him that. I want another F450 or even a 550 because I like the work trucks and not scared of extra expense of a diesel if it gets enough work done. My current 450 did over 10K in work in the last month, while the 350 sat at the shop or sat at home.

 

Heiko,
I wouldn't be surprised if the MAF is bad. I think we just are out of luck. The starter is actually fine. It is the fuel pump not getting enough fuel moved up when the truck was already warm. It happens when you drive somewhere, park for an hour or so, and the get back into the truck to drive. It can't get the fuel....it is now a known problem for that model year that the fuel pumps were bad, but the Ford dealership was in complete denial every time I tried to get it fixed. Apparently, "it never did anything like that" whenever I left it with them to have it changed. So Ford has gaslit me to death.

 

Now I see said the blind man,me.

The only thing I could suggest is that engine is going to suck up a lot of $$$ in the near future. Trading or unloading it would be a wise decision.

 

Flushing the transmission leads to problems. Just replace fluid and filter.