Two problems related to transmission not go into gear have been reported for the 2005 Ford F-150. The most recently reported issues are listed below. Please also check out the statistics and reliability analysis of the 2005 Ford F-150 based on all problems reported for the 2005 F-150.
On the morning of March 5th 2015 I started my truck to warm the inside and also melt the snow off my windshield. I got in the truck and backed out away from house. Due to having snow on the driveway I turned on the 4 wheel drive in high. My four wheel drive would not work so I tried to swicth to 2 wheel drive back to four wheel drive but the 4 wheel drive would not turn on. I grabbed the gear shift to put the truck back in park when I noticed my gear shift could float to park to 1st gear freely and would not shift. At this time I noticed smoke starting to come inside cab from under dash and thru the vents. I jumped out and opened the hood. A 1 foot section of a wiring harnes mounted to the firewall had caught fire. I made attempts to put out the fire but within a few seconds the engine compartment was engulfed. In 2 to 3 minutes the entire inside of the cab was also completely on fire. My wife who was watching me immediatly called 911 to get the fire department. After 3 minutes the truck was already a total lose. Due to the truck being only 60' from my house and burning so hot I was concerned about my house catching fire. Two gentleman from the rescue squad arrived but it was too late for anything to be done. I was able to get a backhoe and put the fire out with snow. Unfortunately I had liability insurance only which meant a total lose. I never dreamed that the truck would burn up sitting in my driveway!!!! I know there have been some recalls for f150 due to fire hazards with the cruise control for other year model close to 2005. A vehicle catching fire while its sitting in a driveway running is totally unacceptable. The truck was in excellent shape and had no after market parts or work performed. I have no ideal why the wiring harness caught fire.
I was coming to a stop when the transmission would not release from gear and then finally did with a loud clunk. When I went to drive forward the engine revved up and then jumped into gear jumping the truck forward. There was no warning for a transmission failure it all of a sudden lost all gears. The mechanic at the Ford dealership said it was a known issue to them and that one of the internal seals probably broke and caused a "catastrophic transmission failure. ".