This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I was attempting to accelerate hard to merge into traffic onto interstate highway. When I pushed pedal to floor, the vehicle immediately slowed as if a governor had kicked in. Fortunately, I had room on shoulder to not get hit, but had to wait and pump pedal twice before it began to accelerate again. I have not tried to replicate the problem. I had an identical problem 3 years ago in another ecoboost Ford F150 that nearly killed me. I attempted to pass another vehicle and realized that I needed hard acceleration and the vehicle immediately slowed. There was no where to go, but fortunately my fellow motorists realized I had a problem and let me back into my lane without a multi-vehicle crash. I asked my dealer about that then, and was told that never had been reported. I immediately traded that truck for the one I have now that day.
Traveling freeway speed, inside lane, sudden and complete loss of engine power, orange check engine (wrench) appears on display. Got to roadside, appeared to go into limp mode. Truck moved at own (slow) speed, I had zero throttle control. Exited freeway, shut down and restarted, issue gone. Road conditions were wet, sleet, de-icer on roadway. With traffic all around, on slick roads, this was some scary stuff right there!
While attempting to pass a slower vehicle on a two lane road, my truck lost all power and the check engine light began blinking. I was in the on-coming travel lane adjacent to the vehicle I was passing when the incident occurred. The incident nearly caused an accident as the vehicle I was passing slowed down when I lost power an I was unable to immediately get over. I coasted with a rough running engine to the shoulder and shut off the engine. When I restarted it a few minutes later it ran a little rough and the check engine light remained on. Research shows that this is a know issue for this make model with the ecoboost engine. The Ford dealership, while having a tsb in place for the issue, did not notify me of the issue and will not cover the cost of the recommended service under either the power-train warranty or my Ford extended warranty (bumper-to-bumper has expired). This is a huge safety issue and this should be a recall from Ford to fix these issues and they apparently will not take the initiative to do so on their own. The incident occurred in southwestern Missouri on a day in which it had been raining off and on.
My 2011 ecoboost F150 would sputter, shake and chug as I do a hard acceleration entering a highway or pass a vehicle. 4 times I have had my truck for service with the last 12 months for the same exact problem. My engine light will flash several times and then it will stay on till I take the vehicle in for service. 2 times the dealer has told me the problem is a turbo cooler issue and want to charge me $200 for some cheap lick and stick plastic air deflector. The other 2 times they have said I have a bad distribution wire and plug. First was on cylinder 3 and second time on cylinder 1. every time this has happened on a hard acceleration, its been during heavy traffic and I have had to pull of the road to avoid an accident. I have to now be very cautious when accelerating as I feel this truck is an accident waiting to happen. I hope someone can get this recalled as I know there is a lot of these trucks out there with the same problem.
- Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
On February 13, 2014, my Ford 2011 F-150 ecoboost began to show signs of limited throttle response coupled with a drastic reduction in power output and moderate to severe engine vibration. These symptoms occurred and were most severe under heavy engine load, while traveling uphill, high outside air temperature and with the air conditioner on. General locations: Mojave high desert (joshua tree, ca) and the greater palm springs, ca area. Weather conditions were generally dry with low humidity. On February 15, 2014 the symptoms described above were so violent that the check engine came on (flashing) and I pulled off the road for my own safety. I shut off the engine, allowed it to rest' and then turned the engine back on. The symptoms did not disappear completely, but they were reduced and the check engine light was no longer illuminated. On February 20, 2014 I brought my truck to yucca valley Ford to have the problem diagnosed. Mileage at the time of the service was 68,382 miles. A diagnosis was performed and it was determined that the engine was misfiring on the number 1 cylinder due to worn spark plugs. All 6 spark plugs were replaced and the symptoms disappeared. The truck ran fine until approximately June, 2014. The symptoms slowly began to reoccur and by early August, had fully returned. On August 8, 2014, while traveling at freeway speeds, up a steep grade, with external air temperatures in the low 100 degrees, low humidity, and the air conditioner on, the truck nearly lost all power, began to misfire and vibrate violently, and the check engine light began to flash intermittently. Upon reaching the top of the grade and the load on the engine reduced, the symptoms were reduced. The truck was again brought to the yucca yalley Ford service center on Saturday August 9, 2014 where it is currently awaiting diagnosis.
Water from the cac was ingested into the engine causing a misfire. This is the 8th time it has happened to me. I have had all tsb's completed by Ford and the issue still persists. The ecoboost engines are unsafe. This loss of power while merging has causes me to narrowly escape accidents 2 out of the 8 incidents. I noticed that the NHTSA closed an investigation into the ecoboost issues earlier this year. I'm suggesting that the NHTSA re-open that investigation. The tsb's are not fixing these issues and it is only a matter if time before someone is seriously injured. Please contact me with any questions.
My 2011 F150 is equipped with the ecoboost engine and has had problems since new. During long drives when it is wet out the truck loses power, stumbles and the check engine light comes on. On one occasion I was making a pass and the problem occurred, creating a very dangerous situation due to extreme loss of power. After a minute or so it seems to re-set but the check engine light stays on and fuel economy is poor. I have had my truck back to Ford at least 4 times for this issue and every time I get a different story. I think this issue effects a lot more F150's than reported since the vehicle needs to be driven a long time in wet conditions and then the problem will occur under hard acceleration. Fords has told me many solutions to the problem from a bad coil, catalytic converter, intercooler, air cooler ect. Ect. I get a different story every time I take it back. My big problem is my truck now has 47000 miles on it and out of warranty.
This is a Ford ecoboost truck that is turbocharged. During a heavy rain on interstate 95 I tried to accelerate from about 5 mph and the truck lost power and barely moved. After about 30 seconds the truck regained power and moved ahead. There were 2 other instances on this trip also during rain.. the second time the check engine light came on and stayed on. Upon returning home I searched the internet and found out I am not alone in this. There have been 3 tsb's to effect a repair. I made an appointment with the dealer. The engine code was a misfire on cylinder #6. tsb 13-08-01 was applied and I was billed $255.66. This problem needs a recall and repairs made before someone is badly hurt. I was nearly rear ended on the interstate. The problem is high humidity condenses in the intercooler (cac) or charge air cooler as Ford calls it. Then a sudden acceleration causes the condensed water to enter the engine grounding out the spark plugs on the left side of the engine causing a loss of power and stall. This has also been known to damage the left catalytic converter. Why must I pay to fix a design flaw? Ford needs to recall all of these trucks and repair them. This is not a mileage based problem but is inherent in all of them. During the right conditions it will happen.
Vehicle stalls out like it is starving for fuel when you need to accelerate. It has stalled out when passing other vehicles and when entering heavy traffic on interstates. As of July 31, 2014, the truck has been back to the dealership at least 4 times for this problem. However, I continue to have the problem.
While attempting to accelerate and pass slower traffic on the highway, my 2011 F150 (4X4, ecoboost) truck lost almost all engine power, the check engine light started to blink, and the entire truck shook violently. Due to the truck's sudden deceleration without brake lights signaling it, oncoming traffic (including a large tractor/trailer) approached from behind rapidly and everyone had to brake abruptly to avoid a collision. I turned on my hazard lights, pulled the truck to the right shoulder and sat there for a few minutes while I called work to inform them that I would likely have to wait for a tow truck and be delayed. During that call, the engine light stopped blinking and the truck began running normally again. I reentered the highway when traffic was clear and the truck proceeded to run normally until I reached my workplace (roughly 2-3 more miles on the highway and about 5 miles through the city). A less severe instance of this occurred months before. In that case, there was a short power lag upon attempted acceleration, the check engine light blinked 2-3 times and then stopped blinking and the truck did not shake at all. The whole episode disappeared as quickly as it appeared after letting off the accelerator for a second or two. I believed it was a one-off thing. After today's much more severe episode, it is clearly not a one-off and obviously has the potential to cause an unsafe situation. Conditions (in central pa) at the time of today's occurrence (7:45am): Temp: 69F, humidity: 96%, overcast (not raining), wind: 0mph, truck speed: About 65mph, A/C: on auto set to 72F, load: Driver w/ personal belongings (no extra load).
Vehicle has approximately 130,000 miles. I have had the timing chain replaced, the plugs have been changed 3 times, the ignition coils have all been changed. The is an intermittent misfire which is unexplained. Ford does not have an answer for the ghosts in this machine. Upon searching the timing chain issue in the F-150 ecoboost, I have found that I am not alone, however was unlucky that mine was out of warranty. I do mostly highway driving with this vehicle. Most cases online are under 90,000 miles. It is absurd for a vehicle to experience these kind of issues with the highway driving. This is also the same engine that is being supplied to our law enforcement agencies in Ford interceptor and Explorer models. I am sure this issue would become escalated the moment an officer cannot pursue a vehicle because of misfires and bad timing.
Driving down the highway at 75 mph for an extended period of time in high humidity. Pushed the pedal down to pass a couple trucks going up a mountain and the engine began misfiring and stuttering. There was loss of power and vehicle went into limp mode with flashing check engine light. Failed to passed the trucks causing a dangerous condition by producing unexpected results. This problem is detailed in Ford's tsb 13-8-1. I believe that this is a dangerous condition and a recall should be issued for this condition.
I own a 2011 F150 4X4 supercrew ecoboost, this is the second time I've had this problem. I was pulling a trailer weight approx 2500lbs on the highway going up hill for an extended period of time. My truck loss all power and I barley made it to the top of the hill. I pulled over checked out the truck and the problem disappeared. The 1st time this happened I took it to the dealer and they did the tsb, replaced all spark plugs and replace one ignition coil. Cost around $800 but the problem still happens, I'm afraid to put any load on the engine. This is a problem with condensation in the inter cooler that causes a miss fire but Ford will not address the problem. I'm hoping for a recall soon before someone is seriously hurt or killed by this malfunction.
2011 F150, 3.5L ecoboost motor, vehicle shudders and loses power during acceleration. Dangerous to try and pass vehicles or even change lanes to pull over as there is power loss from engine. Taken to dealer and they performed Ford tsb 13-08-01. This did not fix the problem. The engine misfire continued, after returning to dealer the vehicle showed code related to same tsb after it had been applied. Dealer cleared code. I have since replaced spark plugs and so far has not recurred. I have seen quite a few reports of this same issues on many Ford F150 forums. I would say Ford really needs to look into this problem.
As I was merging onto the highway, I had to accelerate to avoid a semi who was approaching in the right lane. I hard accelerated, but the truck started shaking and the check engine light began flashing. I had lost all acceleration and was forced to put my flashers on and merge to the break-down lane to avoid being run completely off the highway. The truck shook violently while in 6th gear and I had to manually shift to 5th gear to stop the truck from vibrating apart. Less than 10 minutes later (while driving down the highway in 5th gear) the check engine light turned off and the truck was able to be shifted back into 6th without any vibration. This lack of acceleration is extremely dangerous and has happened more times than I can count. Above was only an explanation of the last occurrence. The truck has been serviced (under warranty) where issue was discussed with Ford, but they were unable to "reproduce" the problem...
As I was merging onto highway 694 North, I had to accelerate because of a semi approaching me from behind, I gave the truck full throttle but the truck started shaking and the engine felt like it quit or just had no power left. The truck struggled to reach 55mph, and within seconds I almost got rear-ended and almost ran off the highway, do to the fact that my truck had no power. After I merged onto the highway the truck shook violently for about 3 miles while my check engine light was flashing. During this time it felt as though my truck had lost 50% of its power.
I went to pass another vehicle and the engine bogged with all loss of power. It was the second time this happened. The check engine light came on and engine shuddered and would not regain power until I stopped the truck and shut it off then re-started it. The first time this happened the check engine light went off and when I took it in to the dealer they could not find any issues when the diagnostics were run. The second time it happened, the check engine light came on and stayed on. Truck is currently at the dealer and I am waiting to hear their findings.
I experienced lack of acceleration, sputtering, shaking from the vehicle while trying to pass on a 2 lane rural highway. This is second event of this nature and the first since having Ford make certain repairs to engine to correct this issue. I have the V-6 eco boost engine. I am unhappy that this engine encounters this problem and it could result in a wreck with loss of life. This should be taken seriously!
I experienced lack of acceleration, sputtering, and shaking when trying to accelerate onto the interstate from a merge ramp. This event nearly caused a serious accident. My expectation was for vehicle to perform at normal standards and get me safely onto the highway. It failed to do so!
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Jonesboro, AR, USA