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 completed recall... software problem which causes transmission to shift into first gear which could result in loss of steering control and cause wreck
Making a right turn off of a county road at 10 mph and epsa fault warning came on. Could not physically turn the vehicle. Was able to get the vehicle stopped. No accidents or injuries. There have been recalls on F150S from 2009 through 2018 with similar problems. My specific VIN number has not been found but I have read similar articles with other customers having the same problem. Living in upstate South Carolina. This is the first occurrence. Vehicle with about 140,000 miles
While driving my 2012 F-150 I received a power steering warning light on the dashboard computer and the steering went out almost cause me to swerve into oncoming traffic. This happened without warning while my vehicle was in motion. The steering went out and I had to muscle the wheel to turn the vehicle.
Parasitic battery drain burned and corrsion damage from water leaks into the electrical system. This affected passenger air bag deployment and seat restraint. Vehicle was stationary, battery died, new battery placed in vehicle and dead next day. Ford motor unresponsive and without transportation for one month!
- Blue Ridge, GA, USA
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"service advancetrac" warning light illuminates after sharp turns into parking spaces, etc.. turn signal arm has to be held during turns. Sometimes problem clears itself.
After turning steering to full lock, advancetrac warning light comes on, traction contol light comes on, and turn signals will not operate unless the lever is held down. After several start/stop engine cycles, system re-sets until steering is turned full lock again.
Driving down the road when the truck lurches forward, rear tires make a squealing sound from skidding. It was hard to keep truck in center lane of interstate and immediately had to make my way to the emergency lane. Once I turned the truck off and sat for a few minutes it acted like nothing ever happened. I have read the reports of the intercooler being messed up and several years ago I had to replace that part due to oil and water entering it but Ford says it wasn't under warranty due to a part not being covered. I have had coils replaced, spark plugs replaced, and now I'm having to go thru the whole process again. Its dangerous and frustrating. I've had it happen a couple more times but not to that extent. The gauges will peg all the way to the right then go to zero and airbag light will come on. Truck resets to normal when turned off and back on again. I have had this problem happen most of the summer. But this incident happened a few weeks ago. Repair shop can't replicate it and the computer diagnostic test doesn't find it either.
As we drove 55 mph on straight dry highway our vehicle suddenly downshifted into first gear causing rear tires to lock up. We were fortunate that we didn't have traffic behind us. We immediately pulled off on the side of the road, put into park fo collect ourselves and then proceeded straight to the local dealership service department to drop vehicle off. With research on this defect we found Ford had a recall out for this same issue (recall 16S19 which we never received) we were advised our VIN did not fall under the recall therefore we had to pay for the repairs. We were not given a reason why even though our F150 is a 2012 and was manufactured in dearborn mi July 2012. (we were finally able to get $100 refund from local dealership, however it was after a lot of phone calls. Not sure if it came directly from them or manufacturer and still does not cover out of pocket cost or months of time spent). After we picked up our "repaired"/paid for vehicle a few weeks later we experienced the same defect. We were taking trash to the local dump a mile down the highway going 30 mph and vehicle suddenly downshifted into first gear, mileage meter on dashboard blanked out and wrench appeared on screen. On the way into the service department driving 55 mph on dry pavement vehicle once again downshifted into first gear, mileage meter on dashboard blanked out and wrench appeared on screen. Local service department could not diagnose on their own, we had to wait over 9 days for Ford manufacturer to get back with them on how to fix it and send parts. They replaced main control/valve body in transmission, reprogrammed tcm (transmission control module) and cleared shift tables. Again they did not cover any costs and we had to pay hefty bill out of pocket when this is a manufacturer defect. The vehicle is a 2012 F150 4X4 super crew lariat eco boost with only 41,000 miles on it.
While driving at 60 mph on the highway, the electric power steering locked up during a turn. The system locked for less than a second, and then freed up so that I could finish the turn. Luckily the steering did not lock up before or after the turn, so that I could complete the turn and get off the highway. After getting off the highway, I stayed on county roads to reduce speed to 30mph and see if the reduced speed helped. After 30 more minutes of driving the steering was completely locking up when driving straight or turning, and screeching very loudly. The "service advance trac" message showed up, followed by "electric power steering fault" message. I had the vehicle towed to the nearest mechanic, where they said the whole electric power steering needs to be replaced, costing around $2000. I have not gotten the work done yet and hope that there is a recall with the amount of complaints for this same issue. If the steering were to lock up any sooner than it had, there could have been major injury or death.
My truck lost power steering while turning with trailer on farm road. The steering was very hard, so that, I almost collided with bee hives. At first, the electric power steering screeched, the then I got a service message " service advance trac". finally, I got a message of " power steering fault". I suspect the steering rack assembly (epas).
Yesterday as I was making a turn through a busy intersection, my steering wheel suddenly locked up and the alert "service advancetrac" popped up on my dash. I was unable to complete the turn, and a car going nearly 55 mph swerved around me and missed T-boning me by a few feet. Initially, I was just concerned. But after going to the mechanic and finding that my steering control module is faulty (this vehicle only has 62,000 miles on it), and this is a well-known issue in other Ford vehicles and in the F150 as well, I became furious that Ford has not issued a recall when I could have been killed yesterday. If Ford does not make this right, I will never purchase another Ford vehicle, will encourage all my friends/family to never purchase a Ford vehicle, and will use my considerable business and personal network to ensure that they all know that Ford knows about a very significant issue and is refusing to issue a recall for an issue that could lead to the death of its customers. I called the minions at the 1-800 number and they told me they could not help me and that Ford had not issued a recall for this issue and I was on my own. I'll pay the $1500 + labor now. But I'll be back with my attorney if this issue is not addressed to my satisfaction.
Gears flash on and off, then the accelerator slows down. Goes into nuetral automatically. Randomly shifts between gears causing truck to pick up speed or drastically lose speed without warning. Shifts very hard as well. This has happened while I was driving in our neighborhood as well as on the highway. Seems to happen everytime I drive above 65mph, but occasionally in the neighborhood. The random shifting of gears happened first around 4 years ago, but has been a safety risk for the last 5-6 months due to the increase in it happening.
After jumping another car, battery light appeared while driving home, while turning left with the road, steering "shook" with brief periods of stiffness. The next morning power steering fully disengaged while make curve in the road at 40 mph. Scrubbed battery terminals and after thirty minutes worked again. Later in the day, power steering stopped working after having a low battery warning again. Replaced battery fully and steering worked. This evening, power steering stopped working without any notifications or alerts on dashboard.
There have been multiple instances while driving in which the truck seems to lose power and shifts to a lower gear. The speedometer and odometer do not display when this happens. On some occasions the wrench has shown. One one occasion while accelerating to enter a highway the gear shifted down and the tires squealed and the truck dramatically slowed down. Some occasions when this has happened the shifting between gears is extremely rough. These occasions have happened while in motion, on city streets, on highways, and entering or exiting highways.
We purchased our F-150 on or about 1/2/2018 with no known problems, the next day it didn't want to start and several engine codes showed up. The dealership said they cleared, reset program and we shouldn't have any more issues, but said their is a recall on engine coolant and they ordered part. The next day the codes appeared and we brought it back to the dealership for the same problem and they said it was normal for the truck to learn our driving habits and the codes would disappear. We left and the next day the truck didn't want to start again and we are currently driving it to the dealership for the same issues. 1/9/2018
My F150 started to drop in to 1st gear unexpectedly when driving at at speeds greater than 50mph. At first the check engine light did not come on and mechanic could not find a source now I am getting engine codes P0720 and P0722. When I tried to investigate I found that this has been recalled on some 2012 Ford F150 but not mine. This is a serious safety issue and has cause unexpectedly down shifts on national interstates. I urge you to please investigate this thoroughly.
The "service advancetrac" warning light illuminates. Turn signals will not work unless held on in the appropriate direction. Presents a danger because turn signal lever must be held prior to and during a turn, leaving only one hand to execute turn. Happens frequently and so far has recovered after a period of time. Occurs when vehicle is turned sharply into or out of parking spaces.
3/7/2017 20 minute drive home, shut truck off to run inside house cameout to run errand to pharmacy and upon starting truck after pharmacy service advance trac showed up in instrument cluster, this has also caused my turn signals not to work. This truck has had a faulty tourque convertor, rear window replacement due to break in rear window defroster. Now this, I do not feel safe in this vehicle and will be pursuing the lemon law in my state. When safety issues arise and are reported they should be acted on immediatly! should not wait til numbers of deaths before action is taken. A conscientious automaker with customer safety in mind would put out recalls to keep the public safe.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Hattiesburg, MS, USA