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.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 30 mph, the vehicle hesitated and steam appeared on the front windshield. The contact parked the vehicle and discovered fluid leaking from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that there was a vapor leak. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure recurred on several occasions while driving at various speeds. The engine coolant had to be replaced each time. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the radiator wide pipe was too narrow and needed to be upgraded to a wider pipe. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall that was issued for other Ford vehicles. The VIN was invalid. The approximate failure mileage was 74,000.
Ecoboost, almost 5 serious accidents in a year. In Jan, my wife, 3 children & I were on I-85 in heavy traffic when my truck stalled. We went from 65 mph to 20 & no power. An 18 wheeler was barreling down on us & had to make an aggressive move with his brakes locked to miss us & the other cars. I pulled the car through 4 lanes of 65 mph traffic, doing 15-20 mph & turned the truck off to get it running again. Next, I was stopped at a light. When the light turned green my truck stalled out 3 times before the truck would finally go. Over the next month my truck stalled at least 10 more times. In April, Ford told me that the ecoboost had a problem & they performed tsb 13-8-1, reprogramed PCM & installed deflector. I haven't notice any power loss, but lost 2 mpg from my normal driving habits. In June, I merged into heavy traffic & my truck stalled. 65 mph to idle on a major highway. I don't know how I avoided an accident. I pulled off the highway & turned the truck off to get it going. My truck stalled 5 more times before taking it back to Ford. In August, my truck stalled at an intersection 4 times. I completely blocked traffic for about 10 mins. I got on the hwy & went 8 miles. My truck stalled 14 times' very dangerous. Every time I got the truck up to speed, it would stall & I would have to pull it over & turn the truck off and restart it. In Aug I took my truck to Ford & they replaced the throttle body. 2 months later it was stalling again. Ford told me that it was misfiring & that they needed to change the plug boots, spark plugs & the fuel filter. I was told that it was the next step they were required to do. So now I'm paying Ford to test different things & hope that something works. Yesterday I pulled out onto a busy street & my truck stalled. I was almost T-boned. I am driving a time bomb. Every time I drive this truck I am risking my life & everyone around me.
When driving in humid or when moisture is present such as rain or mist the engine shudder, shakes, misses and even shuts down when quickly accelerating. I have had the engine completely loose power when merging onto freeway in heavy traffic. I took it to the dealer once when it was under warranty. They said the catalytic converter needed replaced. Of course I didn't drive in humid or raining environment conditions again until the warranty ran out. I have experienced the engine shut down at least 4 times since I bought the vehicle new. Almost crashed twice when passing or merging when engine shut down. The date entered below was the last time the problem occurred. First time was March 2013 when vehicle had about 16,000 miles.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving 65 mph, the vehicle lost power and the engine warning light illuminated. The contact coasted over to the side of the road and powered off the engine. The vehicle was restarted. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but was not diagnosed or repaired. In addition, each time the vehicle was restarted, the vehicle would function normally. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 43,415.
- Humble, TX, USA
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Recurring problem with the Ford eco boost engine in my 2012 F150. When accelerating the engine loses power and begins to vibrate. Unable to gain speed. I almost got rear ended because my truck would not accelerate and blend with traffic while merging off of an exit on the interstate. This has happened numerous times. The last time the engine warning light came on and remained on. When evaluated at the dealership I was told that several cylinders misfired and damaged the turbo. The repairs were close to $1000, two weeks later the exact same thing happened. Repairs are pending now. I researched the eco boost engine on the internet after experiencing the problems. There were numerous people complaining about the same problem. 'someone is going to get killed because of this problem. I was lucky.
I was cruising down the highway when all of sudden the truck would not accelerate and it felt like the engine had shut off. The RPM was fine, however on the speedometer it kept going up and down (my mph was all over the place), and it felt like some one was pumping the brakes (lightly). I tried accelerating but all it did was make a screeching sound. I had to pull over to prevent cars from rear ending me and placed in park. I noticed that the engine was still on at this point and pulled back out on the highway with no further problems. A few days later, I took it to a dealership which they ran a diagnostics and found no issues. On my way home from the dealership, I experienced the same thing as I was exiting I35.
After traveling about 35 minutes, I parked my truck for about an hour. After returning to my vehicle and pulling away, my truck would barely accelerate. I gave it more gas and a large wrench warning light appeared on my dash and soon disappeared. Once it was gone, my speedometer didn't function, the mileage was gone and the air bag disconnect warning light was illuminated. I decided to drive it to my dealership 10 miles away so they could attempt to register a code on their computer as I've had issues with this truck bucking/surging while traveling at highways speeds for 8 months. This is the first time a warning light had illuminated for a problem. In addition to the above issues, I noticed that the signals were not turn off automatically and had to be deactivated manually during turns. After the technician took technical information my vehicle was turned off and on and everything returned to normal. As I mentioned there have been multiple issues with my vehicle and they are getting worse and worse. I see no recalls from Ford on this ecoboost engine.
The other day my truck would not start when leaving work at night. I had to get it towed into the Ford dealership. The engine would crank over but not start. Ford let me know it was a fuse and some components that had melted, that it would need a special part to be ordered in since Ford has stated that when this happens it must be located to a different area of the vehicle for safety reasons (fire hazard). I am shocked that there is not a recall about this nor is it covered under my warranty (I have an extended bumper to bumper warranty).
I purchased a new 2012 Ford F150 platinum 4X4 ecoboost truck in June 2012. Around 2014, I experienced a complete loss of power and major shaking or shuddering when I went to pass a vehicle in the highway. I thought it was a misfire issue and called the Ford dealer I purchased it from. They asked at the time if it was consistent and I said it was not. They advised that I should just keep an eye on this and that I had an extended warranty. I was told to bring it in if it continued. I have also done a good number of all maintenance related check ups and services with the Ford dealership I bought the vehicle from. It happened a few more times over a 1 year period. I changed the spark plugs as I thought it was a misfire but it continues to happen. The last episode nearly resulted in a collision. I took my vehicle to a Ford dealership near my home and they tested it. Computer reading says it is a P04300 - bad inner cooler. Fix is $1700 per dealer (new inner cooler, new catalytic converter, new boots, new plugs and adding a shield) but that since I am now at 88K, emission warranty ended at 80K and I have no financial support from Ford. I advised I was never told about an emissions warranty and that this is not my driving or mileage issue and that Ford acknowledges this is a design flaw in the charge air cooler and had a redesign. This is a major safety issue and if Ford recognizes this as their design flaw and is now happening to my Ford vehicle, I need them to help accept this as a warrantable item and accept the repair from the dealership. Please assist. Kindest regards.
I went to pass another vehicle and when I went to accelerate the truck started to miss and wouldn't accelerate. It started to lose speed and caused a back up of cars behind me. After a few minutes it cleared up and didn't do it again. I believe the build up of water in the intercooler to be the problem with this vehicle. It's a poor design by Ford and they won't do anything about it.
Vehicle is a Ford F150 2012 ecoboost V6 3.5L. Vehicle was driven in rain with cruise control on for a time period of around 3 hours without spooling the turbo chargers. Upon trying to pass another vehicle the gas pedal was pressed to accelerate. Vehicle began to shake violently, and began to lose power. This action nearly caused a head on collision. Vehicle was able to drive at current speed but would shake violently when gas was pressed to pick up speed. This happened twice in the same trip causing the check engine light to illuminate. This issue was consistent with the issue of condensation/water in the charge air cooler causing the cylinders to misfire and vehicle going into limp mode. There was no issue when atmospheric conditions were optimal. Again, this issue nearly caused a head on collision as I tried to pass another vehicle in an area which allowed passing in my lane. Ford re-flashed the the ECU and added a deflector shield to the top of the charge air cooler and it did not fix the problem.
Vehicle is a Ford F150 2012 ecoboost V6 3.5L. Vehicle was driven in high humidity and fog with cruise control on for a time period of around 4 hours without spooling the turbo chargers. Upon trying to pass another vehicle the gas pedal was pressed to accelerate. Vehicle began to shake violently, and began to lose power. Vehicle was able to drive at current speed but would shake violently when gas was pressed to pick up speed. The check engine light did illuminate. This issue was consistent with the issue of condensation/water in the charge air cooler causing the cylinders to misfire and vehicle going into limp mode. There was no issue when atmospheric conditions were optimal. This happened after the Ford dealership made the recommended Ford bulletin repairs. This issue has the potential of causing a fatality.
2012 ecoboast engine unexpectedly shuts down when I begin to accellerate M I begin to accellerate into my lane or across oncoming traffic --- or no traffic.. my speed rapidly decreases during this 2 to 5 second "delay" and has resulted in many near misses when in heavy traffic. Especially dangerous is when stuck in heavy stop & go traffic, when I must quickly adjust between the gas and brake to prevent a crash. In this heavy traffic scenerio, the engine will begin to " backfire" and brings me to a stop in this traffic --- and then suddenly "catches on" and brings me to a panic braking option. I've taken this issue to my Ford dealers over the past 7 months, and they have no solution --- although all are aware of similar complaints such as mine --- they even have a name for it --- "limb mode and or turbo lag." NHTSA has many similar scenerios in its curretn "complaint" log but no info regarding the status of the complaints. This condition is extremely dangerous and could result in injuries or deaths.
July 6 lost power to truck engine at 60 mph when going to pass in hard acceleration situation. Truck engine shuttered for over 3 mins until I could get it stabilized around 2000 rpms in a lower gear/speed. This was the first of two similar situation on the same day with the truck and throughout the remainder of the day any acceleration over 3500 rpms caused a loss of power. We limped the vehicle home that day. Next day check engine light came on and off until we could get truck into our local Ford dealer for service on 7-13. This issue has been researched via info on this site to no conclusion. I can say if you drove this vehicle and simulated this issue you would see the major issue this causes and potential risk of accident at highway speeds with acceleration. Specifically heavy traffic situations. The issue caused spark plug damage, catalytic converter damage and the dealer performed the tsb (4th issued by Ford) to attempt to fix the issue. This is a known issue, causes safety issues and should be recalled to permanently fix not try to patch with four different tsb. Fix this correctly before accidents occur that cause deaths. Updated 9/25/15 updated 3/23/2016 updated 11/27/2017
Engine failed to accelerate when attempting to merge into traffic on interstate, almost causing an accident. Engine started shaking and check engine light came on. It had been raining and was very wet. After pulling off turned of engine for approx 15 minutes. Started driving again and did not experience any other problems.
24,991mi: Misfire when accelerating while driving. No check engine light. Dealer reported no problem found, no codes & made no repairs. 29,440mi: Misfire when accelerating & going up & down hills specifically when in 4,5, 6 gear during both flat & inclined highway driving. This was while pulling an 8000lb trailer. No check engine light. Dealer found misfire in #1 & 4 and replaced coils & plugs in #1 & #4 only. Test drive still showed misfire, then replaced turbo boost pressure sensor. I was told that moisture had damaged the plugs & sensor. 35,214mi: Misfire when taking off from a stop, during normal acceleration and going up hills.no check engine light. Dealer replaced the drivers side exhaust manifold because it was warped. 37,164mi: Misfire when taking off from a stop, during normal acceleration & going up hills. I saw this in acceleration conditions from 10-60mph without towing a trailer. No check engine light. Dealer reported no problem found, no codes & made no repairs. 38,577mi: Repeated severe misfires while going up moderate inclines. Check engine light came on (first time this ever happened) & I had a reduction in power, could not get out of 3rd gear & my speed dropped from 65mph to 50mph. After repair had moderate misfires during major inclines while towing a trailer but no check engine light. 39,000mi: While towing a trailer, experienced series of moderate to severe misfires in waves be ok for an hour & then go into a series of misfires for 3-10 minutes. Some were on hills, some were on flat highway driving. I had 5 occurrences where the check engine light came on during this drive. 3 of these were during a hill climb where I had a power reduction & lost speed. Vehicle stayed in 3rd gear. When I would get a series of severe misfires, misfires were so severe (without the check engine light on), that I could hear & feel the turbo kick off & on..
I purchased this vehicle for my son in December 2012. We took a trip to Alabama on the Saturday following the purchase. The truck had problems stalling, misfiriing, and not braking immediately. We have taken the truck to the Ford dealership for repairs approximately 15 to 20 times. It is in the shop again today for the misfiring/stalling. The service writer told my son that his vehicle has only been the shop twice for the same problem. We still have all the service paperwork to dispel that remark, this vehicle has approximately 24,000 miles on it. The factory warranty expires in December and has still not been fixed. It does not just stall in rainy or very humid conditions as stated by Ford in their response to the NHTSA investigation. They have replaced spark plugs twice, updated software, put a heat shield in front of the inter-cooler. None of these things have worked. The shield in front of the inter-cooler defeats the purpose of the inter-cooler by not allowing it to cool as intended. It raises the temperature in the intercooler in an attempt to produce less condensation. My son believes the inter-cooler has a design flaw. He thinks that the air return from the inter-cooler to the engine being on the bottom allows more condensation to be sucked back into the engine. If it were on the top, more of the condensation would stay in the bottom and not returned back to the engine. There is an after market fix for this problem but it is expensive and I believe Ford Motor Company does not want to spend the kind of money that it will take to fix this problem correctly. This vehicle should be able to operate efficiently under any conditions. If it does not, it is flawed. I will probably have to purchase the replacement inter-cooler out of my own pocket. I've included all this information in the event that it helps others with the same problem.
When attempting to accelerate from a complete stop the truck will only move forward when the pedal is fully depressed. When this is happening the truck barely moves then it will catch and lunge forward at break-neck speed. This same thing happens at approximately 30 mph, will be accelerating normally when all the sudden the RPM and speed gauges completely drop the engine losses all power and if the pedal is continued to be pressed the truck will lunge forward, again at break-neck speed. In a 10 mile trip it can happen 3 or 4 times. Today we had a new experience where when decelerating to come to a complete stop the motor began revving to redline all while only the brake was depressed. On green light the acceleration again was limited to full petal and a limp till burst mode. These events all scare the family to the point of not riding in the vehicle.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Tiller, OR, USA