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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
3 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
1 / 0
Average Mileage:
46,747 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2012 Ford F-150 engine problems

engine problem

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2012 Ford F-150 Owner Comments (Page 8 of 10)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #42

Jul 062013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 27,800 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I had the tsb (for known surging issue) performed on my truck (2012 super crew 4X4) in may at 25K miles. Everything seemed better, until... this past Saturday, I left the house at 5am for a 7.5 hour/ 350 mile drive from home. It was raining continuously for the first two hours. Sometimes hard rain, but it didn't stop for the first 2 hours. I was driving back country roads with mostly 55 mph limits and rolling hills. Given the weather, type of roads, time of day, etc. I drove gently for the trip, never put my foot in it. Then, when going up a steeper hill that required more throttle than the others to keep my speed up, the truck started hesitating. A lot. More than it ever had before the tsb. And then, just after the hesitation began, something extra occurred that had never happened to it before. The truck started to shudder. This shuddering was akin to driving over road shoulder rumble strips on steroids. As soon as I let off the gas, the shuddering stopped. I gently pushed the pedal, shuddering was back and just as bad. Let off again. It stopped. Pushed the pedal again. It came back. Pushed the throttle once more, and it had stopped. I slowly pushed further on the throttle and it didn't do it any longer. By this time I was down to about 35-40 mph going up the hill. So I pushed down the pedal almost to the floor. The truck kicked down and accelerated with only slight moments of hesitation. Not once did the check engine light come on.. thus, I had a textbook case of exactly what the tsb was supposed to solve, but didn't.

- Elizabethtown, KY, USA

problem #41

Jul 022013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 6,100 miles
I was traveling South in the outside lane on I 95 (Florida) during heavy rain, approaching a slower moving vehicle in front of me. I changed lanes and accelerated to approximately 70 mph, when the engine suddenly lost power, began to misfire and rapidly decelerated. The vehicle had been traveling in rainy conditions at highway speed for approximately 1 hour. Since I had committed to make the overtaking maneuver and for the few seconds I was unable to accelerate and/or pull back into my original lane as I was traveling adjacent to the vehicle I was overtaking, I realized that there was another vehicle fast approaching me in the inside (fast/over taking) lane. Luckily the driver was observant enough to release of the impending collision a head if he did not take evasive action and slow down. After a few seconds I was able to pull back into outside/slow lane. This loss of power and misfire continued for another 45 minutes, up until I exited the highway and drove to my local dealership.

- Port St. Lucie , FL, USA

problem #40

Jul 062013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 33,100 miles
While traveling to Florida from Tennessee we had stopped at a gas station. While pulling out into traffic and accelerating, the truck started shaking violently due to misfire indicated by flashing check engine light. The miss was so bad that I immediately had to pull over. I shut the engine off to clear the on board computer. The truck ran fine afterward, but the check engine light stayed on. This was a bit scary as we could have been hit due to the rapid loss of power while merging into traffic. Weather conditions were very rainy. We had driven thru rain for ~7 hours off and on. I believe this to be a known problem that Ford has yet to fix with condensation in the turbo's intake on the V6 ecoboost engines. I am headed to the dealer when I get back in town.

- Hixson, TN, USA

problem #39

Sep 022012

F-150 6-cyl

  • 19,257 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Driving turnpike at 1:30am with wet roads but not raining. Cruise control was engaged at 75 mph. Approaching a bridge and upon starting to climb on the incline I heard a noise that sounded like the transmission had disengaged then the engine light started pulsating on and off so I tried to accelerate and the truck did not react but since I was going 75 it took me over the bridge and then I coasted down the bridge with the cruise control disengaged. I pulled over to the side and placed truck in park the engine was still on. I turned off the truck and waited about 1 minute then I turned the key back on and the truck started up with no engine light or any sign of problems. I drove all the way to miami with no further incidents. I took the truck to Ford of homestead and they said they could not pull a code out of the computer that showed anything had happened. I later took the truck again this time making noises when U accelerated it sounded like the transmission was shuddering and again nothing they could do to replicate it. Again on or around March 2013 I took the truck to another Ford dealer and tried to replicate the shuddering between 3 or 4 th gear to no avail. The truck this past weekend on the same bridge again with wet roads made the shuddering sound and feeling but the engine light did not come on and the truck upon getting to the top of the bridge continued without having to be turned off and on. At first I thought this might be a transmission issue but whenever I guess the truck accelerates to gain speed to go over the bridge or after leaving a stop or red light between 3 or 4 th gears it shudders and when the bridge comes around it goes to a lower gear and starts losing power. When it happens between 3 or 4th gears it is with me accelerating. They told me that the truck has a memory if you drive it hard or softly it remembers this and shifts differently.

- Miami, FL, USA

problem #38

Jun 292013

F-150

  • 15,000 miles
While accelerating to pass, truck started vibrating, had loss of power and increased RPM on tach truck practically stopped in its tracks first time it's happened. Will be contacting dealer. Definitely could be hazard-as in heavy traffic so I hope Ford takes notice before people die.

- Warsaw, NY, USA

problem #37

Jun 172013

F-150

  • 16,000 miles
When driving during rush hour traffic in atlanta, Georgia, I moved to the passing lane to pass a slower vehicle. When I pressed the accelerator on my 2012 Ford F-150 (with ecotech motor), my truck did not accelerate and it felt as if my truck had lost all power. This lost acceleration required the vehicle behind me to take evasive action and almost resulted in an accident involving numerous vehicles.

- Madison, AL, USA

problem #36

Mar 152013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 30,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Traveling on the interstate, little to no uphill or downhill grade, speed approximately 55, attempted to pass a tractor-trailer. Pressed hard on the accelerator pedal, and started the pass. Halfway thru the pass, passing speed 65-70 mph, my truck lost all power and started shaking violently. I backed off the accelerator, and pulled back in behind the tractor-trailer, then off to the right shoulder. I shut the engine off, opened the hood, expecting to see something bad. No visible signs of anything wrong. Started the engine, drove the rest of the way home, with no other mis-haps. However, the same thing has happened twice more, the most recent being just a few days ago, 6-10-13. Each time this has happened, it has been during an attempt to pass a slower vehicle, during a hard acceleration. I'm typically a very conservative driver, and bought this truck with this engine for both fuel economy and power to pull a trailer. On the first and third occurrence, I was on the interstate, with traffic going the same direction. The second time it happened, I was on a slight upgrade on a 2-lane road, and attempted to pass a much slower vehicle. There was traffic coming from the other direction, but there was ample time and distance to make a safe pass, as the truck in front of me was very slow. Again, halfway thru the passing attempt, I lost power, and had to back behind the truck in front of me. Fortunately, there was sufficient room for the oncoming traffic to move over to avoid the collision. I have talked to my dealer about this, and they were going to research the issue before servicing it. However, I recently saw a report on this issue on the local news station, and realized that my problem is not unique.

- New Market, MD, USA

problem #35

Jan 112012

F-150 6-cyl

  • 825 miles
After purchasing this 2012 F150 w/ecoboost V-6, I wanted to see how good of gas mileage I could get out of it. I also wanted to break the vehicle in before any hard accelerations. When starting from a complete stop, I would gradually make it up to highway speeds. I treated the vehicle gingerly until I wanted to test the capabilities of this ecoboost engine I had heard so much about. It was a cold January evening and there was no unusual weather (no rain or snow). I had been cruising at constant highway speeds for approximately an hour. The road had narrowed from a 4 lane highway to a 2 lane. I was stuck behind a vehicle traveling just above 50 mph. I reached a passing zone and decided to test the performance of the engine/truck. I depressed the accelerator to the floor and the engine spit and sputtered. I decided to ease off immediately for our safety. No lights on the dash illuminated as result of this engine problem. After this incident, I have noticed that at cruising speeds, there seems to be an engine miss around 60 mph while going up a slight grade. I have also noticed that when starting the vehicle, it (engine) does not start as quickly. The key has to be held longer. These problems are a direct result of the damage caused to the engine after the very first hard acceleration.

- Athens, OH, USA

problem #34

Mar 202013

F-150

  • 18,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle failed to respond to acceleration attempts. The engine rpms rapidly increased during the malfunction. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer however, they were unable to locate the problem. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 18,000.

- Aransas Pass, TX, USA

problem #33

Jun 072013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 13,000 miles
Driving in the rain. Tried to merge on highway. Truck started missing and bucking. I had the truck floored and it was loosing speed. I had to pull over. Check engine light came on. Almost got into an accident due to loss of power.

- Mertztown, PA, USA

problem #32

Jun 092013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 13,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was driving home from a golf tournament in the rain. I pulled over on the side of the road to put drops in my eyes. When I started back I pulled out and when I got up to about 20 mph the vehicle stopped accelerating and started shaking very badly. I let off the gas and pushed back down again same thing happened. It felt like the engine was locking up, after about 20-30 seconds (now with cars on my bumper) it smoothed out. No other issues on the rest of the trip. Total trip was about an hour.

- Brighton, TN, USA

problem #31

Aug 062012

F-150 6-cyl

  • 4,516 miles
I purchased a new F150 ecoboost on 6/13/2012. At 4516 mls I was attempting to merge onto a highway while towing a large trailer in heavy rain. The truck accelerated to approx 50mph then lost pwr suddenly and slowed to 30mph while traffic was approaching from the rear at highway speeds. The engine light started to flash and then stayed on. I was able to safely pull to the side while the truck slowly started to pick up speed again. Later the same day while trying to merge into more highway traffic it did the same thing. The dealer replaced several parts and I have not had that problem again. However, I have not towed in the same conditions since then. Also, the engine light has turned on three different time due to what the dealer says is a bad turbo intake sensor which they replaced each time. The truck has 18500mls on it and the dealer has been unable to explain why this sensor has failed approx every 4000 mls. All service records are available.

- West Hartland, CT, USA

problem #30

Jun 082013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 2,930 miles
At a speed of approximately 65 mph while on a 2 lane highway, I accelerated to pass a semi truck. As I was along side the truck, my vehicle decelerated and begin to shudder(felt as if front tires went flat). I was able to pull back behind the truck and off the road. The vehicle recovered and I continued my trip. It was raining at the time of the incident. This was a very dangerous event, fortunately I was able to pull back in behind the truck to avoid oncoming traffic.

- Sioux Falls, SD, USA

problem #29

Dec 172012

F-150 6-cyl

  • 16,000 miles
I drove my 2012 Ford F150 platinum, 4X4, supercrew, multiple times between Texas and Washington state on interstate 10 and interstate 5, going through Oregon between the months of October 2012 and January 2013, traveling through snowy areas and then hot areas such as Arizona. When I accelerated hard to merge with traffic or to pass traffic, my truck lost acceleration power. I was able to see white smoke coming from the exhaust. I took my truck to automax Ford in killeen, Texas. The dealership was aware of the issue from a technical bulletin and repaired the faulty part(s).

- Killeen, TX, USA

problem #28

Jun 012013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 7,200 miles
The truck started to shudder and there was a loss of acceleration and power.

- Sparta, NJ, USA

problem #27

May 312013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 13,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 mph, he depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle would not respond. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 13,000.

- West Bend, WI, USA

problem #26

Jul 292012

F-150 6-cyl

  • 2,500 miles
We experienced bucking, shuttering, lack of acceleration when exiting one major highway and entering another. Also check engine light came on. We called the dealer and they said we could still drive truck after we told them what happened. (we were about 200 miles from home)this happened twice. After the first time we took the truck back to the dealer and they installed a cl3Z*19E672 deflector and *W711281*S300 pin. The dealer said the reason for the problem was the computer "learns" the driving habits of the everyday driver (wife). When the husband drove the truck the incidents occurred. Dealer said they re-programmed the computer, installed parts. Several months later when husband was driving the truck it happened again. We took the truck back to the dealer but they said nothing was wrong.

- New Hope, PA, USA

problem #25

Feb 082013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 12,000 miles
While driving my 2012 F-150 ecoboost driving on the interstate- sped up to jump in front of somebody, the engine totally bogged down.... wouldn't accelerate at all... luckily didn't get ran over. This has happened 5 times since. I have talked to multiple people that have the ecoboost engine and it has happened to them.

- Flowery Branch, GA, USA

problem #24

May 222013

F-150 6-cyl

  • 5,700 miles
While driving my 2012 F 150 with under 5000 miles on it at highway speeds I went to pass a truck and put the accelerator down to the floor. The truck down shifted and the RPM's went up. When this accrued the truck feel flat on its face. There was no acceleration what's so ever and the truck seemed to miss. I held it to the floor for about 5 seconds with no change. Please feel free to contact me on this issue.

- Lakeville, MN, USA

problem #23

Dec 192012

F-150 6-cyl

  • 13,000 miles
Intermittent stumble/misfire on acceleration from highway speeds, engine feels like it is in limp mode, this has happened four times.

- Bridge City, TX, USA

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