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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
6 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 1
Average Mileage:
49,697 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.

2013 Ford F-150 engine problems

engine problem

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2013 Ford F-150 Owner Comments (Page 1 of 12)

problem #237

Apr 032024

F-150

  • miles

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

Hello, on my 2013 ford f150, why driving the vehicle will at random shift from 5th gear to 1st gear, creating a massive loss of power and forcing me to loose speed rapidly. This puts my self, my family and those around me in danger. I have reached online that there is a current recall for 2014 models that do this, but not 2013 models. This seems outrageous to me. This is just as much of a safety concern. Why discriminate between the two years.

- North Port, FL, USA

problem #236

Jul 072024

F-150

  • miles
I had all the recalls done to my vehicle that pertains to a problem with my vehicle suddenly shifting to first gear at freeway speeds. This was done about two years ago. On July 7th, 2024 my vehicle suddenly shifted to first gear while traveling at a rate of 55 miles per hour. My rear tires suddenly locked up and I lost control of my vehicle. Luckily I avoided an accident. I-??m reporting this information because Ford-??s recall to this problem did not solve the issue and this can cause accidents.

- San Jose, CA, USA

problem #235

Jun 042024

F-150

  • miles
An intermittent failure of the output speed sensor (oss) in the transmission may result in an unintended downshift to first gear.

- West Palm Beach, FL, USA

problem #234

Apr 122023

F-150

  • miles

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

Would be driving at about 55-60 mph on the interstate and the truck would drop into first gear slamming me forward almost causing an accident twice !!!! Not including the whiplash it gives you!

- Virginia Beach , VA, USA

problem #233

Jun 202024

F-150

  • miles
2013 f150 truck wouldn-??t get out of first gear from stop light, wrench light came on, speed odometer stayed at 0 miles. Took to ford dealership to have recall 19S07 done and was told this would not fix it, (needed a fix that was no longer offered bc I-??m past 10 years mark) they did the recall and now the truck jerks when shifting gears and downshifts to first from any speed

- Burleson, TX, USA

problem #232

Jun 192024

F-150

  • miles
I was driving at 70 mph on the highway and my transmission automatically downshifted locking up my rear wheels twice nearly causing me to lose control. I was able to pull off the highway safely and get into a parking lot and turn off and restart my truck. I was able to make it to my destination on city streets, but with similar issues at lower speeds. I took my truck to have its codes checked and the diagnosis was a failed lead frame. I called Ford and they said the extended warranty on this part was expired on my truck by 2 months. The fact that there is a not an automatic recall on this part on 2013 models is kind of scary knowing what I went through on the highway. I have since had the lead frame replaced and the issue is resolved.

- Oklahoma City, OK, USA

problem #231

Jun 152024

F-150

  • miles

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

My vehicle has had two instances on the highway where the vehicle abruptly downshifted from 6th gear down to 1st and the other time down to third. I took it to Ford and they said it was the speed sensor however they said it was not a recall. I see all these recalls on 2013 f150-??s but not mine"? Why?" Im having the same issue.

- Imperial, CA, USA

problem #230

Aug 082022

F-150

  • miles
When traveling on road and want to speed up to get on freeway, change lanes, or simple speed up I lose power shift and it goes from 6 to 4 or 3 in gears and I can't accelerate which has almost caused many accidents. The check engine signal will only blink right when it's happening and loose speed and the AC air flow will get warm until it corrects itself after I either slow down or shut truck off completely. But always happens when you accelerate at any time.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #229

Nov 222023

F-150

  • miles
My truck will downshift on its own, i.e., I-??m doing 65 mph on the highway in 6th gear and it will suddenly downshift to 1st, 2nd or 3rd gear, causing my back tires to spin out, I almost lose control of the truck and I lose speed quickly when other vehicles all around me are still doing 65 mph or more. The truck has also failed to shift out of first gear at all, the speedometer needle does not move at all and the truck will not shift up when I-??m trying to accelerate. This is a danger to me and to all drivers around me. Ford is aware of this problem, the issue is a faulty lead frame assembly and it needs to be replaced. They issued a recall that called for a PCM reprogramming - a reprogramming of the PCM module was supposedly going to fix the issue with a faulty lead frame assembly! Crazy, it clearly did not as I had the PCM reprogrammed and the truck is still acting crazy due to the faulty lead frame assembly that Ford refuses to replace at their expense. It-??s a $200 part!!

- Annapolis, MD, USA

problem #228

Jan 062024

F-150

  • miles
The vehicle randomly shifts to first gear while driving at 30-45 MPH. The behavior is dangerous - in one case it caused me to lose control of my vehicle; in another, I was nearly rear ended. I was then forced to stop driving until I could have the car repaired. I paid to have the lead frame fixed. I-??m told there was an extended warranty issued by Ford for this issue; however, because I drive my vehicle less frequently, I was months removed from the 10-year extended warranty threshold. For an issue as dangerous as this (and from my understanding is one that occurs somewhat frequently), I-??m surprised a recall wasn-??t issued!

- Boise, ID, USA

problem #227

Apr 102024

F-150

  • miles

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

The truck is unexpectedly downshifting to first exactly as the safety recall states.at this This happened while my son was driving the truck the attached picture shows the errors on the dash at the time and also the speedometer read zero when the truck was in motion. Tooele ford claims the safety recall was completed, however nhtsa website states it is an unresolved recall. Tooele ford and ford customer service refused to remedy the situation.

- Erda, UT, USA

problem #226

Mar 212024

F-150

  • miles
truck speedometer goes to 0. Slows down abruptly. Rpm goes way up. Was going from 45 to less than 10mph in a matter of seconds. Feels like the transmission automatically downshifts to a lower gear. Very dangerous. Seems to be quite a few of these incidents on you tube. Truck only has 11600 miles on it.

- Midlothian, VA, USA

problem #225

Feb 152024

F-150

  • miles
I was driving on the highway going 70MPH in 6th gear. Myself, my wife, and my 6th month old son were on our way to a doctors appointment when in the middle lane on the highway my truck decided to completely downshift into 1st gear. With doing so my truck locked up and I lost control of the vehicle almost colliding with a semi. I was very lucky to not have wrecked and got onto the shoulder safely where I had no power to my vehicle. I got it towed to a dealership and after paying out of pocket for a diagnostic they found that my truck had a recall with the oss sensor on the transmission witch caused significant engine and transmission damage resulting in $18,000 to fix. Apparently the warranty expires 10 years or 150k miles which my truck has surpassed both. I wasn-??t warned about any recall or found any recall there was no damage or signs of damage to the truck prior to this incident.

- Lancaster, OH, USA

problem #224

Feb 212024

F-150

  • miles
My 2013 F150 downshifted abruptly from 5th to 1st gear going 55. This caused me to stop dangerously and abruptly. It then got stuck in 1st gear. I turned off truck and restarted and it was stuck in 3rd gear. I did have a check engine light read which were codes: P0720/p0721/p0720 pointing to the output shaft speed sensor. I had Ford dealership TSB performed in 2020 to reprogram PCM to prevent this from happening, wrench icon showed a long with airbag light and dashboard quit working all except RPM gauge. The first time this abrupt downshift occurred was today February 21, 2024. Seems like a very dangerous safety issue and the dealership has no regards to it and said they are booked out and it would be $150 to look into it.

- Avilla, IN, USA

problem #223

Feb 082024

F-150

  • miles
While in motion, the wrench on the dash lights up and the truck downshifts. It matches the description that goes with the recall for the speed sensor and the truck being reprogrammed. The symptoms, the truck info, the assembly plant and date all fit the recall but it's not on the recall list.

- Mount Jackson , VA, USA

problem #222

Jul 282023

F-150

  • miles
Component or system failure or malfunction: Delayed or no gear shifting. Transmission sudden downshift at low and high speeds, and failure to shift into lower or higher gear at takeoff, and/or while in motion. Safety risk: Sudden downshift at high speed caused stability and control issue at highway speed. The problem has been reproduced by owner and discussed with dealer by phone. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others. No warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem appeared prior to the failure. A large wrench display appeared on dash at the moment of failure and reoccurs with each failure. Some dash displays zero out and/or disappear. The speedometer drops to zero and fails thereafter to register. Transmission shifting becomes random and sudden or fails entirely. Manuals shifting is sometimes possible and other times not possible. Manual shifting all the way to gear 3, followed by a mild acceleration occasionally causes the speedometer to resume function. Subsequent switching to automatic shift is then possible and automatic shifting functions initially or for varied lengths of time. ?Failure produces OBD code P0720 related to workings and overall condition of the output speed sensor circuit.

- Virden, IL, USA

problem #221

Mar 012023

F-150

  • miles
We are having downshifting issues and the speed is randomly changing. The truck came to a stop while still driving. The speedometer doesn-??t reflect accurate to the truck speed.

- Roseville , CA, USA

problem #220

Aug 142023

F-150

  • miles
My 2013 Ford F-150 recently began experiencing transmission shifting problems. As I accelerated from a dead stop, the transmission would not shift out of first gear. The only short term remedy was to pull over to the side of the road, turn off the ignition, wait for 60 seconds and restart the engine. This worked sometimes, sometimes not. I understand there had been a 2011 thru 2013 Ford F-150 transmission recall in 2019 for identical circumstances. I submitted my VIN to check on whether it had been recalled, only to find it was not among those listed, even though the faulty shifting circumstances were identical to descriptions in the 2019 recall matter. A visit to the local Ford dealership left me without an answer, as I was told they currently had no transmission mechanic. Out of an abundance of caution, I took the truck to a local transmission repair service with a description of my problem and request for an evaluation. The service request resulted in confirmation of a faulty speed sensor, which yielded a fault code of PO722-00 (Output Shaft Speed Sensor Circuit No Signal). The Lead Frame was replaced as a result. Again, I believe my circumstances were identical to those being reported by other 2011 to 2013 Ford F-150 truck owners, on or before the 2019 recall, yet my VIN did not match the recall order. I'm sending along this description of my circumstance, requesting consideration for inclusion of my VIN as part of the 2019 recall of 2011-2013 Ford F-150 with this faulty Speed Sensor/ Lead Frame issue.

- St. Joseph, MI, USA

problem #219

Aug 072023

F-150

  • miles
As you are driving the vehicle will randomly down shift into first gear, causing the vehicle to potentially slam into first while in mid drive almost as if you hit a wall, this causes the vehicle to lose any information on the dash including speedometer. There are no warning lamps on prior to incident. Took it to a dealer to have it diagnosed and diagnosis was recorded as Transmission speed sensor which was common for recalls recently. Uncertain, how or when it started happening there was an elderly couple who owned the vehicle before me. This incident occurs frequently but not all the time.

- Big Rapids, MI, USA

problem #218

May 292023

F-150

  • miles
What-??s driving and all the stiff on the instrument panel stop working and down shifted in to first gear got a six speed transmission in it was going 55 sometimes it goes faster by it-??s self just started out of nowhere

- Bentley , MI, USA

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