— Ford F-150 oil consumption issues have caused a class action lawsuit which includes trucks equipped with 5-liter engines.
The 2018-2020 F-150 trucks allegedly have multiple defects that cause excessive oil consumption.
Owners say Ford F-150 oil consumption issues cause the engines to stall and fail at any time and while driving at any speed, something the automaker allegedly concealed from consumers.
F-150 owners also allegedly are stuck with trucks that have lost their resale values because of the alleged excessive oil consumption problems.
According to the class action, Ford refuses to adequately repair the F-150 trucks and denies there are defects when owners describe symptoms of oil consumption. The automaker allegedly ignores the problems until the engines need expensive repairs, and owners claim Ford refuses to pay for the repairs.
Known as the "Coyote," the 5.0L engine has an oil capacity of of 8.8 quarts, including the oil within the oil filter. Each F-150 truck also has what it calls an Intelligent Oil-Life Monitor that determines when the oil should be changed based on how the truck is used.
The lawsuit alleges the oil change indicator may illuminate as early as 3,000 miles since a prior oil change but under no circumstances does Ford recommend oil change intervals exceed 10,000 miles, or one year between intervals.
According to the oil consumption lawsuit, the F-150 engines have defects that allow oil into the combustion chambers where it is burned off during the combustion cycle, reducing the amount of oil in the engines.
This allegedly also causes a decrease in fuel efficiency while carbon deposits form inside the engines, allegedly damaging the ignitions and emissions components.
Defects are also allegedly found in the piston and piston ring assemblies which lead to insufficient piston ring tension, causing engine oil to enter the combustion chambers.
The plaintiffs who sued allege the engine oil is not separated from the combustion cycle as intended and instead is burned and consumed during the combustion cycle. Additionally, the crankcase allegedly becomes pressurized since gases from the combustion cycle enter the crankcases.
In addition to those alleged problems, owners claim the Ford F-150 oil consumption issues are caused by inadequate positive crankshaft ventilation (PCV) systems which fail to reduce pressure within the crankcases caused by combustion gases escaping from the combustion chamber, past the piston and oil rings and into the crankcases.
Ford F-150 Oil Consumption Technical Service Bulletins
The Ford F-150 class action lawsuit references numerous technical service bulletins (TSBs) Ford sent to dealerships regarding oil consumption issues and complaints.
In March 2019, Ford issued TSB 19-2058 about excessive oil consumption in the 2018 Ford F-150 trucks equipped with 5.0L engines. The bulletin told technicians to replace the PCV valves, then the oil and filters should be changed and owners were informed to check the oil every 200 miles in order to diagnose the excessive oil consumption.
After driving the F-150 for at least 3,000 miles, the customer was told to bring the vehicle back to Ford to check for excessive oil consumption issues. If the amount of oil consumed exceeded 3,000 miles per quart, the technician was instructed to replace the engine long block assembly, a job that took 12 hours.
In May 2019, Ford issued TSB 19-2133, and in November 2019 Ford issued a third bulletin regarding excessive oil consumption in 2018-2019 Ford F-150 trucks equipped with 5.0L engines.
But the class action says Ford technicians were told to stop replacing engines and do nothing but add oil to the engine “as necessary” to bring the oil level to the MAX fill line on the oil level indicator.
In December 2019, Ford issued TSB 19-2365 which allegedly attributed the excessive oil consumption to the possibility of high intake manifold vacuum during deceleration fuel shut-off resulting in oil being pulled into the combustion chamber.
Ford dealers were told to reprogram the powertrain control modules, install new engine oil level dipsticks and change the oil and oil filter.
However, the F-150 oil consumption lawsuit alleges the revised dipstick uses a wider 1.9-liter (2-quart) normal operating range which simply lowered the minimum fill level on the dipstick to allegedly mask the oil consumption issues in the Ford F-150 trucks.
"This change means that a dipstick reading that was once at or below the minimum fill line, previously requiring an engine replacement, and perhaps caused customers to become alarmed or concerned with excessive oil consumption, is now considered normal and within Ford’s acceptable parameters. This change only sought to save Ford the cost of repairs and did nothing to correct the Oil Consumption Defect." - Ford F-150 class action lawsuit
Multiple components can allegedly be harmed because of the oil consumption problems, including the oxygen sensors, catalytic converters and spark plugs.
The Ford F-150 oil consumption lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan: Lyman, et al., v. Ford Motor Company.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Miller Law Firm, P.C., Sauder Schelkopf, Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC, and Baron & Herskowitz.
