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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
4 / 3
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
36,288 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 24)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #323

Sep 012016

F-150

  • miles

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

The contact owns a 2013 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the engine had sludge, the vehicle had a strong hesitation, and stalled more than twice. The vehicle was taken to a dealer and repair shop more than once for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

- Palmdale, CA, USA

problem #322

Sep 242016

F-150

  • miles
Loss of power under hard acceleration, undiagnosed misfire at all speeds. These problems occur in dry and wet conditions. The truck lost power on the interstate twice and I had to pull over and shut it down then restart to continue (around 20K miles). This occurred while under warranty, dealer said they couldn't do anything because there was no sel activated. As mileage had increased, misfire are worsening even after water is removed from air cooler and spark plugs replaced. My truck was at a dealer for 3 days and they told me they did not know what was wrong. Normally changing the plugs and cleaning out the air cooler fixes the problems for a while until now. I have even replaced a coil because it is throwing a code for #1 cylinder not firing. The new coil made no difference. The vehicle has 133,000 miles and is almost not drivable it has gotten so bad. I have submitted my complaint to Ford customer service as well.

- Dalton, GA, USA

problem #321

Sep 232016

F-150

  • 137,919 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle decelerated to 40 mph and shook violently. The contact had to maneuver the vehicle to the side of the road to a complete stop. The engine was shut off and restarted in order for the vehicle to return to normal. The failure occurred at least 30 times within the past year. The vehicle was taken twice to independent mechanics and one time to the dealer. The failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 137,919.

- Gardendale, AL, USA

problem #320

Sep 132016

F-150

  • miles

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

Truck looses power under hard acceleration. I have had it in two other times with the same issue and it was diagnosed that the spark plugs had cracked. I have it scheduled to go back in later this week again. I'm guessing the plugs cracked again. I've been given no answers as to why this is happening.

- Maple Grove, MN, USA

problem #319

Dec 172015

F-150

  • 82,000 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that there was a burning odor under the hood of the vehicle. The contact looked and found that the cables connected to the battery were burning. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the battery caused excessive battery corrosion and ate through the positive battery cable. The vehicle's motor also failed. The motor, battery, and battery cables needed to be replaced. The manufacturer stated that the power train was covered under warranty; however, the other repairs were not. The approximate failure mileage was 82,000.

- Valdosta, GA, USA

problem #318

Aug 052016

F-150

  • 72,000 miles
My F150 is constantly experiencing the exact dangerous malfunction that safety recall 16S19 describes. Ford is not providing any rental assistance and currently does not know when a solution will be available. My transmission will have issues shifting to the next gear, rev up way farther than necessary to shift and then stall. I have to turn off my truck and turn it back on several times to get rid of the issue just to get me to my destination. This occurs on 50% of my drives around the city. I will not dare take it further than 10 miles in fear that I might be stranded and forced to pay for towing. Ford has also told me I must prove something is wrong with my vehicle to even apply for a rental. My local Ford service is not able to find anything wrong besides the exact issue I'm describing. It's a pandora's box, built to put the consumer in the worst position risking injury or death driving a faulty vehicle or paying the bill for a rental.

- Beaumont, TX, USA

problem #317

Aug 182016

F-150

  • 64,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 50 mph, the contact felt oil dripping underneath the dashboard without warning. The dealer was in the process of diagnosing the vehicle. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 64,000. The VIN was not provided.

- Grand Saline, TX, USA

problem #316

Jul 282016

F-150

  • 85,000 miles
For the second time since owning the vehicle, we have gotten a service code of P0019, and during the time of the engine light being on, we experienced severe loss of power, to the point had to pull off of the side road, after a few minutes, restarted vehicle, it was able to resume. Took to dealer, they said no problem, because it was under warranty. Now, fast forward another two years, and 80,000 miles, with no more warranty, same issue has happened, major loss of power while accelerating and causing the entire truck to vibrate, this time, engine light is on and code P0018 and P0019, back to the Ford dealer, they made me change the turbo sensors, charged me $900 and still the problem exists. Now they want to change the cam shafts and timing chain guides, charge me another $2,400, and will not guarantee the issue will be resolved. There must be something going on here that an engine cannot last more than 85,000 before needing major engine work. Now I find there are several complaints as it relates to the ecoboost engine, and Ford is unwilling to stand behind their poor quality product and that built Ford tough means only during the 36,000 mile warranty. Amazing that a $40,000 vehicle, can't even make it to 100,000 miles.

- Fulton, NY, USA

problem #315

Jun 012016

F-150

  • 15,000 miles
2012 F-150 ecoboost with 55K miles. Sever loss of power and missing during idle and acceleration. The issue started at 15K miles and after a lot of pushing, Ford installed the deflector shield for water. That solve the problem for heavy rain, but the missing, lack of power, and poor mileage has persisted and is getting worse. The issue happens when the vehicle is in park, stationary in drive, and while under power. It is really bad when it is under heavy power. This is dangerous when it comes to merging into traffic and loosing power all of the sudden. It seems to be worse when it is hot and/or hot and humid out.

- Thornton, CO, USA

problem #314

Jun 152015

F-150

  • 52,350 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving 55 mph, the vehicle lost power during acceleration and the check engine warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 52,350.

- Battle Creek, MI, USA

problem #313

Oct 312015

F-150

  • 25,000 miles

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

The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving approximately 65 mph, the accelerator pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle misfired and the rpms increased. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the charge air cooler and the catalytic converter needed to be replaced. The vehicle was partially repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000.

- Clarksville, TN, USA

problem #312

May 082016

F-150

  • 29,000 miles
F150 2012 in traffic engine dies goes into the limp home mode which is under 5 mph engine will restart but you have to come to complete stop put in park and start and your good to go until it happens again and it will. Not at all safe does it on the freeway or city driving no warning just dies.had to dealership numerous before it was discovered it was a bad throttle replaced at my expense

- Williams Bay, WI, USA

problem #311

Jun 072016

F-150

  • 75,000 miles
The vehicle will lose power and begin to shudder. Cold starts it will shudder and RPM will bounce from 400 to 1100. Will lose power in turns and while stopped. Dealer has had the vehicle 3 times and cannot find a problem.

- Gunter, TX, USA

problem #310

Apr 272016

F-150

  • 56,300 miles
The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. While driving at various highway speeds, the check engine light suddenly illuminated. The vehicle went into limp mode and caused the speed to reduce to less than 20 mph. The failure occurred on several occasions and the vehicle was taken to the dealer multiple times. The spark plugs were replaced, but the failure continued. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 56,300.

- South Williamsport, PA, USA

problem #309

May 042016

F-150

  • 78,000 miles
I have a 2012 with 78000 miles. I am experiencing the very common tsb15-0131. A few months back I started to hear a rattle at some engine starts but now it is occurring daily. I only started to research the noise recently and came across a lot of others on the web forums. I dropped it off at a local dealer. The guy made it sound like this is something new or never heard of. Long story short, they had the truck 4 days and claimed they heard no rattle when starting. After getting my truck back from the local dealer I have heard the noise every morning when I started the engine. I video record my engine at start up and plan to from now on. I called my purchasing dealer to see what they can do. They were going to check and let me know. I heard back and they say since I am out of warranty there is nothing they can do. They said I have to contact Ford customer service to go further and gave me the phone number. I contacted them who said the same thing..sorry no more warranty. I do not think this is right. I understand my extended warranty is just past but this seems to be a prevalent issue with the 3.5 ecoboost engines. I paid over one thousand dollars to upgrade to this engine after seeing and hearing advertisements about its benefits and durability. Now, when it has a problem by no fault of mine, I am told that it will not be taken care of. This was my first Ford and will be my last.

- Wheaton, IL, USA

problem #308

Apr 042016

F-150

  • 60,000 miles
When on cruise control going 60-70 mph, and you pull out to pass and step on the gas, the ecoboost "hesitates" and will not gain speed, but loose speed. I can only stop this by downshifting, then reengaging the gas. This can be a very dangerous situation. This has happened about 10 times over the last 4 years.

- Madison, AL, USA

problem #307

Apr 062016

F-150

  • 71,000 miles
F-150 with ecoboost engine fails with hard acceleration in wet conditions. Fords fix is to install a new part due to a design defect that allows water to be ingested resulting in spark plug failure. On 4/17/2016 while attempting to merge on highway 57 the engine failed to power up and "bogging" down. This forced me on to the shoulder in order to avoid a collision with a 18 wheeler.

- Holland, MI, USA

problem #306

Mar 302016

F-150

  • 43,000 miles
When driving at speeds less than 20 miles per hour the engine will make a loud clunking noise. I have taken the vehicle in to Ford on several occasions and they had never been able to reproduce the problem until today. They told me the rear transmission mount needs to be replaced. This problem has been going on since the day I purchased the vehicle. My last service visit they found a problem with the 4WD vacuum seals that they attributed to this issue and fixed that problem. I thought would resolve my issues but it did not. I am not confident that fixing the rear transmission mount is going to resolve the vehicle problems. I recently had the issue found in #PE13018 resolved by the dealership.

- Jacksonville, FL, USA

problem #305

Feb 012016

F-150

  • 72,000 miles
Vehicle fuel pump shuts off while driving due to fuel pump fuse (location #27) burning up in fuse box. After my vehicle shutting down while driving several times, last on the highway, with a total loss of power steering and other safety concerns, I found Ford has issued a tsb (tsb 15-0137) with a work around fuse relocation. This is unsatisfactory as this is a known issue to Ford, but not the consumer, putting drivers at risk. The fuse at issue, location #27, literally melted and burned up in the socket.

- Lake Worth, FL, USA

problem #304

Feb 012016

F-150

  • 20,000 miles
I took delivery of this truck in March of 2012. The truck has had documented ongoing serious drivability, safety and reliability issues since October of 2013. The issue of immediate concern relates to ongoing misfire, back fire, and engine stall. This condition has occurred at low speed, highway speed, and while towing. The immediate loss of power and subsequent surging effects caused by this condition renders the truck hazardous to me, my family, and other motorists. This issue has been repeatedly reported to and serviced by Ford. I have also personally filed complaints and concern with Ford Motor Company. See Ford customer service case number 8603638. The misfire, back fire, and engine stall is the current ongoing issue but you will also see in the service history this vehicle has also experienced traction control, drive shaft, steering system, and sensor/electrical component failures dating back to may of 2012. It is my understanding Ford Motor Company is aware of this issue with the eco boost engine and drivetrain in my truck. This known issue was responded to by tech service bulletin 13-2-14. However, the mitigation measures of that bulletin and other subsequent service attempted to repair my truck have not been successful. Further, the service bulletin does not take into account the significant safety issue of a truck traveling public roads and experiencing sudden loss of engine power. Finally, I want to point out that the ignition/engine problems my vehicle experienced has caused premature failure to other components to my drive train. This includes fouled spark plugs, damaged coils, and likely accelerated end of life to other emission controls and mechanical components to the engine due to the misfire and water entering the combustion chamber.

- Sioux Falls, SD, USA

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