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.
(re)starting August 1, 2017, while driving, the vehicle would suddenly and without warning decelerate, with no response from the gas pedal. Ford calls this their "limp home mode." The wrench icon warning would display and the entire vehicle would shudder until it was put in park and turned off. Usually, it would resume normal operations after being restarted, however, on one occasion, it took three attempts to restart. After two such incidents occurring in less than a mile, I don't feel safe driving on the highway (or, really, any other place) as there is no indication to other drivers and the vehicle actively decelerates, rather than coasting. During one such incident, the deceleration was so pronounced that passengers jerked forward in their seats and a canine passenger lost its footing, falling into the back of the seats. We previously experienced this same issue in 2015, leaving me and a small child stranded when the vehicle did not restart at all. As part of a "goodwill" repair due to the vehicle being just out of warranty, the etb (electronic throttle body) and purge valve were replaced by Ford. I filed complaint 10787972 with the NHTSA on 10/25/2015. In 5 years, this will be the second replacement of a part that's expected to last well over 6 years. Ford is aware of the problem, is and has been sued, and is being investigated.
I have had the car for 2 years and have had at least 10+ incidents of my car losing all power for acceleration. It has happened on the highway going 65+, it has happened accelerating onto the high way, it has happened on residential streets, it has happened on state highways, it has happened in parking lots. The car suddenly revs super high but pressing the accelerator does absolutely nothing. I have to limp to the side of the road, turn the car off and usually it fixes the issue. But several times I have had to turn it off and restart several times before I have normal control of the car again. I have brought it in several times and every time they tell me unless it is happening at that moment they can't figure out the problem. I have kids in my car most of the time and to suddenly lose power is a tragedy waiting to happen. Today during a routine oil check, it was discovered my ptu is leaking. In a 5 year old car I would not expect this to be the case.
Bad smell with heat or ac on at higher speeds headaches and lightheadedness felt at times. A seperate issue altogether windows and door locks have failed to work a couple times leaving me stuck inside car until it decides to work. Dealer has had suposed part on back order for 2 months.
- West Jefferson, OH, USA
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My 2012 Ford Explorer would all of a sudden sound like it was slipping out of gear while driving. I would lose all control of the accelerator & vehicle would idle very rough. The "wrench" light would appear on the dash display. I would have to drift over to the side of the road, turn the vehicle off, & then re-start the vehicle. This happened without warning & became more frequent. Dealership replaced the throttle body (at my cost) & explained no recall had been determined yet, but expected it to be issued in the future due to the number of complaints. I also had to pay to have my selector lever assembly replaced again since I was again having the issue of vehicle problem of "shift to park" appearing once again. The first time this part was replaced it was covered under tsb 15-0047, but this time it was at my expense.
While driving the vehicle started to make a grinding noise coming from the front area. Pull over and tow to dealer. The transmission pto had a internal failure. The car only has 51K miles normal driving. I search on the internet and found that Ford had several issues with this part breaking in low time. This could be a safety hazard.
While driving the vehicle suddenly power would be lost. When applying more pressure to the accelerator, no usable power was present and the vehicle could not exceed 30 mph. After this occurred on the 4th time on a subsequent day, the "engine" symbol was displayed. Currently the vehicle is at a Ford dealership to troubleshoot the problem. On two occasions this discrepancy with acceleration and functionality of available power nearly caused an accident with small children in the vehicle. This should cause a major concern to other owners and Ford Motor Company as a whole due to the potential damage, injury, or death that could occur due to completely losing acceleration and/or power while driving.
My 2012 Ford explore ltd. Stops in the middle of the road while driving. A wrench light comes on in lower left dash, and the car loses power. I can no longer once this happens. I must turn off the car and restart the engine to get it going again. This has happened on a highway going 70 miles per hour, and in the middle of intersections, on regular city, Suburban or neighborhood streets, not to mention it is now happening 2-3 times a day while with no warning. It happens while driving only, sometimes after turning, sometimes not, but the car is always in motion at the time, at various speeds in various temperatures, with climate control either off or on, seems to have no bearing. This is extremely dangerous and can easily cause an accident, injury or death. Apparently the current recall for the power steering does not address this. I am having that worked on right now as I type. This happened once last year on the highway, and once about 6 months ago as I pulled out of a parking lot. Hadn't happened again since until the month of October in the 80 degree weather of plano tx, whether car was already warmed-up or not.
The ptu unit went bad and had no oil in it- whole unit needs to be replaced. Should have oil, should be permanent. No reason for this- car is 4 years old and now we are paying $2000 to fix. Read that this problem is an epidemic. Should be recalled for this problem. It's everywhere Ford has AWD!!
Transmission shifts out of gear, from drive into neutral or stalls out. Safety hazard while driving. 6F35 transmission. Dealer(s) refuse to acknowledge issue or repair despite customer complaint and transmission fault code. Vehicle stalls while at all speeds on highway, city streets, or while in intersections. Too dangerous to drive
Repeated issue with malfunctioning tcm. Went into default mode while driving on state highway. Repairs made but have since taken vehicle in again for same service issue and is scheduled for a third repair. I know the 2012 Focus, fiesta and Expedition have class action suits due to tcm. Dealer has twice told me vehicle is safe to drive in it's current state since service and check engine lights are not flashing in default mode.
While on freeway, car suddenly decreased speed even though I was pressing on the pedal to excelerate. It has happened a few more times but luckily I was not on freeway. Took it in to mac haick and they said it was the throttle body. My car has less than 30,000 miles and I asked if this was common and was told no. He said that sometimes it happens with more that 60,000. I asked if there was a recall and was told no. I then called Ford customer service, the rep said that they did not have any recalls and gave me a case #8559890.
November 13, 2015 Carolina, puerto rico I'm driving normally then a wrench light pops up on the dash & says "see service manual". I then immediately without warning loose all control to my gas pedal & the engine shakes at an idle. I am forced to pull over. We return home less 10 mile per hour, then turn the car off. Once I turn it back on it "warnings 0" in some way & runs normally.
I'm driving normally then randomly a wrench light pops up on the dash & says "see service manual". I then immediately without warning loose all control to my gas pedal & the engine shakes at an idle. I am forced to pull over (mind you with my 2 kids in the car when this has happened 3 times in 1 month). Then turn the car off. Once I turn it back on it "resets" in some way & runs normally (until this happens again). The first time it happened was 3 weeks ago on a weekend late morning driving maybe 45mph, the 2nd time was this past Tuesday 11/2/15 in the evening after work at 5:15pm driving May 35mph. I took it to the dealer they said it was "fixed" & they sent me on my way. Then it happened the 3rd time the next morning on 11/3/15 @ 7:30am when I was stopping at a stop sign so I wasn't going more than 5mph. It's been back at Ford since then & they said they "can't fix it if it doesn't show up for them or the can't duplicate the problem" meanwhile myself & I have no vehicle to school & work. & the worst part is all tree times my kids were with me & there could've been an accident but Ford won't do anything.
Issue has occurred multiple times, under different conditions. Without warning, the vehicle loses acceleration and the wrench icon and AWD errors display. The throttle becomes unresponsive, but all other systems remain functioning. If you leave it in gear without the brakes engaged, it will move at idle speed on flat ground, but is unable to navigate inclines. When slowing to a stop, the whole vehicle shudders. Stopping and restarting normally returns the vehicle to normal operation. However, on October 25, it failed to start and had to be towed to the dealer. There is no external indication of this sudden loss of power and it creates a very dangerous situation because it happens without warning and you are only able to steer and brake to control the vehicle. Our 2012 Explorer is currently at the dealership, who has indicated that the problem is the electronic throttle body (etb) and purge valve. Ford is aware that there is an issue with etbs with other models, reference NHTSA action # PE13003, and Explorer, reference NHTSA #10054323 and 10053276, Ford tsb # tsb-13-9-8 and tsb-13-5-29. Description: Lincoln/Ford: Due to diagnostic trouble codes (dtc) P0106, P0236, engine on some vehicles experience hesitation, loss of idle RPM, difficult in starting, lack of power, running rough and crank no start situation. Description: Ford: Due to blocked vapor purge line port in air cleaner outlet pipe assembly, the mil would illuminate, with dtc P144C.
While driving on a 2-lane highway about 50 mhp, my 2012 Ford Explorer suddenly lost all speed and the gas pedal had no effect. After drifting over to the shoulder out of harms way, the power remained on and the dashboard said "check manual" with a wrench lit up. What happened was that it just lost all speed and the gas pedal had no effect until I turned off the power and re-started. This was the first incident. This happened twice more in the following month for a total of three times when the exact same thing happened, just lost all speed. Finally Ford service was able to diagnose it and said it was the throttle body. After doing research, it appears that other Ford models have the same throttle body problem, loss of speed. This should have been a recall but someone dropped the ball, making it a part of the customer satisfaction program (csp 13N03) instead. This is obviously a very dangerous situation. Ford service has been extremely difficult work with as they will not honor csp 13N03 for my Explorer.
Driving to work at the normal speed limit 6:30 am in light traffic. Ambient temperature was 65 degrees in dry conditions. Suddenly felt like the transmission had been placed in neutral. Engine continued to run but no power to the transmission. Was able to let the car coast until I could turn on to a side street and stop. An error condition displayed "AWD off" and then a wrench icon appeared. I placed the transmission in park and turned off the engine. Restarted the engine and the car resumed normal driving conditions. Took the car the next day to the Ford dealership. Was told that no error code was captured so they could not do anything. I asked how it was that the computer could display the "AWD off" message and the wrench icon without a code being stored. No response. Was told to leave car running next time, call a tow truck and then they could get the code. Of course, I am not always close to the dealership, it could happen after they closed or on a weekend. Noted that in March 2014 Ford settled a complaint on "throttle body" problems in escape, Fusion, etc, that had a similar description. Explorer was not included in that settlement.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Vernon, CT, USA