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CarComplaints.com Notes: Ford significantly updated the Fusion for the 2010 model year. We wish they hadn't

Throttle body issues have led to a ton of reports about a sudden deceleration and loss of power while driving. Ford issued a “customer satisfaction program” in March 2014 that, unsurprisingly, has left very few customers satisfied.

2010 is also the year we started seeing complaints about the power steering failing. Throttle and steering failure? Yeah, that’s why this is a clunker.

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
7 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
4 / 0
Average Mileage:
61,048 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.

2010 Ford Fusion drivetrain problems

drivetrain problem

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2010 Ford Fusion Owner Comments (Page 30 of 40)

« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #218

Mar 092013

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 35,945 miles

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

Stopped for light started to go car started jerking and rough idle could only go about 2-4 mph was able to get to side of road turned off fro several min. Than restarted ran fine for about 8-10 miles than same. Got it dealer they replace throttle body.

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

problem #217

Jan 162013

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 21,000 miles
Our 2010 Ford Fusion lost engine power while accelerating up a hill in morning rush hour traffic on a multi-lane super-highway in atlanta. Our car was in one of the left lanes and was able to limp across several lanes to the right shoulder with the assistance of a helpful truck driver. Cars were racing around us on both sides until we could flag down assistance. The experience was horrifying. The car was towed to the Ford dealer who diagnosed the problem as a stuck throttle cover. A repair was made under warranty, and we were told the car was safe to drive.

- Dunwoody, GA, USA

problem #216

May 172011

Fusion 4-cyl

  • 36,000 miles
My vehicle lost acceleration while driving and shut off on me three times. The third and final time I was on a highway and almost got rear ended. I had the car towed and serviced at the nearest authorized Ford dealer to find out I was out of warranty. Paid for a throttle and it's installation left very scared and upset.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #215

Feb 272013

Fusion 4-cyl

  • 49,900 miles

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

Traveling approximately 45 mph during rush hour traffic the 'wrench' light illuminated, the vehicle lost power and the engine began idling very rough. Fortunately I was able to get out of traffic and pull off to the side of the road. The engine was idling very rough ~900-1200 RPM and was unresponsive when I pushed the gas pedal (almost to the floor). Once stopped I turned the engine off, waited approximately thirty seconds and restarted the engine. The warning light was extinguished and the engine operated normally. I accelerated back to traffic speed and within five minutes experienced the exact same thing. I pulled over, turned off and back on the vehicle and again the light extinguished and the car ran normally. Two more times within a thirty minute period the vehicle experienced the same thing. En route to the Ford dealer the next day I had the same thing occur three additional times during the ten mile drive to the dealer. Each incident was identical. The dealer found no codes (since the light had cleared when I turned the car off and on) and hooked up an incident recorder. I experienced the same shut down three additional times and captured them on the recorder - upon return to the dealer the next day they still did not have any codes to investigate (?) the dealer 'thought' they knew what the problem was (even though they "hadn't seen anything like this before") and replaced the throttle body. Since replacement I have not had any additional mishaps. I'm glad I did not cause an accident due to the sudden loss of power but, as I explained to the dealer, I felt that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. I hope they fix this issue asap - there needs to be a recall and soon!

- Akron, OH, USA

problem #214

Nov 152012

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 53,000 miles
Driver was going 35-40 mph and suddenly experienced a severe loss of power as if the car transmission was put in neutral.was a scary experience!! had to put on emergency flashers to keep from getting hit from behind.car was driving very slow and then after a period of time, full power came back on.

- Pikesville, MD, USA

problem #213

Sep 112012

Fusion

  • 37,000 miles
Read in paper that you were looking at Ford throttle body. I was in fast lane on I-66 on a Friday afternoon. Suddenly car stopped. I was lucky there was room on left apron to pull off. Car restarted when I tried--went 1000 feet and stopped again; now in right lane and pulled off. Knew there was an off ramp 1/4 mile ahead and limped on apron with cars passing. The entire situation was very dangerous in my estimation. When restarting, it was hard to tell if auto was running or not. When restarting auto backfired etc. Prior to this incident had reported to Ford dealer that transmission sometime "clunked" when I put auto in reverse in the morning. They found no problem. Have not had this problem since I paid to have the throttle body replaced.

- Moneta, VA, USA

problem #212

Nov 082011

Fusion 4-cyl

  • 30,000 miles

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

My wife was turning left into a parking space in a parking lot at 2mph or less when the vehicle suddenly accelerated at high rpms. Our vehicle slammed into the vehicle to the right of the space my wife would have entered. Heavy damage was caused to our veh. And to the parked veh. My wife was unsure if she had caused the acdt or if it was a mechanical defect. Because of the very heavy and rapid acceleration, I didn't think it in any way was driver error. After it was repaired, our 2010 Fusion was checked out by a Ford dealer and nothing was found amiss. A year later in Nov. Of 2012, I was driving the car at approximately 50mph when the engine suddenly revved up about 150 to 200rpms. This didn't cause any great acceleration but, considering my wife's experience, I immediately shifted to neutral. Just as I got into neutral, the engine revved up to 2500 to 3000rpms. Had the car been in drive, a collision could have happened or I could have lost control. Ford was contacted, car inspected, again nothing wrong. A service writer tried to tell us that the rubber floor mat was on the accelerator pedal. The mat doesn't gain weight to suddenly depress the pedal all by itself! Ford's great lakes regional manager was not very forthcoming-she wasn't apparently aware that there were youtube videos of 2010 Fusion owners filming their dashboards as their cars did the same as I have described above. The car is being driven regularly but both of us have a hand on the gear shift alot of the time. Considering our experiences and the youtube postings, I think Ford is trying to avoid an expensive recall. Didn't Toyota use the floor mat excuse for years?

- Arden Hills, MN, USA

problem #211

Mar 012013

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 39,000 miles
Driving down hwy at 45mph and it felt like the engine just stopped. Foot was on the gas but could not do anything but coast off the side of the road while trying to avoid traffic. Stopped the car and shut it off. After a minute it started and was running fine for about a mile and the same thing happened again. I was able to get home safely by switching gears manually. Took I to the dealer and I was told the throttle body ha to be replaced. Even though I paid for the extended warranty and I was we'll within the 5year 50,000 mile power train coverage they still told me the throttle body is not part of the power train and I had to pay $100 deductible.

- Murrells Inlet, SC, USA

problem #210

Feb 132013

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 29,270 miles
On Feb 13 2013 I was driving and the car nosed over, slowed to approx 8mph, with engine surges of up to 1500 RPM, after several restarts it ran normally. On Feb 17 2013 it did the same exact thing, I stopped and restarted the engine several times in the 40 minute drive of 3 miles back home but that did not help. After the car set for several hours it started and ran correctly. Research on the internet showed hundreds of the same problem and replacing the throttle body corrected the trouble. On Feb 18, 2013 I took it to the Ford dealer and from only my description was told that the throttle body was the problem, they had 3 in stock and my three year warranty has expired on Feb 21, 2013, less than a month out of warranty and it would not be covered so I drove the car back home, I called a different Ford dealer who sold me the throttle body at a discount. It took me about ten minutes to install the throttle body, and the car is still running as it should.

- Tremont, IL, USA

problem #209

Jun 302012

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 66,955 miles
I have had this problem at various intervals since February of 2012. My Fusion would stall an would not accelerate when I left from a stop sign or a traffic light, the vehicle would not go above ten miles per hour an the wrench light would come on my instrument panel. I would have to get off the road an cut the car off then restart it. The car would act like it had flooded an lurch an jerk, when before I would have it come to a complete stop. I took it to the dealer I purchased the car from an I told them about my incidents of the same type each time. They could not locate the problem until on June 30,2012 where the same problem happened to me an I drove the vehicle directly to the dealership. They were able to diagnose the problem as a faulty throttle body. They told me I must have been using some dirty fuel since they said the throttle body looked black inside of fuel. I had used exclusively 93 octane fuel into my vehicle. I had purchased a extended warranty when I purchased my vehicle from preston Ford in which they told me when I first took the vehicle there with the same recurring problem, they said it was covered under the warranty. It was then they told me the warranty did not cover that part. I had to pay for the faulty part with a total bill of $593, along with other items I had for this service visit. I have not had a problem since this work was done on my vehicle. They did not tell that Ford had issued a technical service bulletin on this problem that was known by the dealership, but I had to pay for this to tell me that I had one of the vehicles that were within this bulletin.

- Cambridge, MD, USA

problem #208

Dec 022012

Fusion

  • 78,215 miles

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

While driving on the freeway at 65 mph. The engine lost power as the engine light and wrench light went on. Pressing on the accelerator had no responsive. I had to navigate freeway traffic with no engine power to get off to the side of the road. As I came to a stop the car jerked a bit before I put it in park. I turned it off and let it sit for a while. After turning the car back on I got back on the road, only to have it happen again a few miles later.

- Goodyear, AZ, USA

problem #207

Oct 112012

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 41,413 miles
Driving the car suddenly slowed into a limp mode. This happened several times. The final time was on a major highway at 55mph. Luckily I was able to maneuver the to the side of the road before getting rear ended by traffic from behind. This is dangerous condition! after visits to 2 Ford dealers, they replaced the throttle body. The car was out of warranty by mileage, (not time), so we ended up paying out almost $500 for the repair and car rental.

- Sanatoga, PA, USA

problem #206

Feb 212013

Fusion 4-cyl

  • 47,574 miles
First incident: Vehicle was traveling about 40 mph and would not pull up a shallow grade hill about 1 mile from the house. Car was started "cold". wife pulled off road and engine died. "wrench" symbol came on dash. I arrived about 15 minutes later and started car to move it further off the road. It ran so I took it back home, no apparent issue. Called dealer and got it in the next day. Dealer is about 2.5miles from my home. Dealer could find nothing wrong and we drove it home. Did not drive it for about a week. Second incident: Wife at a busy controlled intersection. Car would not accelerate when light turned green. Called me after getting car started and moved to a safe location about 1/2 mile from intersection. "wrench" and "battery" lights came on dash. About 2 hours later we took the car to the dealer with no apparent problem. Dealer informed me the computer coded a throttle body issue. Throttle body changed. We have not driven the car over 10 miles since then. Wife no longer trust car.

- Stillwater, OK, USA

problem #205

Nov 162012

Fusion

  • 47,000 miles
We were on the hwy going about 65mph in the middle lane of an extremely busy time. It was dark and all of a sudden the car stopped accelerating and we barely made it to the side. Waited 5-10 minutes while we called a mechanic friend. Started it back up to see if we can get off on the next exit and before we could, it happened again. Finally got it home but had to wait two days to take it in since they were closed. Ended up not only costing me $400 to fix it, but also the inconvenience of not having a vehicle to get things done as well as a day off of work because I couldn't get there. Seeing as many complaints as I've seen, this should have been fixed a long time ago. I love Ford, but with the issues I've had, I'm considering a trade in for a different brand.

- West Allis, WI, USA

problem #204

Jan 042013

Fusion 4-cyl

  • 41,400 miles
While I was driving on a county highway at almost 60mph the car shook/shuttered, then a wrench warning light appeared and I pulled onto the shoulder of the road because it felt like the car was losing power. I had just gotten off of the highway and it stalled. I called my husband to come and because it was dark and only 20 degrees outside I started the car again about 15 minutes later. It started right up but we had it towed to a mechanic anyway and they found nothing wrong with it. Because I was scared to drive it after this I took it to a Ford dealer (ewald in hartford, wi) to have it checked over. They could not find anything wrong with it. Then this same scenario occurred again about 3-1/2 weeks later at 5:15am on my way to work. This time I was just pulling away from a stop sign and barely going 20mph. It did the same thing with shaking, the wrench light coming on and the car stalling. There was no shoulder where I was so I didn't want to wait for a tow truck or help. I started it back up and took it back home where it sat in the garage for 1-1/2 days until I could get it to a dealership. Ewald Ford looked at it for me again but they said they could not find any issues. They told me not to start it again if it happens or the codes will clear out so I will need to have it towed or put a portable code reader on it to see if I can get something for them. I just saw an article in our milwaukee paper stating that you are investigating these issues and I wanted to let you know that I've had the same problems. Please help to force a recall before someone gets killed. Thank you!!

- Jackson, WI, USA

problem #203

Jul 162012

Fusion 4-cyl

  • 78,000 miles
Driving on an interstate about 55 mph and wrench light came on engine lost ability to accelerate I.e. went into safe mode and had to maneuver through traffic to the shoulder. This occurred multiple times from July through August 2012 on various types of roadways (highway, neighborhood roads) until the problem was fixed by a Ford dealership. Cause of the problem according to the invoice was the throttle body. They replaced the throttle body and the problem has gone away.

- Louisville, KY, USA

problem #202

Sep 072012

Fusion

  • 59,000 miles
I was on the freeway when engine speed suddenly went to idle. I was in the middle lane and almost got into a crash trying to get to the road side. When I brought the car to the Ford dealer they said the throttle body was bad and it cost me $500 they said it was not covered under the power train warranty, go figure. Also the transmission does not down shift properly after heavy acceleration, they said it was normal. It's no wonder why people shy away from so called american cars, it will be my last.

- Lyndhurst, OH, USA

problem #201

Sep 282012

Fusion 4-cyl

  • 27,000 miles
The wrench light came on and stayed on steady and the car suddenly lost all engine power. Headlights stayed still on and hazard lights worked. I tried starting the car but pressing the gas pedal produced no movement of the car nor any increase in engine sound. After trying to start it several times, it seemed like it started but not a normal start. The engine appeared to be very rough but again, no fast engine sound. It kind of limped to the side of the road which was on a very slight incline. No pressing of the gas pedal produced any significant movement of the car. The car was violently shaking as it limped to the side of the road at maybe 2 miles per hour. Once I got it to the side of the road out of traffic, I did turn it off. I gave it about 30 seconds and it started normally. No more wrench light. It seemed to work fine after that. I drove home " about 90 miles with no further problems. I reported the problem to our local Ford dealer. The dealer has been supportive. Ford Motor Company has not been supportive. When I called the Ford dealer explaining the symptoms, the service coordinator?S first question was, ?is it a Fusion?? he already knew it was a common problem with Fusion. He said that I am not going to like what he had to say. He said that Ford will not allow him to do the 30-minute repair unless a code is available in the obd unit. I brought it in and no code was found. They tried for two days to get it to code. The service manager pleaded with Ford?S upper level to allow the repair but they were inflexible. Their response ? ?no code, no repair.? Ford"S customer relationship center was useless! they offered no help. The local dealer had six cars the week after my car died with the exact same issue as mine. I was placed back on the road with Ford knowing I would again be stranded. It happened again 4 weeks later.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

problem #200

May 282012

Fusion 6-cyl

  • 43,166 miles
Car stop running, while going down two lane bridge, dealer ship replace throttle body, their comment we have not had any problems with the throttle body's.

- Port Neches, TX, USA

problem #199

Feb 142013

Fusion

  • miles
While driving home the vehicle lost all acceleration and the wrench light came on. The rpms dropped to below 1000. I was able to safely pull over where the car shook and died out. I attempted to restart the vehicle and it would not start. I waited a few minutes and was able to get it started.

- Humble, TX, USA

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