Quick News About Ford Problems

We try to boil down the news about Ford to the most important bits and pieces -- recalls, service bulletins, and lawsuits that can help you solve you car problems. Oh, and the occasional interesting story as well. If you're interested in getting these quick story summaries as an email, signup for free over at CarComplaints.com.

  1. Recently three of the most popular sports cars underwent a series of IIHS crash tests.

    The 2016 Mustang performed admirably, but there was one area of concern. The one test that gave the Mustang problems was the small overlap test where the roof buckled and there was a lot of intrusion into the driver's space. That intrusion came from the door hinge pillar and instrument panel, however, measurements taken from the dummy indicate a low risk of injuries, even to the legs and feet.

    To be fair, everyone seems to be flunking that side-overlap test.

    keep reading article "Mustang Earns 'Acceptable' Rating in IIHS Small Overlap Test"

  2. Ford is recalling 1.9 million vehicles to replace dangerous Takata airbag inflators which have been known to explode.

    The inflators that need to be replaced are in the passenger-side frontal airbags. See the full list of recalled vehicles.

    Takata's inflators don't contain a drying agent called desiccate. Over time, the ammonium nitrate inside the inflator can become unstable when exposed to heat and humidity. If they do explode, metal shrapnel can shoot throughout the cabin and has injured, or in some cases killed the people inside. Yikes!…

    keep reading article "Ford Recalls 1.9 Million Vehicles for Takata Airbags"

  3. Master cylinder leaks are allowing brake fluid to leak into the brake boosters of nearly 271,000 F-150 trucks.

    That stops the boosting and --- not surprisingly --- your ability to come to safely come to a stop.

    Ford says the problem only affects the front wheels, so rear braking isn't affected. But that wasn't enough to stop 9 accidents, however, which have all been attributed to the sudden loss of stopping power.

    The recalled trucks are from the 2013 and 2014 model years. They all have the 3.5-liter GTDI engine and were built between 08/01/13 and 08/22/14.

    keep reading article "Leaking Master Cylinder Recall for Early 12th Generation F-150 Trucks"

  5. The government has closed their investigation into F-150 electric vacuum pump failures, but that's only because Ford has agreed to repair them under a "customer satisfaction program".

    Ford opened customer satisfaction program 15N05 that **extends warranty coverage for the electric vacuum pumps in 2011-2012 Ford F-150 trucks equipped with 3.5L GTDI engines. The satisfaction program extends warranty coverage for up to 10 years of service or 150,000 miles from the warranty start date.

    "All affected F-150 trucks are eligible for the program through July 30, 2016, regardless of mileage."

    You say customer satisfaction program, I say recall. Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to I suppose.…

    keep reading article "Investigation Closed Into Vacuum Pump Failure in F-150 Brakes"

  7. The engine block heaters in the 2016 Explorer are taking "warming up the car" to a whole new level ... by setting the engines on fire.

    Ford Says a "bad combination of the engine block and heater can cause the heater to catch on fire, something that has occurred at least two times in Canada. Fortunately the fires didn't cause any accidents or injuries.

    Ford didn't say when the recall will begin.

    keep reading article "Explorer Engine Block Heaters Are Taking Things Too Far"

  9. F-150 owners can't stop their brake pedals from suddenly falling to the floor. That means they also can't stop their trucks.

    The problem is an empty master cylinder resevoir that's hard to detect because there's never any corresponding brake fluid leaks. It's like a magic trick that no-one finds amusing.

    A new investigation hopes to pull back the curtain:

    "The no-leak symptom is what makes NHTSA believe the fluid is moving from the master cylinder to the brake booster. In addition to that, some owners told NHTSA that Ford dealers have said the same thing."

    The investigation covers 2013-2014 F-150 trucks equipped with 3.5-liter engines. If the problem is confirmed, it should prompt a recall.

    keep reading article "Master Cylinder in F-150 Brakes Under Investigation"

  10. A Ford Focus door latch lawsuit might be forthcoming as attorneys investigate failures of the door latches that allow the doors to open while driving.

    The legal investigation includes the 2012-2013 Ford Focus, the same model currently under a safety investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

    This isn't surprising.

    If the current investigation determines that the Focus uses the same defective pawl springs that were recalled last year, and Ford knew about it, then that's potentially a criminal offense. Or, at the very least, really crappy of them.

    keep reading article "Attorneys Investigate Ford’s History of Door Latch Failures"

  11. A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed in Illinois on behalf on all US consumers that purchased or leased a 2011-2015 Ford Fiesta or 2012-2015 Ford Focus and have had to endure the terrible driving experience of the PowerShift dual-clutch transmission.

    The plaintiffs list similar complaints to another class-action filed last year, namely that the transmission "slips, bucks, kicks, jerks, gets hot, stutters, harshly engages, has premature internal wear, sudden acceleration, delay in downshifts, delayed acceleration, and difficulty stopping the vehicle." Other than that, how is it though?…

    keep reading article "Dual-Clutch PowerShift Transmission Lawsuit Filed in Illinois"

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