NHTSA Closes Probe Into 411,000 Ford Pickups Over Potentially Defective Engine

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) disclosed in a report on Monday that it has closed the probe into 411,000 units of Ford SUVs and pickup trucks over complaints on a possible engine defect that caused vehicles to lose power without any initial warning.

The NHTSA opened the investigation in July 2022 over Ford Bronco vehicles running on 2.7L EcoBoost engines over a number of complaints of faulty valvetrain.

Later, it covered other Ford vehicles, which included the Ford Edge, F-150, Explorer and Lincoln Aviator and Nautilus vehicles with 2.7L or 3.0L EcoBoost engines. The model years covered by the probe were from 2021 and 2022.

The NHTSA noted that it received around 1,066 vehicle reports on the issue, with each report being unique. The reports indicated that the vehicles, driven under normal conditions, could lose power without any warning. Once this happens, the vehicle could not immediately restart because of a faulty valve.

The automaker recalled 90,000 vehicles in August after it determined that not all the valves that were produced were found defective. Most of the problems reported occurred on cars that have been used only for a short time, USA Today noted.

Ford issued a recall to fix the problem. Along with the recall was a dealer inspection, and a test that determined whether the vehicles that had defective valves met the minimum usage level.

Ford's analysis found a vast majority of failures occurred on vehicles before they reached 20,000 miles. Half of the issues were noticed to have occurred prior to reaching 5,000 miles.

The automaker noted that the engine valves sustained cracks, which led them to fall into the combustion chamber. This then led to engine damage. The valves were alleged to have not complied with the designed specification for hardness. They were brittle and likely to break, underscoring the flaw in the manufacturing process of the supplier.

Cars produced after October 2021 already had different intake valves, according to Ford.

Since November 2021, the reports related to a problematic valve has noticeably decreased, NHTSA stated citing Ford.

Ford also said on Monday that it would be providing an extended warranty on the 90,000 vehicles that were recalled. The warranty would cover 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first. The company also underscored that it was not aware of any injury or crash resulting from the issue.