NHTSA closes investigation into Ford vehicles over power loss issue

The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is closing the probe into an investigation of 411,000 Ford SUVs and pickup trucks that were alarmed with a defective engine that could bring the vehicles to an unexpected halt. Launched in July 2022, the probe pertains to Ford Bronco vehicles of the 2.7L EcoBoost batch. Later, the investigation was expanded to 2021 and 2022 model year Ford Edge, F-150, Explorer and Lincoln Aviator and Nautilus vehicles with 2.7L or 3.0L EcoBoost engines.

Faulty engine valves could result in a sudden loss of power, meaning the vehicle wouldn’t restart. According to NHTSA, it received 1,066 unique complaints about the problem. On August 5, 2023, Ford had previously recalled 350,000 vehicles itself due to the fact that not all engine valves were faulty. The company said the majority of failures happened on vehicles with fewer than 20,000 miles on the odometer and over half occurred at 5,000 miles or less.

It came down to valves that were much too brittle and prone to cracking because of the problems with how it was made. The valves would become defective, and thus fall into the engine’s combustion chamber, causing severe damage. Since then, Ford has changed the intake valve material used in vehicles produced after October 2021 to prevent other problems.

But Ford said no crashes or injuries had been reported following the defective valves. In connection with the recall, Ford is extending the warranty for the affected vehicles to 10 years or 150,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Since November 2021, the frequency of valve related failures has been steadily decreasing according to NHTSA. The announcement caused Ford’s stock to climb 1.6 percent Monday in trading as the market tends to favor positive resolutions to problem companies.