Owner-reported complaints naming the engine system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2021 Ford Expedition submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 57 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 57, in the owner's own words
The engine stalled out while trying to pass someone. The car wouldn't go faster when hitting the gas and felt like I couldnt safely slow down to get back over. It felt like something slipped and lost traction, but roads were dry and not rocky or sandy. tapping breaks and letting off gas did nothing. it has happened before but usually in winter, and gettin up to speed. its like the gear shift got stuck.
When my transmission is shifting, it almost stalls about 3-4 times everytime you start off. It is a hard shift that makes it fee like the car suddenly stops then goes back. I have had it happen 3 times that I thought my car died after stopping, making weird noises, then took off like normal. I am waiting for my car to just die as I am driving. The Ford dealership said I need a new transmission. The recall is out there for other vehicles like mine, yet mine is not listed. When you read what Ford says will happen- EXACTLY what my car does!!!!! My 2021 Ford Expedition Max has 70,000 miles on it now, but when it started had about 67,000
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted and the vehicle jerked abnormally. The contact stated that there was an abnormal sound coming from the vehicle with the Check Engine warning light illuminated. The failure was persistent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact referenced an unknown recall; however, the VIN was not associated with a recall related to the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was informed that the repair was not covered under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 62,500.
I took my vehicle to the dealership to have all recall work done on Feb. 11th 2026. I was told i am up to date on all my recall work at that time. When I received my vehicle back It would intermittently just shut down for no apparent reason while sitting at stop lights, or just stopped in that fashion. I called and the dealership they said unless they could recreate the issue somewhat easily there was noting they could really do. So while parked in driveway the vehicle again had no power, I used my emergency key to get into vehicle and opened the hood to which I found the battery terminal connections were never tighten. I could take them off by hand. This told me the mechanic at the dealership didn't complete job and tighten my battery connections, Fast forward to April 18th, it was raining, I parked vehicle, still running, went into post office ( I was only gone for 30 seconds)and I came out to white smoke billowing out from under the hood. I opened hood the large flames shooting up. I quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher I had in the car and put 90% of the fire out, it was still burning at the fuse junction box, moments later a police officer showed up with fire extinguisher and was able to put it out. The car would not stop running, so once the fire dept. arrived they had to cut the battery terminals to shut the vehicle down. This was also the first time I drove vehicle in the rain since my recall work was done. The fire dept. and I realized the fuse box cover was not in place. So now this same mechanic that did't tighten battery terminals was also neglectful in not replacing the fuse box cover. I believe this neglect partially if not wholly caused this fire. It is highly probable that water got into the fuse box and shortened everything out which caused the fire. I have a document from the dealership that states they did the recall work for 22S36 - Underhood fires. But this website says this work was not performed. No inspection from anyone has been done
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that while driving at 45 MPH, the engine overheated. The message “Drive Mode Inoperable” was displayed. The contact pulled over for 20 minutes, and the vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who confirmed that parts were on back order for NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V346000 (Engine). The vehicle was diagnosed, and it was determined that the failure was due to the transmission. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and opened a case. The failure mileage was approximately 99,130.
Vehicle stalls out upon driving when trying to accelerate. Has popped up error which states to check fuel pump.
Wiring has soy based bioplastic insulation which apparently attract rodent damage. This damaged battery, caused spark plug to be damaged and need to be replaced. It has also caused voltage and computer performance problems affecting engine idling and shifting. Issues were extremely unpredictable and hard to diagnose leading to 5 visits to the shop and many failed attempts to repair.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle experienced a loss of motive power. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while attempting to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, the vehicle regained motive power independently. The local dealer was contacted and referred the contact to the manufacturer for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to a fuel system recall that had not included the model year of the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 53,000.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that upon attempting to accelerate from a stop, the vehicle started to shake abnormally, and lost motive power. The check engine warning light illuminated, and the contact immediately attempted to restart the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was towed to a local independent mechanic where it was diagnosed, and the contact was advised that the fuel pump was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000.
Follow up to my previous complaint (11665325)see link below. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
My Ford expeditions transmission is causing unsafe driving with rough sound and thunking noise. There is a C,D,F issue and valve separator parts that are the initial issue that can cause major issues for me and many others. A Ford technician advised me that TSBs exist and made me aware that my cost could be $199 (diagnostics), $1500 (parts), and $4400 or more (transmission repair or replacement). Why is this danger still be allowed with a well known issue. The problem started and appears to be getting worse. Why is Ford being held accountable for this lack of quality in their vehicles.
Coolant leak possibly coming from the thermostat housing.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact state while driving 55 MPH, there were abnormal sounds coming from the engine and the transmission. The temperature gauge warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a Chevrolet dealer twice to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The transmission was replaced, and the vehicle was repaired. After the second repair the contact noticed that the engine was overheating. The vehicle was taken to a Ford dealer and the transmission was replaced another time. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 89,035.
At 40,000 miles Transmission skips gears going from 3-4 4-5 and 7-8. Transmission jolts hard when put into reverse. Valve body was replaced which fixed the issue for a couple of months and now the same issues are occurring.
The Engine is shutting off completely. I am getting the message "Shift to P. the Restart Engine" This happened as the light changed to green. Heavy morning work traffic was behind me and I had never seen this before and called Ford Service manager and he had no answer. This is very dangerous especially during traffic.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the passenger's side catalytic converter was replaced; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to a second dealer, Bozard Ford Lincoln (540 Outlet Mall Blvd, St. Augustine, FL 32084), where the passenger's side catalytic converter was replaced; however, the failure recurred 8 months later. The vehicle was taken back to the second dealer, where the driver's and passenger's side catalytic converters were replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered monetary compensation; however, the contact stated that the monetary compensation was not adequate to correct the persistent failure. The failure mileage was approximately 11,000.
It started with transmission issues and has since been nothing but trouble. Car has been in and out of shop, now the ac is out. Ford takes no accountability
Vehicle caught fire on February 29, 2024, with family members inside the vehicle. The fire appeared to start under the hood on the right passenger side, which would directly correlate with the current open recall. The family had just made a trip back from a basketball game and was dropping off a passenger when smoke was noticed. Upon further inspection, there was an active fire under the hood, which soon erupted into a burst of flames, causing the vehicle to be declared a total loss. Emergency responders had to be called to the scene to alleviate the fire. The fire report depicts a vehicle malfunction as the cause of the ignition. Ford has made no efforts to contact the consumer regarding the fire and subsequent damage.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V250000 (Visibility) and 22V346000 (Engine) however, the parts to do the recall repairs were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repairs. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to coast to the side of the roadway, and after restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality. The contact stated that the failure had since become a persistent failure. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not yet diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 43,000.
After owning the car a year and about 15,000 miles I started having transmission rough shifting and lurching motions when shifting - violent lurching. I took it in to the dealership and they reset the adaptive learning component for the transmission. Nothing changed. Brought it in again and drove with technician and was able to reproduce issue. They replaced the transmission and the problems continued and actually increased with losing all acceleration on the freeway (floppy pedal) and then completely losing 10th gear when trying to pass another car. Luckily I was able to pull over and I did not cause an accident. It also threw a code/warning light at that time. I took it back to the dealership. They assessed and reset adaptive driving module. It then lost accelleration and wouldn't engage 10th and started smoking. Took it back to dealership and they claimed all that was due to over full transmission fluid. Original problems of rough shifting, lurching, clunking still existed. I filed a report with Ford and got a case number with the concern department. This resulted in the rear end of the car being replaced??? Car still has transmission issues, with all the above mentioned issues, and now delayed acceleration in the lower gears. Enough is enough fighting about fixing it for a year, it has been in for repairs 7 times, and over 49 days of rental cars . The vehicle does not cause warning lights at any point with the rough shifting, lurching, or lack of acceleration. All have been experienced at various times by the dealership. No solution to date.
I’ve been having issues from day one with shifting gears, the vehicle makes a loud “thunking” noise and practically stops my vehicle in the middle of the road
There is an issue with the auto start/stop where the engine is turned off completely when the vehicle is stopped for any reason. For example, when the car is stopped in a traffic jam it shut off completely which means I have to shift the gear to Park and turn the engine on again . I was advised by Ford dealership that there is not a fix for that. The vehicle is still under warranty and I keep calling the ford customer care center and they keep telling me that the manager on my case will contact and she/he never did.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V346000 (Engine) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts were not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford Expedition. The contact stated while driving 80 MPH, the vehicle began to shake forcefully. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated before the vehicle stalled. The contact was able to park on the side of the roadway, restart the vehicle, and continued driving. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact continued to experience the failure within 24 hours. The contact took the vehicle back to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the fuel injectors to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but experienced the failure a third time. The contact stated the catalytic converter, and the transmission warning lights were illuminated. The contact took the vehicle a third time to the local dealer, diagnosed, and it was determined that the catalytic converter and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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