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 2016 Ford Flex submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 9 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.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
The car is experiencing turbo failure that lines up with the recall for the same model vehicle produced within the same 2016-2017 date. But for some reason this vin isnt included in the recall
I am getting a "Transmission Not In Park" error that will also sometimes flash "Door Ajar" while driving. Door appears to be closed - not sure if it's latched, transmission is obviously NOT in park because the car is moving. I'm concerned that this shouldn't be driven and is a safety issue.
The car kept misfiring and it completely stoped on me 2 times in the street it also overheated due to the cooling system
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Flex. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the check coolant warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was advised that the engine had experienced coolant intrusion and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 163,000.
There is far to much to list
Ford hid the fact that some of its vehicles may suffer a sudden internal water pump failure that poses significant safety risks to drivers including sudden catastrophic engine failure. From 2007 through at least 2020, Ford has incorporated the Cyclone Engine—containing a faulty internal water pump—into thousands of vehicles. Internal Water Pumps should last for the useful life of the engines without the need for any service, maintenance, or repair. Despite knowing for more than a decade that its' vehicles incorporating the "Duratec Engine", contain a defect in design that can cause the internal water pump to prematurely fail well before the end of the useful life of the engine. The issue has lead to a repair estimate of $2700 USD or could lead to catastrophic engine failure due to the water pumps' placement inside the engine block (Poor Design). In the past, Ford has also represented that the water pump will not need to be serviced or maintenance, but the internal location of the water pump in the engine conceals it from view and inspection when other routine services are being performed. The water pump is in line with the crankshaft and located over the main body of the engine, it reportedly allows coolant to leak from the water pump into the oil pan. Making matters worse, mixed coolant and oil can lead to engine failure, too.
THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION AND WAS TURNING LEFT FROM A STOP AT A STOPLIGHT. WE WERE PREPARING TO ENTER A HIGHWAY ON-RAMP. THE ENGINE SUDDENLY QUIT (NO WARNING) AND WOULD NOT RESTART. HAD THIS HAPPENED A FEW MOMENTS LATER (MERGING INTO HEAVY HIGHWAY TRAFFIC), AN ACCIDENT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKELY. WE WERE NOT ABLE TO RESTART THE ENGINE AND THE VEHICLE HAD TO BE TOWED. IT ONLY HAS 31,000 MILES. IT GAVE NO SIGNS OF IMPENDING PROBLEMS, THE ENGINE FAILURE WAS COMPLETELY WITHOUT WARNING. (THERE WAS PLENTY OF FUEL IN THE TANK ALSO).
ECOBOOST 3.5L VEHICLE EXPERIENCED TOTAL LOSS OF POWER AND WHITE SMOKE FROM TAILPIPES WHILE DRIVING 65MPH ON EXPRESSWAY BUT STILL RAN. DROVE STRAIGHT TO AN INDEPENDENT SERVICE CENTER WHERE THEY DIAGNOSED LOW BOOST PRESSURE DTC AND FAILURE OF BOTH TURBOCHARGERS. TOWED VEHICLE TO FORD SERVICE CENTER WHERE THEY DUG DEEPER AND ARE NOW TELLING ME THERE WAS A COOLANT SYSTEM LEAK WHICH WASHED OUT THE ENGINE OIL AND CAUSED THE ENGINE TO OVERHEAT AND THE TURBOS TO FAIL(LOCK UP). THERE HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS DOCUMENTED ISSUES WITH COOLANT SYSTEM LEAKS AND OIL SUPPLY TO TURBOS CAUSING FAILURES/FIRE/OVERHEATING IN ECOBOOST ENGINES... DEALER IS NOW TELLING ME THE ENTIRE ENGINE NEEDS TO BE REPLACED INCLUDING THE TURBOCHARGERS IN THE BALLPARK OF $13,000.
"TAKATA RECALL" MY ENGINE LIGHT WENT ON 2000 MILES BEFORE MY MANUFACTURES WARRANTY EXPIRED. I HAVE A FORD SHOP HERE, BUT THEY ARE RATED SO LOW AND I HEAR NOTHING BUT BAD STUFF ABOUT THEM, SO I CALLED THE NEXT CLOSEST 95 MILES AWAY IN SPEARFISH, SD. I EXPLAINED TO THE GUY WHAT CODE THE ENGINE THREW, BUT MY LIGHT IS NOW OFF. HE SAID NOT TO COME IN, UNTIL MY ENGINE LIGHT CAME BACK ON. MEANWHILE MY ENGINE STILL HISSES AND THE EXHAUST ODOR IS SO STRONG INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE VEHICLE. I HAVE 36,879 MILES ON MY 2016 AND EITHER HAVE AN EXHAUST LEAK FROM THE HEADERS OR THE MANIFOLD. THE ENGINE LIGHT WON'T COME BACK ON AND NOONE WILL CHECK THE VEHICLE WITHOUT IT ON. THERE IS NO REASON FOR MY "NEWER" VEHICLE TO HAVE AN EXHAUST LEAK TO THIS EXTENT.
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
Data on this page last refreshed .