2025 Ford Ranger Engine Problems

I was exiting the freeway, and as I was turning off of the freeway onto a side street, at approximately 20mph, my vehicle did not respond to throttle input, and left me slowing to a stop in the middle of a busy intersection. I had to shift my vehicle into neutral and then back into drive, to get it to respond to throttle input. When I slow down at intersections, turn and then attempt to throttle my vehicle, it hesitates and struggles to output power until I throttle about halfway.

NHTSA ID

11754755

Incident

Mar 1, 2026

2025 Ranger STX with 950 miles on odometer. When starting vehicle with transmission in park, a pronounced clunk/thump is heard and felt. The clunk/thump varies in intensity with the most intense episode resulting in the physical slight rearward movement of the truck. Symptom seems to be more prevalent when vehicle has been dormant for a few hours or overnight. Initially thought vehicle was going to lunge rearward by physical movement of truck. No warning lights were present with the event. Dealer appointment is scheduled later next week. vehicle is availabe for inspection upon request.

NHTSA ID

11752830

Incident

Jul 13, 2026

On 6-7 separate occasions, my 2025 Ranger had a sudden and complete loss of accelerator response while slowing down to make a left turn. This also happens on occasion at traffic lights when the light turns and I attempt to turn left. The duration of loss of power has increased with each incident and is very frightening when it occurs. When attempting to accelerate across the road, there was no response or power from the engine to get me through traffic. On each occasions, the safety of everyone in my vehicle as well members of the public were at great risk. It is only by good luck that these engine failure incidents did not cause a serious crash. The local Ford dealer has been unable to identify the problem. Until and unless the Ford Dealer can replicate the problem, I am unable to get the problem resolved. In the meantime, I feel that I my life is at risk every time I drive my truck. There were no warnings from the vehicle about this loss of power and the randomness of this causes great fear when driving. The incident appears to be the same as Recall 26V343000, Loss of Drive Power from Engine Failure, which does not include my specific VIN.

NHTSA ID

11744742

Incident

Apr 10, 2026

Purchased this truck new and took on a trip over the weekend. Put on just under 800 miles no issues. This morning while driving to get my wondows tinted I noticed my truck flashing to apply brakes as it was trying to shift itself into 4wd low setting. Sure enough i looked over and the truck was switching drive modes when no one had touched it. Nothing in my cupholder either that could have accidentally bunped it either. I quickly pulled over and pressed the 2 wheel drive button and restarted the truck. I did a quick google search and found that others are having this issue too. I cant even imagine what damage it would have done to the vehicle or myself if it fully shifted over while driving at highway speeds.

NHTSA ID

11744564

Incident

Jun 16, 2026

Complete power loss from transmission. Yes available for inspection. Power loss was experienced on at least 4 separate occasions. This occurred during either slowing down or stopping to make a left hand turn while yielding to oncoming traffic. When re-engaging the accelerator to get across oncoming traffic zero power transfer occurred putting my self, my passengers, and the oncoming vehicles and passengers at risk for a head on or Tbone collision. The loss of power has not been replicated but a ford dealership did note high pitched transmission whine and hard shifting when during deceleration during inspection. Inspected by authorized ford dealer. No lights or warnings present, prior to, during, or after incidents.

NHTSA ID

11736073

Incident

Apr 20, 2026

Coolant hose on bypass valve came off. Dumped coolant and engine overheated. Tech said it just came off, service advisor said I “hit a bump”.

NHTSA ID

11734992

Incident

Apr 24, 2026

My 2025 Ford Ranger Lariat FX4 has experienced sudden and complete loss of accelerator pedal response while driving at low speed on at least 4 to 6 separate occasions. The engine continues to run normally, but pressing the accelerator produces no power and no vehicle response. The condition has consistently occurred while pulling into my subdivision, which has an inclined entrance. The truck also feels noticeably sluggish nearly every time I make this turn, even when full dropout does not occur. No warning lights, check engine light, or messages in the instrument cluster illuminate during these events. No diagnostic trouble codes have been stored that I am aware of. The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. The symptoms closely match two active Ford recalls — 26S10 (EGR valve failure causing unexpected loss of drive power, stated by Ford to be most likely at speeds under 13 mph) and 25V-239 (PCM reset causing temporary loss of acceleration). My vehicle is not currently listed as included in either recall per Ford’s VIN lookup. Numerous owner reports on public Ford Ranger forums describe identical symptoms on 2024 and 2025 Ranger trucks, many of which are also not covered by the existing recalls and for which dealers have been unable to find stored codes. A sudden, unannounced loss of drive power at low speed on an incline or while turning into traffic represents a clear crash risk. I am requesting that NHTSA investigate whether the affected vehicle population should be expanded.

NHTSA ID

11733498

Incident

Apr 24, 2026

A strong smell of burning oil is coming from the engine compartment after truck warms up. Checked fluid levels, monitoring temperature. Went to dealer, dealer claims nothing found. Went back to dealer on 031626 for concern, dealer states no problem found, all fluid levels ok. No troubleshooting performed. Dealer said again that no smells detected. As of today, there is still smell coming from the engine area. All fluid levels appear good. However, after warming up the vehicle and parking, strong smell still exists. Not sure if there is a bigger problem in the future, a defective part, or if it has something to do with the design of the engine.

NHTSA ID

11725809

Incident

Jan 30, 2026

I was driving my truck home on 01/22/26 and experienced a lack of acceleration and smelled oil. I got the truck home and looked under the hood. I noticed a collapsed rubber hose leading from the air intake box to the air intake of the turbo. I removed the air filter, which is practically new, and noticed no restrictions. At this point, I am trying to get it to the dealer to check for any additional problems, and replace the rubber intake hose, with something possibly better. From what I saw, the hose which has corrugations cannot handle the boost intake.

NHTSA ID

11712800

Incident

Jan 22, 2026