NHTSA Ends Investigation Into Ford EcoBoost Engines

On Monday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced it had concluded a probe into roughly 411,000 Ford SUVs and pickups. The agency was initially focused on engine issues believed to stem from faulty components found on Bronco models using the 2.7-liter EcoBoost motor and had expanded its scope to include other vehicles. However, the investigation looks to have determined that the automaker had already addressed the issue in an earlier recall.

A recall was issued in September for the 2021-2022 model year Ford Bronco, F-150, Edge and Explorer. Lincoln’s Nautilus and Aviator were likewise included.

The company’s global Critical Concern Review Group had apparently opened an investigation into the problem in January 2022 after noticing problems with the 2.7 and 3.0-liter EcoBoost engines. Customer complaints alleged that the vehicles were seeing a sudden loss of power and teardowns showed that some of the engines were playing host to intake valve fractures.

Noticing an influx of complaints, the NHTSA had launched an investigation of its own by May of 2022, which continued to expand alongside Ford’s internal probe. By the fall of 2023, it was looking like as many as 708,837 could be impacted by the valvetrains that could not handle the heat generated by normal operations.

Despite a sizable number of customer reports coming in to both the NHTSA and Ford, the automaker determined that the supplier’s grinding processes for the intake valves were not within agreed upon specifications. But the good news was that the company (Eaton Corp) had changed the intake valve material used after October of 2021. While this did result in the automaker recalling over 90,000 vehicles, it also suggested that the problem wouldn’t persist in vehicles assembled after that date.

Ford's recall included dealer inspections and testing to determine if it was equipped with defective valves. Obviously, any suspect hardware would be replaced free of charge.

But it looks as though the recall will be limited to the specific 2021-2022 model year. The NHTSA reported that its investigation showed that the reported failures related to the faulty valve steadily decreased after November 2021, suggesting that the supplier changing their manufacturing processes and materials had made a difference.

This doesn’t preclude more actions being taken later on, should more complaints manifest. But the NHTSA seems satisfied that the issue has been resolved via the previous recall and has closed its expanded investigation.

Ford likewise said it believed that the majority of the engine failures should have already occurred before 20,000 miles if the vehicles built after October 2021 still had defective values, noting that over half of the reported incidents took place before vehicles had 5,000 miles on the odometer. However, to offer customers peace of mind, the automaker will still offer extended warranty coverage on any vehicle covered by the investigation for 10 years or 150,000 miles.

[Images: Ford Motor Co.]

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Source: The Truth About Cars