2018 Ford F-150 Complaint Log

Ford has recalled a Cam phaser for the 2018 F-150 3.5L Eco boost trucks for specific vin number. I took my truck into Larry H Miller Ford Draper dealership to have it looked at because the Cam phaser makes a very loud and distinctive rattle noise when it has a cold start. The dealership technicians told me that it was the same exact issue that the trucks that do have the recall are doing, but they are not able to do my repair because I do not have that recall. I reached out to Ford customer service, and they said they are not able to help or add the recall to my vehicle. My Cam phaser is still continuing to do the same thing with the same problem and would like to get my vin and even other Ford owners with this same issue.

The vehicle as of 12/9/2023 at 3:00pm CST is at a mileage of 79,503. We are consistently experiencing the slipping of gears when the truck is switched from park to drive. The first couple gears seem to slip as it accelerates. The speedometer will be showing at under 10mph, and the truck will jerk forward. The engine/transmission gets loud as if the car is still in a lower gear as it’s accelerating. While it’s jerking and making the loud noise, the speedometer will not go over 10mph. We are concerned that it is a problem with the powertrain control module. It seems to happen when the shift lever is moved from Park to Drive, possibly it causes a loss of gear indication on the instrument cluster display and a momentary selection of an unintended gear, such as Reverse or Neutral before the vehicle achieves the Drive function. We have a column shifter.

Transmission is back in the shop for slipping gears, jumping gears, randomly being thrown into neutral, loss of power

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F150. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the camshaft needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000. The contact stated that the vehicle has all Ford parts yet is not a part of the recall. The vehicle has not been repaired.

Hard shifting with driving, when driving the pickup truck would stall and then go into gear real hard causing a hard shifting and it make the trucks RPM go up and not move, but then when the RPM comes down the truck will shift hard enough to feel the impact and could cause an accident.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the vehicle made an abnormal rattling noise. Additionally, the fuel efficiency had decreased. The contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N03 (Cam Phaser Replacement) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 66,000.

When the F-150 would be turned off after driving for a while, the truck would not Start for a few hours until it cooled down. I had it checked out at Gator Ford and they saif they could not determine the proble. I drove it to [XXX] and had it check out at Two Rivers Ford in [XXX] and they said the truck clearly had a problem and that they "Believed it eas the 10 gear trsnission getting hot and the truck cutting off. They said I should trade it or risk the proble being the Oil Pump and eng. I took their advice and traded it for an F-150 platunm Vin: [XXX] . This is a problem and needs to be look at as now my 2023 F-150 eng has locked up that I reported with a Vin [XXX] . The cutting off with wait time was a daily occurance. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving approximately 20 MPH, there was poor power and the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the dealer and diagnosed with a powertrain control failure. Additionally, the cooling system was not operating effectively. The EGR bypass valve was replaced. The contact stated that the failure was related to Manufacturer Recall Campaign: 20E04. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.

There wasnt an incident yet, but it was made a law that after may 1st, 2018, all new vehicles need rear view visibility systems. Ford made their vehicles have backup cameras, but they are faulty and stop working. Then charge consumers thousands of dollars to fix a safety issue that should be a recall, free of charge. I am filing a complaint om behalf of thousands and thousands of Ford owners. This law went into effect may 1st of 2018, According to USDOT and the National Highway Traffic safety administration. What ford is doing is wrong/unlawful and they should have to follow the law just like everyone else (even being an automobile company).

The problem seems to be the Auto/on/off system. We regularly turn this feature off. On multiple occasions while towing a 22’ travel trailer over 100 miles, the truck will stall when stopping. A bell will sound as it dies. Truck restarts then dies again. Takes several retries and revving engine to keep truck moving through the intersection. Eventually discovered only way to keep truck from stalling at a stop is to have one foot on brake and other on gas pedal. The goal is to keep RPM high. Then when time to move forward comes, rev motor while shifting to drive and lurch forward. This problem only happens when towing. The dealer cannot replicate this issue because it only happens while towing over 100 miles. It puts us in an unsafe situation in an intersection. The truck dies and is difficult to restart as we proceed through the intersection.

My vehicle shakes during shifts or has extremely hard shifts regardless of acceleration demands. I have also had the vehicle completely drop out of gear during both acceleration and with the cruse control set. I have had the vehicle either lock into to high of a gear or refuse to engage into gear while stopped and stop signs and red lights. I have had both the ECU and TCU reflashed multiple times and this issue continues.

Auto StartStop feature shuts down engine when stopped but frequently does not restart when brake is released. Forced to shift to Park and manually restart engine. Sometimes a message is displayed in the dash telling you how to remedy but most often you need to know what is happening and how to remedy. There is an option in Advanced settings to turn off the Auto StartStop feature but that option does not work.

The transmission is very temperamental, at times it works like a dream and then on some days it shifts harsh, shifts late into high engine RPMs. At times when shifting into gear, into drive or reverse either from park or neutral, it shifts with such harshness the whole truck shutters and there is a loud boom. When this occurs I get very startled and my heart rate jumps, it is that unsettling.

Engine doesn’t start when turning the key. When taking the key out and reinserted the engine starts. Auto stop start failure light displayed on dash while idling at a a stop light. Had to turn the ignition off and on several time while at the light. Vehicle has not been reported to the manufacturer or inspected yet. Vehicle is available for inspection upon request.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated there was an abnormal rattling sound coming from the vehicle while cold starting the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had occurred once before and that the failure was linked to the cam phasers. The cam phasers were initially replaced under warranty by a dealer; however, the contact was recently informed that the warranty had expired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to file a complaint. The failure mileage was approximately 30,000.

The vehicle as of 12/9/2023 at 3:39pm CST is at a mileage of 79,542. The week of December 4th, 2023, we brought the truck to a repair shop because there were heavy vibrations that would occur in the front of the truck when driving on the interstate. The repair shop diagnosed it as needing to have the front left wheel hub assembly replaced, and they explained that normally when one side is replaced, they will replace the other side too (front right). They replaced this, but we are concerned that it could’ve been a ball joint misaligned with the dust boot or missing an alignment hole that could’ve caused the need to replace the front left wheel hub assembly. It appears online that other Ford owners have had this issue specifically with the front left while under 80,000 miles. We are concerned that one of the parts in the assembly could be defective.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, she heard a loud abnormal noise. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the cam phaser to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 87,000.

Truck had Slight pull to right then shot across road to the left going off left side of road hitting trees and utilities poll. Section of driveshaft was found were truck first went of the road. We were pulling a travel trailer at the time . Truck ended up laying on drives side. Side airbags deployed but not front bags. Uncertain but feel driveshaft failed causing lost of control

At lower speeds the truck dies. Sometimes does not turn back on right away. I’ve taken it to 3 different dealerships, and no codes have been found.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 MPH and slowing for a traffic signal or sign, the brake pedal was depressed and while coming to a stop the vehicle suddenly accelerated independently. The contact stated that there was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent however, the failure had started to occur at start up and the vehicle would accelerate independently. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer who diagnosed the vehicle but was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 28,000.

lug nuts were swelled on during tire rotation. If I had a flat, I could not of been able to get them off to change the tire. The dealer suggested to replace them at my cost, yet the vehicle is still under warranty. I was out of pocket for $126.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the engine emitted abnormal knocking and rattling sounds. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to continue driving. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring while starting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where an unknown software was updated under Ford Customer satisfaction Program Number: 21B10. The dealer informed the contact that an unknown part would be replaced in the event that the software update did not correct the issue. The failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who informed him that the unknown part could no longer be replaced as Ford Service Campaign Number: 21N03 had expired in February 2022. However, the contact had not received a letter. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.

Transmission, jumping gears, sluggish shifting, jumps gears with a jolt, local and highway speeds. Component was sent to manufacturer. Present since purchase in 2018. Causes warning light, low response (latency) between gas and engine response affects interactions with other vehicles at intersections (uncertainty). Yes, vehicle required major transmission repair and part replacement, now drives like it should have (solid and dependable transmission shifting). Warning engine light.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving approximately 5-70 MPH, the transmission was shifting hard. There were no warning lights illuminated. On a separate occasion, the transmission was shifted from drive to reverse and shifted very hard. The vehicle was taken to a dealer but not diagnosed, and the dealer was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The local dealer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 22,500.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that cylinder #6 was misfiring. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was towed to an unknown dealer, where the same assessment was made. Additionally, the dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was experiencing an abnormal oil consumption. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 80,000.

Issue is with the transmission. Shifts erratic and slammed into gear at times. Safety concern is on 7 occasions now it has went into neutral like state after starting in traffic which has nearly caused me to be rear ended. While in this state with no forward acceleration the gear indicator switches between several different gears but not going into any one gear. I am now unable to pull into oncoming traffic for fear of the vehicle not accelerating. Truck has 37k miles and I'm the second owner. Vehicle is at ford dealer now since 06/13/22. I have read several forums with many complaints about this 10 speed adaptive transmission. I am severely worried for my and my families safety and was told by ford dealer they have had similar complaints. Have not been in a crash yet but extremely close with a semi on one occasion.

Swollen wheel lug nuts

The rack and pinion of the vehicle is locking up and becoming very stiff when driving. The steering locked up while in a curve and steered me into oncoming traffic with others in the vehicle. This needs to to be recalled so it can be repaired. There are multiple TSB reports from the manufacturer about the issue as well as a law suit against the manufacturer for the issue. It is gradually getting to be worse of an issue the more I drive it

While stopping for traffic I heard a loud bang and my vehicle began to violently shudder to a stop. At the same time my check engine light came on. When traffic began to move, my vehicle would not move. I got out of my vehicle and found the drive shaft sheared in two pieces and laying on the ground. My truck was completely immobile in a busy highway. I believe the transmission was fighting against the brake system while I was trying to stop and the force as a result of that is what caused the drive shaft to shear.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle shuddered violently and made an abnormally loud rattling sound. The vehicle was taken to the dealer while it was under warranty coverage; however, the dealer informed the contact that the failure could not be duplicated. The contact stated that the failure had gotten progressively worse. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start and became undrivable. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the warranty coverage had expired. The contact related the failure to Ford Campaign Number: 21N03. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000. The VIN was not available.

While traveling on a straight and level interstate freeway with the cruise-control set to 75mph. A huge loss of power followed by a hard downshift from 10th to 7th, up to 9th and attempting to shift back into 10th before I decided to reduce speeds and pull over because it was very dangerous surging/uncontrollable for moments for myself and those driving around me. I noted smoke pouring out from behind the vehicle and that the transmission temp was at 226F. NO WARNING LAMPS/MESSAGES OR OTHER SYSMPTOMS NOTED. Once pulled over, I inspected the underside of the vehicle and noted the whole underside coated in automatic transmission fluid (Red in color). The fluid seemed to trace back to just before the engine/transmission interface. Transmission was serviced 7k miles prior. Dealer advised (through email correspondence) that I let the vehicle/transmission cool down and can then continue to drive the vehicle as the ATF foams up/ expanding and spills out of the transmission vent tube. If problems persist to bring in the vehicle for inspection.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated upon completing a tire rotation, the dealer informed him that the lug nuts were deformed and had failed, which made it impossible to rotate the tires. The dealer informed the contact that it was a known failure and advised the contact to purchase new lug nuts that were not manufactured by the Ford manufacturer from a local Pep Boys. The contact purchased the new lug nuts and the dealer repaired the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA. The vehicle was repaired. The failure mileage was 56,354.

After towing a trailer for a few hours, the truck has difficulty cranking over after the truck has been turned off for refueling. It seems like the battery or alternator are bad, but I have had both checked and they are in good shape. This only happens when pulling a trailer. This has happened multiple times. The safety concern is being stranded on a road trip. Others have this issue on the 2018 f150 as well. I have read about this. Some have said a wire is overheating.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH, there was a flickering in the rearview mirror. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact noticed that the rear window was detached from the body of the truck. The contact related the failure to a manufacturer defect with the tape connection of the window. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer and diagnosed; however, no failure was found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure; however, no assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.

Ford dealer states the lug nuts are swelling. A known build/design quality issue.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was an abnormally loud knocking sound coming from the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The sound had become progressively louder over time. The contact stated that the failure was related to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N03. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that here was no coverage for the vehicle under the Customer Satisfaction Program. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 35,000.

Truck shifts gears and goes out of gear when driving at highway speeds. In some cases it loses power altogether when it slips out of gear. It also does this when stopped and trying to accelerate at an intersection.

Vehicle makes sudden lunging motion when vehicle is being shifted from part to drive or reverse. After vehicle is in motion from being parked it has random intermittent losses of power. Transmission does not shift properly while the vehicle is in motion.

While traveling on interstate truck shifted harshly causing a severe jerk then loss of power. Took to repair facility and after three days truck was returned. On way home roughly twenty-five miles from dealership same issue returned and truck went into limp mode maximum speed of 30mph. Truck has now been at repair facility for six weeks with no end in sight as to when or if a repair will be made. This is a 10 speed automatic transmission with 55,000 miles.

While driving down the highway at the speed limit (75 mph), my truck suddenly lost power and partially lost braking. The engine was still running but was running at an idle speed RPM. Both an audible voice and a message on the driver information panel said "drive mode not available, service is needed" Braking power was partially lost at the same time. Steering power seemed normal but braking power was also partially lost at the same time. My truck started slowing down, obviously, and as soon as a shoulder was available, I pulled over onto the shoulder and let my vehicle speed decrease. I only had partial braking power (I estimate less than 30%) so was unable to quickly come to a full stop. As my truck slowed to a speed of about 5 mph, it suddenly started working again, although an icon shaped like a wrench appeared at the bottom center of the driver information panel. At the same time of the issue described above, the air conditioning and air blower fully stopped at the same time, and the multifunction display used for audio and navigation went blank for a moment and reset itself. When it came back on the navigation portion of the screen gave a "GPS faulted" error. I was able to finish driving to work, where I parked the vehicle. Later, after work, and after the vehicle had been parked for several hours, the truck behaved normally, the wrench icon was gone and there was no indication at all that there had been any issue. I was in congested traffic at the time of the event and it could have resulted in a serious highway traffic accident involving multiple vehicles.

I had a front end collision with my truck. The damage was a direct hit on the airbag sensor, and my airbags nor my seatbelts deployed. I was going about 45 to 50. The pre-collision warning appeared right before I hit the vehicle but no automatic braking. The body shop that has my vehicle had safety concerns because my vehicle took the brunt of the crash right on the airbag sensor. No airbags or anything deployed, but the sensor was broken in the accident. The concern is if the sensor was hit directly, why didn't it send a signal to through the system to deploy safety restraint systems. I called Ford to inform them of my concerns. After going through several people, I was finally given a case number CAS37213430 after days of trying to get them to take me seriously. They told me to take it to a Ford dealer to have it checked, but it is wrecked so how will they check it. My concern is that it didn't deploy the restraints because obviously wasn't working properly. I couldn't get all my pics to load so have more.

Lug nuts swelled making removal impossible without damaging them and rendering them unsafe for reuse per the tire shop (Plaza Tire Service). Required replacement of 5 initially and all at a later date.

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while checking the oil level, he noticed that there was no oil on the dipstick. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact had added oil several weeks ago. The contact drove the vehicle to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 30,000.

First is the automatic 10 speed transmission. Started with hard shifting then skipped gears then the whole transmission had to be replaced. Next is the cam phasers, loud knocking, engine runs rough, poor acceleration, gets hot fast. Local Ford dealer has confirmed the problems. Have replaced transmission but have not had the money to replace cam phasers. Both known by Ford but not taking responsibility for it.

My cam phasers are always burning and consuming a lot of oil it also has a ticking sound coming from the engine which Ford says is normal but I don't think it's normal because it gets louder and it happens as I drive all the time. My transmission will automatically slam into a higher gear while trying to accelerate on the highway. Oil is constantly getting into the spark plug chamber even after replacement of seals.

APIM is bad. It causes safety issues as the SYNC 3 system is either slow to change or doesn't change at all. Among other issues, I've driven forward in Drive with the SYNC screen still showing the view of the reverse camera. IT interferes with any safety systems that require the APIM to react in a timely manner.

The vehicles transmission randomly malfunctions slamming into and dropping out of gear and slamming back into gear causing vehicle to lose responsiveness. The dealer has informed me its 2018 F150s and Expeditions and they do not have a fix.

The rear window spontaneously shattered while stopped at traffic light in South Florida I heard a loud bang and discovered the rear window was shattered. It was temporarily held in place by the laminate in the glass and window tint. It was approximately 90° outside, and the air conditioner was on. I inspected both interior and exterior surfaces of the window. They were unmarked. We called our insurance agent and they directed us to get it repaired by one of two companies they dealt with. The vehicle is currently undrivable. When I closed the driver’s door upon exiting the vehicle the window pushed out further towards the truck bed.

Transmission slips in and out of gear while in operation. When started, the truck will slip into neutral as it is driven. Makes it hazardous when merging into traffic or trying to pass as the transmission will slip without warning.

The transmission valve body wears over time and becomes out of sync with the electronic shifting strategies. This caused the clutches to burn up and the vehicle comes out of gear or drops into 1st gear at highway speeds. Transmission was inspected and replaced due to the damage. Prior to the interstate failure was some random hard shifting but no warning lamps or messages.