Ford F-150 on a cliff
Tech & Auto
The Engine That Puts Ford Trucks And SUVS At Risk Of Catastrophic Failure
By NICHOLAS WILSON
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced its plans to extend its 2022 investigation into 708,000 Ford trucks and SUVs over reported engine failures.
Research by the agency and customer data indicates that certain Fords can lose power unexpectedly during normal driving conditions due to a catastrophic engine failure.
The vehicles reportedly at risk are the 2021 and 2022 models of the Ford Bronco, F-150, Edge, Explorer, Lincoln Aviator, and Nautilus SUVs.
The NHTSA suspects a faulty valve in the 2.7 L and 3.0 L EcoBoost engines is the source of the malfunction, which would mean non-EcoBoost-powered vehicles aren’t affected.
After Ford began cooperating with the agency and sent its data over, the company revealed that all of its vehicles in the Nano engine family released in 2021 and 2022 are at risk.
Ford said the material the valves are made from, Silchrome Lite, is the source of the issue. They also noted that 2023 models don’t have this alloy and won’t have the problem.
While it’s unclear how long the investigation will last and if there will be a recall, Ford claims that if the malfunction hasn’t already occurred, it likely won’t happen at all.