NHTSA Complaint #10594495 — 2008 FORD FUSION

TRAVELED FROM CT TO MARATHON, FL, ARRIVING AFTER NOON. WITHIN SIGHT OF THE HOTEL DESTINATION THE ENGINE BEGAN TO BREAK DOWN AND RUN ROUGH. I ALSO SMELLED SMOKE. I MANAGED TO GET TO THE HOTEL PARKING LOT BEFORE THE ENGINE QUIT ALTOGETHER. A LOCAL SHOP DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM AS TWO CYLINDER MISFIRES AND FAILED IGNITION COILS. 57 MI FROM THE DEALER IN KEY WEST AND OVER 100 MI FROM MIAMI, I ELECTED TO HAVE A LOCAL ASE CERTIFIED SHOP REPLACE THE COILS. REFLASHING THE PCM SHOWED A NEW SET OF CODES AND THAT THE PCM WAS FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. ACCORDING TO MACHADO FORD IN MIAMI, THERE WERE NO PCMS IN FORD'S INVENTORY IN ALL OF THE US. SEARCHED FOR REMANUFACTURED PCMS WAS FRUITLESS AS WELL. FINALLY CONTACTED ARMSTRONG FORD IN HOMESTEAD AND THEY SAID THEY COULD FIX THE CAR. $996.56 TO THE SHOP IN BIG PINE KEY. TRANSPORTED THE CAR TO HOMESTEAD ON FRI 2/21. MONDAY THE DEALER HAD LOCATED A PCM AND REPLACEMENT WAS COMPLETED UNDER WARRANTY TUESDAY AFTERNOON. I PICKED UP THE CAR ON WEDNESDAY AND LEFT FOR JACKSONVILLE IN THE AFTERNOON. 120 MI NORTH IN JUPITOR, THE ENGINE FAILED AGAIN. WE SAT ON THE SIDE OF THE FL TURNPIKE'S 70 MPH TRAFFIC UNTIL WE COULD HAVE THE CAR TRANSPORTED TO MULLINAX FORD IN WEST PALM, ARRIVING AFTER THE SERVICE DEPT HAD CLOSED. THE NEXT DAY I LEARNED THAT ALL THREE CATALYTIC CONVERTERS WERE PLUGGED AND NEEDED REPLACEMENT. TWO CONVERTERS WERE AVAILABLE AND WERE REPLACED ON 2/28. THE THIRD CONVERTER WAS BACK ORDERED WITH AN EXPECTED AVAILABILITY OF 3/31. SINCE THE REMAINING UNIT HAD DISCHARGED ITS CONTENTS INTO THE TAILPIPE AND WAS DISCARDED, I WAS ABLE TO DRIVE BACK TO CT. TASCA FORD IN BERLIN CT IS STILL WAITING FOR THE REPLACEMENT CONVERTER AFTER NUMEROUS EXTENSIONS OF DELIVERY DATES FROM FORD. THE FORD CUSTOMER SERV REP REFUSED TO RETURN MY CALLS. MY TOTAL OUT OF POCKET EXPENSES EXCEED $4000 TO DATE. *TR