NHTSA Complaint #10668759 — 2012 FORD F-150

THIS IS THE 2ND (AND 3RD, 4TH, 5TH) INSTANCE OF A PROBLEM I ORIGINALLY DESCRIBED IN ODI 10659481. AGAIN, AFTER TRAVELING ON THE INTERSTATE FOR A FEW HOURS IN VERY LIGHT RAIN, THE ENGINE FAILED TO ACCELERATE NORMALLY WHILE MERGING INTO TRAFFIC FROM AN ON-RAMP. THIS CREATED A VERY HAZARDOUS SITUATION, WITH TRAFFIC BEARING DOWN ON US FROM BEHIND AT APPROXIMATELY 75 MPH AND STEADY TRAFFIC ALSO IN THE LEFT LANES. UNLIKE THE EARLIER OCCURRENCE ON OCT 28, THE TRUCK DID NOT SHAKE VIOLENTLY AND THE CHECK-ENGINE LIGHT (CEL) DID NOT FLASH. HOWEVER, THE TRUCK WAS NOTICEABLY VIBRATING AND VERY SLOW TO ACCELERATE TO HIGHWAY SPEED. BECAUSE FORD HAD DECLINED TO MAKE REPAIRS AFTER THE FIRST INCIDENT DUE TO ODB CODES REPORTEDLY NOT BEING PRESENT, I HAD PURCHASED MY OWN ODB-II SCAN TOOL. INDEED, NO CODES WERE LOGGED FOR THIS INCIDENT EITHER. ON DEC 28 I TRAVELED 550 ADDITIONAL MILES ON INTERSTATE IN STEADY RAIN. I TESTED THE ENGINE 3 SEPARATE TIMES BY ATTEMPTING SUSTAINED HARD ACCELERATION. EACH TIME THE TRUCK SHOOK AND FAILED TO ACCELERATE NORMALLY, THE CEL FINALLY ILLUMINATED STEADY AND MISFIRE CODES WERE LOGGED P0304, P0305 AND P0306. IN SUMMARY, I HAVE EXPERIENCED THIS F-150 ECOBOOST ENGINE FAILURE FIVE TIMES, BUT ODB CODES WERE NOT LOGGED ON THE FIRST TWO WHEN ATTEMPTING REAL-WORLD CRITICAL MANEUVERS. THE CODES WERE ONLY LOGGED DURING INTENTIONAL TESTING FOR LONGER PERIODS OF TIME. I AM CONFIRMING THAT THIS IS THE SAFETY DEFECT AS DESCRIBED IN FORD TSB 13-8-1 "3.5L GTDI - INTERMITTENT STUMBLE/MISFIRE ON ACCELERATION FROM HIGHWAY CRUISE IN HUMID OR DAMP CONDITIONS". IT IS PARTICULARLY CONCERNING THAT EVIDENCE OF THIS DEFECT IS NOT ALWAYS LOGGED BY THE VEHICLE COMPUTER AND CUSTOMERS ARE THEREFORE BEING DENIED THE PRESCRIBED REPAIRS. IT IS ALSO CONCERNING THAT FUEL MILEAGE HAS BEEN SERIOUSLY IMPAIRED (ABOUT 3 MPG HIGHWAY) SINCE THE FIRST OCCURRENCE. *TR