NHTSA Complaint #10854778 — 2010 FORD FUSION

THE VEHICLE STARTING HAVING A ROUGH IDLE AND STALLING OUT AT A RED LIGHTS. I IMMEDIATELY HAD IT CHECKED, AND THE TECHNICIAN CLEANED THE THROTTLE BODY WHICH SEEMED TO HELP FOR A FEW DAYS. THEN, WITH NO WARNING I SAW SMOKE/STEAM POURING OUT FROM UNDER THE HOOD SO I IMMEDIATELY CALLED FOR HELP AND ASKED WHAT TO DO. I WAS ADVISED BY THE TECHNICIAN TO IMMEDIATELY PULL OVER AND SHUT THE CAR. I HAD THE CAR TOWED TO LILLISTON FORD IN VINELAND, NJ. I WAS TOLD I NEEDED A NEW MOTOR. WHEN ASKED WHY, I WAS CONSISTENTLY TOLD THAT THEY WERE NOT SURE WITHOUT TAKING THE MOTOR APART BUT THAT THEY FOUND ALL OF THE COOLANT IN THE ENGINE PAN, MIXED WITH THE MOTOR OIL. IT SEEMS TO BE THAT THE MOST LIKELY SCENARIO IS THAT THE HEAD GASKET WENT BAD AND COOLANT LEAKED INTO THE MOTOR CAUSING TWO THINGS TO HAPPEN - IT MIXED WITH THE ENGINE OIL (WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY BAD), AND SINCE NOW ALL OF THE COOLANT WAS OUT OF THE RADIATOR THE CAR OVERHEATED AND WARPED THE ENGINE BLOCK. THIS VEHICLE IS ONLY 6 YEARS OLD AND WAS RELIGIOUSLY MAINTAINED AND SHOULD NOT BE HAVING MAJOR ISSUES AS SUCH. CASE NUMBER: CAS-9188661.