NHTSA Complaint #10971174 — 2010 FORD FLEX

VEHICLE WAS TURNING OFF OF A STATE HIGHWAY INTO A SCHOOL ENTRANCE. WITHOUT WARNING (NO WARNING LIGHTS ON DASH) ENGINE STOPPED RUNNING. DUE TO ENGINE SHUT DOWN ALL AUXILIARY SYSTEMS LOST POWER. VEHICLE WAS MAKING A LEFT TURN INTO A SCHOOL ENTRANCE WHEN ENGINE TURNED OFF. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TURN THE LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND POWER BRAKES MADE NEGOTIATING THE TURN UNSAFE. THE OPERATOR WAS UNABLE TO KEEP THE VEHICLE ON THE PAVED ENTRANCE AND ENDED UP OFF THE SHOULD AND INTO THE GRASS. FORTUNATELY THERE WERE NO PEDESTRIANS OR OBSTACLES. FAILURE COULD CAUSE A SAFETY ISSUE AT HIGHWAY SPEED DUE TO POTENTIAL FOR REAR ENDING DUE TO LOSS OF POWER. THIS ENGINE FAILURE IS DUE TO FORD 3.5 DURATEC INTERNAL WATER PUMP DESIGN. WHEN THE WATER PUMP SEALS FAIL, ALL COOLANT IS CONTAINED IN THE MOTOR AND COLLECTED IN THE OIL PAN. BY COLLECTING THE COOLANT IN THE OIL PAN IT CAUSED A P0016 CODE AND THE ENGINE TO SHUT OFF. THEIR WAS NO WARNING OF THIS. THE CAR WAS DRIVEN 3.5HRS THE PREVIOUS DAY WITH NO ISSUES OR WARNING LIGHTS. FORD IS UNWILLING TO RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM. I FILED CLAIMS WITH FORD CUSTOMER SERVICE #11792792 AND CAS-11876774 ON THIS ISSUE. REPAIR BILL WAS $4100 TO REPLACE THE MOTOR WITH A SIMILAR USED MOTOR. THE VEHICLE REPAIR WAS JUST COMPLETED YESTERDAY AND I STILL FEEL UNSAFE AND UNCOMFORTABLE KNOWING THE SAME POTENTIAL FOR ENGINE FAILURE EXISTS. IT IS BOTH A SAFETY CONCERN AND AN FINANCIAL CONCERN. THEIR ARE MANY DOCUMENTED CASES OF THIS HAPPENING ON FORDFLEX.NET (15 CASES) ALSO ON FORDTAURUS.NET. PLEASE GOOGLE DURATEC 3.5 WATER PUMP FAILURE. THESE FORUMS DOCUMENT OTHER NHTSA CLAIMS FILED FOR EXACT REASONS.