NHTSA Complaint #11697212 — 2018 FORD F-150

I have a 2018 Ford F-150 with a 3.5L Ecoboost engine. In October 2021, I received a Customer Satisfaction Program 21B10, 21N03, and 21N08 notice of a software upgrade to reduce the engine cam phasor rattle on engine start up. This was a limited time repair notice. Unfortunately, I thought it was a recall notice and did not act on this upgrade until a few weeks after it had expired on July 31, 2022. When I called the local dealer a few weeks after this date, they stated they would not perform the upgrade free and instead would charge me. I also had a mechanic state that this issue was not required and recommended I not pay for this upgrade. Even if I had performed the upgrade, it doesn't sound like it would have necessarily fixed the cam phasor issue because thousands on Ford customers have complained. Over the years, the engine "rattle" noise has gotten worse, the engine has been harder to start, and the engine surges at highway speeds which is a "safety concern" since I no longer feel safe driving the truck because it feels like it will "stall" at any moment. When I took the truck into the dealer on September 3, 2025, they stated there was not warranty recall for the cam phasor issue even though this was documented by Ford Motor in the October 2021 Customer Satisfaction Program stated above. They told me it would cost ~ $5,600 to fix the issue. I do not understand how there is not a recall on this since Ford Motor knew they had a defective cam phasor design in their 3.5L Ecoboost engines. I am sure there are quite a few complaints posted with NHTSA. Any help you can provide with this issue would be greatly appreciated by me and all the Ford owners. Thank you.