NHTSA Complaint #11701861 — 2020 FORD F-150

While driving at normal speed, the vehicle suddenly began producing heavy white smoke from the exhaust, the engine started to idle roughly, and a check-engine light came on. There was no oil-pressure warning, no low-oil message, and no “stop safely” alert of any kind. The only warning was emissions-related. After seeing the smoke, the vehicle was parked and later driven only to a dealer for inspection. A dealer inspected the vehicle and confirmed that an internal seal in one of the turbochargers failed, causing the engine to pump all of its oil directly into the exhaust system. This resulted in complete oil loss and catastrophic engine damage due to oil starvation. The dealer confirmed the failure and determined that the issue originated from the turbocharger assembly and not from misuse or neglect. The failure occurred suddenly and without any oil-pressure warning to alert the driver. The safety concern is that a turbocharger failure caused total loss of engine oil without triggering any oil-pressure warning or driver alert, creating a risk of sudden engine failure, loss of power, or engine seizure while driving. The lack of oil-pressure warning before or during the event was confirmed by the dealer’s inspection.