general problems of the 2015 Ford F-150 - part 1

I was driving my 2015 Ford f150 and just pulled into the parking lot. The lights on the dash started going off (airbags, parking detectors, big wrench, etc), however the vehicle driving wasn't affected at that time. I immediately stopped and parked, when I returned to my vehicle it had full power, but wouldn't even attempt to start. I had no choice but to tow it to a nearby Ford dealership in grapevine, TX. It was ultimately diagnosed with a bad "transmission lead harness. " the dealership told me that this was a recall item on many f150s, but for some reason, not on mine. I researched this specific issue and found that 2011-2016 models of f150 were affected. It shows an investigation was opened for 2015 models as well. My question is why my specific vehicle is not under a recall. This could be a potentially dangerous issue, I'd think. So, right now I'm looking at a nearly $2000 bill to repair my vehicle when they get the parts in on Friday, 10/10/2025. I believe that if this is a recall on other with the same transmission lead harness, why is mine separated from that. I was given no warning other than the lights going off just before shutting of my truck, then it wouldn't start again. Thankfully I was in a populated area and not in the middle of nowhere. Please advise on any possible what I can get reimbursed for this issue.

Subject: safety defect report – 2015 Ford F-150 clock spring failure to whom it may concern at NHTSA, I am writing to report a safety defect in my 2015 Ford F-150 (VIN: [xxx] ). The steering wheel clock spring has failed, which prevents the use of steering wheel controls to cycle through and monitor critical vehicle information. This creates a safety risk because the driver cannot access important vehicle data while driving. I contacted Ford motor company to request assistance, as the repair was quoted at $700. Ford acknowledged my request but refused to provide assistance, stating the vehicle is outside of warranty. However, the clock spring is a safety-critical component that should not fail under normal use. Ford has issued recalls for clock spring failures on other vehicles, which indicates this can be a systemic safety issue. This failure compromises safe vehicle operation and should be investigated as a potential recall matter. Thank you for your attention to this issue. Sincerely, [xxx] [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Transmission on my f150 suddenly dropped to a lower gear as I was pulling out on a highway which significantly lowered my acceleration. Luckily the oncoming traffic slowed until I could safely get across to my lane. Eventually it jumped back into the proper gear. From what I have found on the internet this seems to be a common defect. Only a matter of time before someone is seriously injured or killed. This is not the first time the transmission has done this. I took my f150 to the dealership to be checked and they didn’t find anything wrong. P0706 and p0707 codes.

The transfer case is leaking, caused by galvanic corrosion. Ford used steel bolts on the aluminum transfer case housing which created the corrosion.

I have a power rear window, the tracks that hold the window in place have fallen loose to the point the window leans inward and which in turn wind and rain are coming in causing the interior is getting wet. This will damage the inside of the truck making repair costly.

This vehicle was purchased by a friend with the factory tow package. No modifications were made before my purchase three years ago. I installed a factory brake controller for a travel trailer I purchased. The software was enabled with forscan, and the dealer updated the software to the latest available. Even with a new seven way plug, the truck displays "trailer disconnected" when using the slide brake and also never shows any output when braking. The brakes do engage but very mildly. The travel trailer brakes normally on my other vehicle. There are no fault codes and no obvious connection issues. The dealership today said they do no know the cause and would likely be unable to resolve it.

Broken clock spring.

Upper rail for sliding rear window came off causing the rear slider to fall into the back seat. This is a known problem with 2015 and newer f150's with a rear sliding windows. Ford refuses to acknowledge the issue and take responsibility for it. It is a failure of the adhesive that holds the top rail for the slider to the window.

Driving with cruise control engaged, on dry road, no significant weather or wind gust, cruise control disengaged. Tried to reengage but took numerous tries. Once engaged, tried to cncl the cruise control and it would not disengage. Had to jump on the brakes. Seconds matter.

Transmission abruptly shifted down from high gear to low gear causing it to lock up at a fast speed. My son hit his chest on steering wheel bc it was so abrupt.

Sunroof was replaced under warranty due to track being broken. Now the sunroof is leaking and the shade will not open. There has been several recalls for sunroof issues. Dealership says my VIN is not included. This seems to me to be a recall issue for safety. If the sunroof is broken it could cave in or fly off. Especially since it is leaking and won’t open and cannot see the problem. Dealership wants to charge me over $200 just to look at it. This is unacceptable.

My truck downshifted into 2nd gear after I was in 6th gear, now my transmission is slipping into 4th gear. But when I press the accelerator a little harder it’ll shift better but it’s not practical in a city.

It’s been several times that I’ll be driving, sometimes on residential roads and once getting onto the highway. The transmission will suddenly drop down into first gear and I’ll have to limp off the side of the road until I’m going slow enough to be in first gear, then I can go again. Or I’ll lose 1,2 and 6th gears so I’ll have to pull over, turn the truck off and start it again. Then I’ll have gears 1-6 again.

The sliding rear window assembly which is attached with 4 adhesive tape strips have come loose. The sliding window comes out of the frame and could become airborne if hit from the rear or in a front end collision. It is a very poor way to attach a sliding rear window and the failure rate is high. The bad part of this is most people are probably not aware of the problem other than the window frame will rattle sometimes when your on a bumpy road. It is a poor design and could be dangerous in any collision. The body and glass repair shops are aware of the problem on the rear windows of Ford pickups. This should be fixed with a recall before someone dies from the window becoming airborne in a crash.

I was driving down the highway then my vehicle randomly dropped down to gear 2 from 6 and went from 65mph to 30 and redlined my vehicle. It was extremely scary and took it to the shop immediately and then they replaced my lead frame and cost me $2,000. I definitely believe it has damaged my transmission and won’t last as long now.

The engine while operating at normal speed loses power to a rough idle and is remedied by putting the vehicle in park and restarting the engine. The engine never fails to start after restarting, but could fail at any moment, short or long term.

I cold started the engine from inside the house and when I opened the back passenger door there was smoke coming from behind the rear seat in the back area. I couldn’t get to where the smoke was coming from but from the smell it was wire related. I quickly went around to the driver side and turned on the truck and quickly turned it off. About 10-30 minutes later the ring camera showed the rear window of my truck shatter due to this incident in which I was informed that the rear auto defrost turns on due to a malfunction. I put a claim through my insurance and got the window fixed but I am still worried that this issue may happen again. I hope that by informing you of this situation going forward you can help others including myself be aware of this problem and how we can fix it. Thank you for your time and I like to say I love Ford trucks and plan on staying a loyal customer.

Analog speedometer is at 55mph while vehicle is stopped. It does not read correctly but increases as speed increases.

Erratic shifting, lead frame sensor causing safety issues and causing truck to not start if shut off. Erratic downshifting at highway speed. Known safety problems with Ford and needs to be fixed. Significant loss of power and lose dashboard data. Issue starting to happen more frequently, almost every time driven.

Transmission body failed, losing power while driving down road. Like it lost all power. Why would this happen to a one owner with low miles! now we have to pay over $3,000 to have repaired. I’ve seen many complaints about the same issue. Ford needs to own this problem and fix the faulty parts.

Transmission changing gears on its own while driy.

While driving truck on road at approximately 45 mph, truck suddenly and without warning shifted into first gear. After the sudden downshift, the truck then recovered normal shifting for the remainder of the drive. This is the third time this has happened in one year. The first time it happened, I was towing an empty small lawn trailer on a secondary road, with truck in "tow" mode. While descending a hill in a sharp curve, the truck suddenly down shifted to first gear, remained there for a few seconds and then started shifting normally. After this happened, when trailer was unhooked, the display continued to show that a trailer was attached to truck for several days and then the display went back to normal. The second and third time this occurred, there was no trailer attached, and truck was in normal driving mode, and there was no warning, wrench, or check engine lights visible on the dash display before or after the downshift happened. Fortunately, up to this point, I have been able to avoid crashing the truck during these downshifts, but I feel this is a very dangerous and serious safety concern to myself and others. I have contacted the local Ford dealership twice regarding what to do about this problem. Today was told to "monitor" it, that they were booked for weeks ahead, and suggested I may want to go to another dealership. After the second time it happened, I inquired about paying out of pocket for any software update that may help with this problem and told that since my truck was not shown on a recall, that it may make the problem worse, and advised they could not do it. It was also suggested that with no lights on dash display and it being a random occurrence, it would be difficult and expensive to figure out. The vehicle is available for inspection at any time.

6/25/24 I put my 2015 f150 in reverse and gave it just a little acceleration and it immediately accelerated fast crossing the street and hitting a utility pole totaling my truck. I did some research on a Ford forum an saw where othe people had had rapid unexplained acceration. One person said it was because of a faulty accelerato pedal positon also known as app. My safety and anyone walking or driving by my house were greatly put at risk. The problem has not been reproduced or confirmed by anyone. There were no warning lamps or messages. This nightmare came out of nowhere.

I was driving approximately 65mph when my transmission suddenly dropped into 1st gear and my rear tires locked up causing the rear end of my truck to swing out. This is the same issue that the 2014f150's have been recalled for. There were no warnings that this was going to happen. The event was sudden and unexpected. Fortunately I was able to gain positive control of the vehicle and get us to safety. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone and is currently sitting in a mechanic shop parking lot. Luckily this happened on pleasant summer day with optimal driving conditions. Had this happened in the winter months I am uncertain we would have been so lucky. My concern now is that I am going to have the repairs done and the truck will repeat the problem.

Put truck in reverse and backed up. Then put gear shift into drive and the gear got stuck in neutral and won't budge. A Ford recall for 2014 was issued the same day but I believe based on this same issue, 2015 models need to be included in the 6/25/2024 recall also.

Without any warning signals or indications the fan blower has stopped working. It became a real safety hazard when I needed to defog my windshield and there was no air flow coming out of my vents. No warning, no signal. My windshield had fogged over and I had zero ability to defog due to not having any available airflow. Major safety issue!!.

Rear sliding glass window track falling down. It happened approximately 2 months after I bought the truck. I believe it is just designed badly for a sliding window track.

Lead frame needs replacing. Same issues as the TSB 16-008 and the 16n02 dealer bulletin for 2011-2013 models. This should be extended to later models. Diagnostic code po720.

The door latches freeze during cold weather and prevent me from closing and latching the doors. Ford has previously attempted repairs to my vehicle under customer satisfaction program 20m04, but the repairs have not worked. To further exacerbate the problem, Ford has told me they won't do any further repairs unless they can replicate the problem, but I live in the mid-atlantic and the weather is not cold enough to reliably replicate the problem.

Oil pan leaking due to having a plastic oil pan.

Rear driver's door lock froze and wouldn't lock. Upper lock/latch latched on rear driver's side door, but lower lock/latch froze and wouldn't latch/lock. Had to drive to work with the lower lock not latched and wait for weather to warm up for latch/lock to release. Problem happens every year when the weather gets cold.

My 2015 F-150 3. 5l ecoboost experienced a sudden loss of power during highway speeds and shut off. I was in rush hour traffic and almost caused a few accidents as my truck seemed like it went into "limp mode". While my steering wheel was tight I managed to get off the road safely with no power whatsoever. My idiot lights were flashing like crazy and stated "advance trac service" and "hill start assist not available". I let the truck sit for a bit and restarted it. It ran solid another 15 miles. Today I'm getting advance trac message: "advance trac service" and "hill start assist not available", all while the engine check light remains on. I have read multiple issues similar to mine but there does not seem to be a recall for this. This is a very unsafe ordeal and very scary. Had my daughter been driving, this may have been an accident for sure. I see Ford "extended" the warranty to cover any issues. But I do not drive my truck that often and I find it hard to believe nothing is being done about the "throttle body" issue (from my reading). This is even happening to Ford trucks overseas. I get they do not have any say in the us, bu it does show this is a major issue.

The rear window defrost caught fire and made a loud bang noise and shattered the rear window.

Last year while camping. I pulled into our camping spot. When I put my f150 into park. The right passenger door lock popped up and the door opened all by itself. I got out of the truck to shut the door but it would not close. After having my kid pull and holding the door knob up from inside. The door finally closed. But I did it again later on in the trip. It sounds like the same recall that is on other 2015 f150. The dealership here in marysville ohio states that it not a recalled item. They want to charge me $600 plus the fix the kinked wire. I refuse to pay to have it fixed because it sounds like a recall. So the vehicle just sits in my driveway.

Moon roof failure.