general problems of the 2018 Ford F-150 - part 1

Manufacturer recall #24e12 (pcm software update) triggered a po430:00-ed code (catalyst system efficiency below threshold - bank 2) because the new software more strictly monitors the catalytic converter, causing it to detect previously ignored degradation. This reprogram scamming program makes community bothered by paying parts replacements more than 2k, even vehicle was fine before the recall. This needs resolved with free fixed and free catalytic replacement. This is not right to announce a recall with unfinished repair issues left. This needs action. Thanks, so mote it be!.

I was not in an accident. I have a 2018 Ford f150 XLT and it has a 3. 5 eco boost. My truck is leaking some type of oil from the top and has very bad fuel injectors which is why my truck cant accelerate and shakes extremely bad. When I sit at a red light my truck dies and I think I have a leaking exhaust. I bought a new battery but it still dies. I know they used to do a recall for a new engine from what I’ve searched but they don’t do it anymore and I don't think its safe for me driving while I have all those problems. I have not been in an accident but with all these problems my truck could possibly die or go out while I’m on the highway and just makes me nervous driving something like that when the 3. 5 eco boost is already not a great engine. Thank you.

Ford f150 2. 7l ecoboost was running fine. Went to dealer for pcm recall and 3 days later check engine light came on. Went back to the dealer and they say I have a po430 code now and that I need a catalytic converter at the tune of $3000. Of course I am 8000 miles over the factory warranty of 80000 miles and the extended warranty I bought does not cover it. Seems not right. Is the any help with this issue? shouldn't Ford be responsible?.

The brake system on my 2018 Ford F-150 2. 7l ecoboost began failing around early 2025 with a brake warning light illuminating and the pedal feeling soft, signaling a problem. The brake fluid reservoir dropped low repeatedly despite topping it off multiple times with dot 3 fluid, indicating a persistent leak. By 09:52 am cdt today, September 10, 2025, the brake pedal lost all pressure, making the vehicle completely undrivable and posing a severe safety risk due to significantly increased stopping distances and potential brake failure. At 10:37 am cdt, thick white smoke started billowing from the exhaust each time the vehicle was started, likely from brake fluid leaking into the engine via the brake booster, a symptom matching Ford recall 25s37 (NHTSA 25v236) for a defective brake master cylinder seal. This failure endangers the driver, passengers, and other road users, as the truck is a primary vehicle, with the smoke suggesting a fire hazard and possible engine damage like stalling or misfires. The issue is reproducible, with the warning light, fluid loss, and soft/no pedal persisting since early 2025, worsening today with the smoke appearing consistently on startup. It has not been confirmed by a dealer or service center yet, as the vehicle is undrivable, but I plan to tow it to a Ford dealership for inspection under the recall. No manufacturer, police, insurance, or other inspection has occurred, as the smoke issue escalated this morning; prior rear left electronic parking brake actuator replacements in 2025 due to fluid leaks were done at home. The brake master cylinder and possibly the brake booster are the failed components, with the actuator issue likely related, and the vehicle is available for inspection upon request or at a dealership. Symptoms first appeared with the warning light and soft pedal in early 2025, followed by fluid loss, complete pedal failure, and smoke today at 09:52 am cdt.

When cold starting the engine, a rattling sound occurs caused by the cam phasers not aligning properly. My research shows that Ford claims this is not an issue, and has never issued a recall for this, however, I am worried that continued use might damage the engine further.

After Ford performed a pcm (powertrain control module) reprogramming recall on 16 July 2025, the vehicle began experiencing repeated engine misfires, loss of power, and engine warning lights. The condition progressively worsened, leading to a leaking fuel injector, an egr valve that stuck open, and eventual internal engine damage requiring full engine replacement. These failures involve pcm-controlled systems (ignition timing, fuel injection, and exhaust gas recirculation) and occurred shortly after the recall calibration. The issue has been confirmed and documented by an authorized Ford dealer. The truck has become unsafe to drive due to stalling and shuddering at highway speeds, which could pose a risk of loss of vehicle control. Warning lamps and a wrench icon appeared intermittently before the engine shuttering and loss of power. The vehicle and all repair documentation are available for inspection upon request.

While driving to sam’s club (approximately 20 miles from home), my 2018 Ford F-150 3. 5l ecoboost began running very rough, and the check engine light came on. I had the vehicle scanned, and diagnostics confirmed that the cam phasers are failing — the exact issue I had replaced under warranty at approximately 59,000 miles. The vehicle now has just 88,000 miles, and this failure occurred in under 30,000 miles since the original repair. I have maintained this truck with extreme care. I only use motorcraft parts and fluids, change the oil every 3,000 miles or sooner, and always use premium fuel. This is not a maintenance issue. This is a design or part failure that Ford has not properly resolved. When the phasers were replaced the first time, I was told there was no warranty on the replacement parts. That is unacceptable. A known failure being replaced with an equally defective part is not a resolution. Ford is aware of this issue — there are multiple tsbs (including TSB 21-2130 and 19-2208) and widespread complaints across owner forums — but they have taken no responsibility. I paid over $44,000 for this truck and should not be facing the same critical engine failure twice before 90k miles. The rough performance and sudden malfunction while driving posed a potential safety risk. I am submitting this complaint so NHTSA can investigate and hold Ford accountable. This seems like a common problem with this engine, and I do not understand why there has not been a recall or why Ford has not been forced to implement a permanent fix.

Vehicle is shuddering as acceleration starts, took to dealership before warranty ended and they dismissed concerns. Issue has intermittently persisted since then with no resolution available from dealership. The acceleration issues causes the vehicle to slow down and halt before jerking into motion again. Additionally the engine eco boost is occasionally shutting the vehicle off in traffic, if the brake is released too quickly with the boost feature on the engine shuts off, you have to put it back in park and then start the engine again. I've almost been rear ended twice when a light turns green and my engine turns off unexpectedly.

I just had to replace my fuel pump due to sudden failure. It was repaired this month at crossroads Ford of wake forest nc. I as well the dealer have the receipts for the repair cost. I believe it should be included in the current recall just issued by Ford and be reimbursed.

The cam phasers on my 2018 Ford F-150 raptor are failing now as I hear rattles on a cold start from the engine, which has then been proved out by technicians at the autonation dealership here in frisco, texas. They are suggesting full replacement for all the phasers which causes major safety concerns. I use my car to drop my 21-month son at daycare every day and drive 30 miles each way to work. I know that Ford offered customer satisfaction program for 2018 manufactured F-150s but somehow the recall doesn't apply to my vehicle. The repair costs are $6k quoted by the dealership I mentioned and it is simply too expensive for us to be able to afford. Therefore, I was wondering if you could please add this recall to my VIN which will allow me to get this safety concern resolved at a Ford dealership. I would really appreciate it if you could do that. Have a great day!.

My vehicle (2018 Ford f150) is presenting with the same issues the 2021- 2023 Ford an Lincoln models regarding the fuel system with my truck sputtering in 7th and 8th gears and stalling. It has stalled a few times in the past few months. The spark plugs have been changed, purple fuel styrene cleaner has been used regularly, filters changed, basically all trouble shooting has been done with no significant change. Maybe there are others who are experiencing the same out there. My vehicle is well maintained, in fact I just put upwards to $8k into it this year.

The cam phasers on this vehicle are defective. This will be my third cam phasers in less than 3 years. The cam phasers cause the emissions to fail and can also cause unsafe driving such as the first time they failed while driving on the highway. I have brought this to the attention of the dealership numerous times and they say they can't duplicate it, even though it makes the noise when turning on the car or idling every time. They finally admitted this past visit to the mall of georgia Ford that it is an issue and a known recurring issue with this vehicle. I see the issue reported online, Ford facebook pages, blogs, etc with thousands of people experiencing the same unsafe issue with both emissions and driving safety. Please advise.

We received a recall letter for emission recall dealing with the system reading that the catalytic converter is bad. We had this happen a year ago, and had to have the catalytic converter replaced because it was showing it was bad. This recall letter says that it will show it’s bad, but may not be bad. We spent almost $3000 because we live in a state with inspections. This letter shows that it was the computer that messed up. We are trying to deal with Ford to see if we can get reimbursed since there’s a recall on the chip. The recall is emission recall 24e12. The work wouldn’t have needed done if the chip wouldn’t had shown the catalytic converter was bad.

In December 2024 I had a massive fuel leak in my system. I drove into my driveway and my neighbor said they could smell gasoline. I look and fuel was leaking onto the ground. If there was a spark it would have explodes into flames. I took it to my dealer and the diagnostic was a squirrel has chewed a hole in the fuel line because it is coated or made from a soy-based product, and it drawls rodents by its sweet smell and taste. I have spent over $3000 to replace the line because they didn't get it corrected the first time and had to replace the whole system again. I am eliminating the squirrel problem to prevent this happening again but it's not a guarantee and this fuel line material should not be make with a soy-based product.

In November of 2024, my truck was shaking, accelerating erratically, and felt like the transmission was slipping. The check engine light came on as well. I took it to the shop and after diagnosing that it was a misfire issue in cylinder 6, they replaced spark plugs, fuel injectors, and tried to switch out new coils. They found gasoline inside cylinder 6, and upon doing a compression test, it was well below 100%. The truck continued to have misfires in cylinder 6, ultimately leading to 0% compression in that cylinder after taking it back to the same authorship to diagnose. After researching online forums and technical bulletins, it’s clear this issue is not uncommon among 2. 7l ecoboost engines from this model year, suggesting a manufacturer defect. The cost to replace the engine (as now recommended) has been estimated at nearly $10,000. With the history of regular oil and maintenance by the previous owner and myself, I feel this is a manufacturing defect that could potentially cause harm to the driver and passengers.

This has now happened 8+ times. While traveling on the highway towing either a boat or trailer, my engine shuts down. This has happened at 75 mph. The error code :auto startstop shift to p, then restart engine" displays on the instrument panel. Power steering does not work, steering becomes quite difficult. I have found several other instances of this same issue in Ford forums. So. . . At 75mph, on a highway, I lost all power 3-5 times in one trip. Each time I coasted to the safety strip, put the truck in park, and restarted. Several times the vehicle would not restart immediately. I pulled off the highway and did some research and disables the auto start/stop feature, which seemed to alleviate the issue. Unfortunately I cannot permanently disable the feature. I did stop at a Ford dealership and showed them a picture of the error code. The dealership did not have a fix, and stated it was not a known issue. The last instance was in November, I have not towed since then. Today another mechanic flashed the pm module that controls auto start/stop for another issue, an emissions recall, but did not know if that update would also clear up the towing issue. I have found at least 5 other instances of the the same issue with other Ford f150s in online forums.

My truck started having issue(s) accelerating properly on-time over the past few months. The issue was only intermittent and occurred sometimes when needing to accelerate quickly in certain scenarios such as turning onto a busy road or merging in high traffic. It would also sometimes downshift very hard when driving at moderate speeds ~40 - 50 mph, and jarred the vehicle so hard it felt like the engine was going to drop out of the truck. The acceleration issue resulted in several incidents in which I was in danger of being struck by other drivers for being momentarily "dead in the water", but the worst incident occurred when I was attempting to merge into a left lane (9/11/2024) during rush hour in front of an on-coming dump truck; my truck did not accelerate at all and the dump truck had to slam on his breaks and swerve out of the lane, coming extremely close to destroying me at about 45 mph; had my vehicle accelerated correctly it would have never an issue. I am certain I would have suffered severe injury or death from this incident. I had no warning lights or other indications something was wrong and have no notices from Ford about the issue (see below). I took the truck to coughlin Ford of heath (ohio) and they quoted me over $4000 for the parts and labor stating that cam sprockets need replaced along with re-timing labor. They said there were no active recalls but coughlin and two other repair shops (one private and one Ford dealership) told me that this is a very common problem with these trucks and that there previously was a Ford customer satisfaction program to have this problem fixed in the past few years. I was never notified of the program despite being the sole owner and only ever taking my truck to dealerships for repair over the past 6 years. I contacted Ford and filed a complaint (ref cxh02678193) but they indicated they would not be helping me despite nearly getting me killed. My out of pocket total was $4619. 11 for parts, labor, and a rental car.

Unknown my truck was running rough so took it to shoo they ran the codes told me cps camshaft position sensor bank 2 was coding so replaced all 4 sensors but was still having issues and then truck started having a rattle but not all the time it would come and go then the shop said replace spark plugs so I did then rattle got worse but would go away when came to stop sign. During all of this I was using alot of oil 1 qt about every 3000 to 5000 miles then the truck started having noisy start up that went away after couple seconds loss of power poor fuel economy and the rattle was more constant oil levels checked daily and were good but yesterday the day after an oil. Change and my truck lost power when depressed the gas pedal I continued to lose speed and then it stalled going down the highway and the orange wrench showed up on the dash and my truck won't start.

My truck stopped in the middle of an intersection and would not crank again. The fuel pump had exploded on the inside and metal shavings were found all throughout my fuel system. The cost to repair my truck was $ 11,867. 60 plus tax. From what I have been told, this is an ongoing problem that occurs with this specific fuel pump. I was told from the service manager at the dealership that he sees this problem all the time. I was told from the claim adjuster that this is a problem with all Ford and Chevrolet trucks with diesel engines that use this specific fuel pump. I believe this should be a recall since it is a problem with any diesel that not only Ford but Chevrolet makes. I did file this with my insurance company but it was not covered. My claim # with farm bureau is 10000600403. My case # with Ford is cxh-02697972-w5t6y4. Ford did end up covering half of the cost to repair but I still believe that it should be a recall. If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I was driving, I looked down because my truck was unresponsive, my truck had died, a warning light had come on stating the following: "auto start/stop shift to p, then restart engine". I was on the interstate, in a two lane construction zone, I had to pull over into the construction area, stop my truck, and try and restart. After a minute or two, I was able to restart my truck and re-enter the road way. A very dangerous situation, luckily I did not have my children in the vehicle at the time. I scheduled a service appointment after this and was told it was the fuel pump control module. Unfortunately, it has happened twice since my service appointment. . . Something needs to me done!.

I on a trip [xxx] round trip is about 332 miles. I had approximately 42 miles to go and the truck speed was reduced and it started to jerk. This is the second trip over two hundred miles and the same thing happened. Have extended warranty insurance but I can’t get any one to accept it here in cleveland, mississippi. I really think this truck is a lemon. I purchased it last year in November and it’s been giving me problems ever since then. I don’t have money to just give away on something that is not worth it. I even went to the dealer where I bought the truck and asked him if I could swap out for another truck and he told me he couldn’t do it. When I checked on car fax it just shows that this truck had 126 ,000miles on it. But at the dealership it showed 149,000miles. So it only showed history for 126,000 and less. I don’t know the history of the 23,000 miles that’s not accounted for. I want my money back or a reliable truck that has no problems with it. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Powertrain control module software is faulty, causing improper diagnosis of catalytic converters efficiency. Prompting a check engine light and p0430/p0420 code. I could not pass emissions testing with this code. The Ford dealer made me pay out of pocket to replace catalytic converters ~6 months ago, total cost of $2975. 12. The have now addressed that it is unlikely the catalytic converters were faulty, and are offering no reimbursement.

While driving my truck along the highway on April 29, 2024, it spontaneously burst into flames. I pulled it over, and it was completely engulfed in flames and melted into a puddle of molten aluminum. In the last 18 month, this truck has spent over 45 days at the dealership with 10 separate repairs including transmission replacement, cylinder heads, oil leaks, all under 75,000 miles. The smoke and smell began under the back seat passenger floorboards, and within 45 seconds, was burning. I have pictures, video, witnesses, and police reports for corroboration. There was no accident, no impact, no nothing. It simply lit itself on fire.

The 2018 Ford f150 truck came with a cap less fuel fill. What seals the fuel refill area is the gas cap door. The door is equipped with a seal on the gas cap door for when the door is closed, it keeps the weather elements from entering into the gas fill area that is equipped with a cap less mechanism for the gas tank filling. The hinge spring on the door is of poor quality and design and the swivel pin that holds the gas cap door in place fails by the pin working out of place. This now causes the gas cap door to not fully close allowing weather elements to make their way into the cap less gas fill tube. From internet research, this is a common problem with the 2018 f150, as well as other years with this type of cap less gas door. I had to pay out of pocket expense for the gas cap door replacement. The replacement gas cap door was of the same design as the one that failed and I expect the replacement to fail with time.

Been having this issue for months. Go to hit the gas to go from a stop truck shutters and hastates to move. No check engine light has come on. Thought it was the fuel we put in it but no matter what fuel it still does it. Almost have been hit a dozen times with my children in the truck with me due to truck will not accelerate and shutters when you go to take off from a stop. Even when putting the vehicle into sports mode and hit the gas, the truck hesitates and shutters as well. Been to repair shops and they stated they can't find anything wrong with it due to no check engine light being on.

Mechanical fuel pump exploding.

Plastic connector that connects the stainless steel fuel line to a plastic fuel line failed while I was driving. Fuel was sprayed over the undercarriage and exhaust system. The truck came to a stop on the road when I slowed down but continued to leak fuel. Approximately 15 gallons of fuel was lost. There were no warnings other than the smell of gasoline. I will be taking the vehicle along with the failed connector which I removed to the dealership on Tuesday,.

Fuel injector failure.

I was pulling out into 4 lanes of traffic and the truck shut off. Dash had message "auto startstop shift to p, then restart engine". I am stuck blocking 4 lanes of traffic on a busy street with cars coming fast. I put in park and restarted the engine. It died and gave the same message 4 more times. Finally revved the engine way up and was able to move the truck. It died twice while approaching the next stop sign even though auto start/stop was disabled. Revved engine and was able to make it to the Ford dealer who had no one available to assess the problem. Several people suggested replacing the battery. I put in a new battery and reset the battery monitoring system. The problem still persists. Slamming a dead pickup into park in the middle of 4 lanes of oncoming traffic is most definitely a safety issue. I see that many Ford owners have experienced the same problem in a variety of Ford products. I don't think it is a battery issue since the engine should be able to run off the alternator and it still occurs after replacing the battery. I don't think it is an auto start/stop issue since it occurred with as/s activated or deactivated. In almost all cases the engine is warmed up and in the one instance I had driven the truck 22 miles before the failure occurred. In almost every case, I am gently accelerating from a stop or slowing down for a stop. It has failed in both drive and reverse. I get no other warning lights or messages.

This 2018 f150 developed a cranking noise when starting the engine. Dealership tried two software upgrades per manufacturer notices to solve the issue. The issue was not solved and was said to be cam phasers need to be replaced. Manufacturer internal document to dealer stated that driving the vehicle with this problem would not cause any problems and is safe to drive. Dealership had been waiting months for parts. Set-up for an appointment was for later this month, but last month while driving on the interstate the engine light which was on from the engine issue but a new light, the wrench light came on with the engine light flashing. All power was being lost and had to Dodge other vehicles to move over to emergency lane as I had no control of the vehicle. While waiting 12 hours for a tow, I had researched this issue online and found that the manufacturer had a memo out not to drive the vehicle under this condition and have a flatbed tow the vehicle to the nearest dealership and do not start the vehicle up. That this was a catastrophic power train failure and ecu failure. The vehicle sits at the dealership now and is still waiting to be looked at as it cannot start up and has to be pushed within the service area.

I put the truck in park and left it idle with the air conditioning on for a passenger got out to go do something for a few minutes and the truck just started have flames come out of it from the middle of the truck until the truck completely burned the fire started with the truck running and idling and the the truck was parked on gravel.

Auto start stop system stopped engine and would not automatically restart in traffic when using accelerator. Vehicle required that I place vehicle back into park and restart manually.

I own a 2018 Ford F-150, with the cougar v-8 and a turbocharger. A few years ago, while on the expressway, I had to accelerate to clear a dangerous situation. A message came up on the instrument cluster saying that I was seriously low on oil. I pulled off on the shoulder and shut the engine off. I checked the oil level and it was almost empty. The truck only had about 10,000 miles on it at the time. I had checked the level prior to leaving and it was full. Luckily, I carry extra oil on long trips, a habit I got into back when I used to drive beaters. I had enough oil to fill the engine back up with oil and proceed on my way. I have not had any oil loss since then, although I rarely drive the truck, except to pick up lumber or other large loads, and it currently has about 23,000 miles on it. A few years ago, I read about an F-150 whose driver tried to pass a slow moving vehicle on a mountain road and was hit by an oncoming vehicle. Everyone in the truck was killed. When I read that article, I thought back to what happened to me. Luckily, I had room to pull over. I believe that when I did that hard acceleration (as the driver on the mountain road must have done), a large amount of engine oil must have been sucked out through the turbocharger, emptying the crankcase. If this happened to the driver in the article, he would have been left with no engine power and no way to complete the passing maneuver. This is all speculation on my part, but an emergency hard acceleration should not empty any engine of oil, leaving the vehicle's driver and their passengers defenseless.

The auto start stop feature malfunctions. When you pull up to a stop sign/red light and the engine is somewhat warm, the engine may fail to start again or be very slow to start. When the engine does not start, it becomes a hazard as you must fully power down truck, return truck to park, and restart the engine all from a stop sign/redlight. This could be very hazardous if one needed to move out of the way of a moving vehicle from a stop.

The vehicle experienced repeated failures involving multiple systems, including the transmission system (transmission replacement), powertrain/engine system (cylinder-related repairs), electronic control systems (vehicle computer/control module replaced multiple times), electrical system (ongoing electrical faults), and rear safety systems (backup camera failure). The vehicle is available for inspection upon request. These failures created ongoing safety concerns due to loss of vehicle reliability and malfunction of safety-related electrical systems, raising concern about unexpected mechanical or electrical failure during operation. The issues were confirmed and documented by Ford-authorized dealerships and independent service centers. Despite repeated repairs, the same or related problems continued to occur. The vehicle was inspected and repaired by Ford dealerships; however, one servicing dealership (Ford of ventura) later closed, leaving unresolved issues without continuity of service. Warning lights and system alerts occurred prior to failures along with ongoing electrical malfunctions. Exact dates of first warning indicators are unknown, but symptoms recurred over time despite repairs. The vehicle was purchased with approximately 38,500 miles. Due to covid-19-related delays, dealership availability and parts shortages caused months-long wait times for service, and when the vehicle was finally inspected by a dealership, it had approximately 60,000 miles. Major system failures occurred well under 100,000 miles. Ford later declined assistance, citing out-of-state purchase and maintenance not performed exclusively at Ford dealerships, despite regular routine maintenance. The cause of the failures is unknown, but the pattern suggests systemic mechanical and electrical defects rather than owner misuse. All invoiced available as system will not upload them at this time.