general problems of the 2021 Ford F-150 - part 2

Calendar years 2022, 2023, and 2024 have replicated this issue. Under high sun and warmth, the dash mounted daylight sensor causes the infotainment system to decrease brightness. This decrease in screen brightness persists even when in reverse, compromising safety systems. Dealership has been unable to replicate while in for other service on at least 3 separate occasions. This appears to be a summer / fair weather issue that cannot be diagnosed inside the workshop environment. Dealership able to replicate, in person, with technician, that the sensor was inverting the intended automatic adjustment action on a "stop by if you see this actively happening again" request in 2022. As unable to replicate condition in workshop, unable to diagnose and repair.

Driving in clear weather, open road, on I-95, no overpasses, smooth road, no road debris, no trucks anywhere in sight, no weird traffic conditions - front panel of my panoramic sunroof, which was closed at the time, just exploded. It sounded like a shotgun went off above my head. Since the headliner was closed at the time, all the pieces were present when I got to a car-wash to vacuum up the glass. I only saw glass. No foreign objects, no rocks, no unknown pieces of the International space station - just glass.

Battery drain issue caused by over the air updates causing low battery warnings to occur. This issue has been repeatedly looked at and brought to the dealership since purchase. Alternator replaced at dealership. Battery replaced at dealership. Updates forced by dealership, multiple times. Battery minder installed to ensure start during winter months due to constant bms warnings of 12v battery state of charge low and infotainment low power mode notifications. Ota update currently causing this issue. Attempted to clear by personally, by plugging battery minder in overnight for consecutive nights, prior to booking 40k mile service with dealership. Brought in for service, found battery state of charge reading below 50%. Recovered to above 70%. Requested I let the ota attempt to complete overnight. Ota has continued to fail for the last 3 days, even while on the battery minder. Vehicle is driven at least 1 hour per day. Bms sensor installed: ml3t-10c652-ba. Due to the power consumption reduction saving functions of the system, low power mode causes functions and features of the vehicle to slowly turn off and support only the driver access when in low power mode. This includes terminating the gateway module that the ota update is required to verify and validate completion with. This also changes reported settings in the infotainment system to appear as if the driver has deactivated wifi, causing an inaccurate assessment of issues by technicians. A low enough state of charge, even when inaccurate, can cause the vehicle to fail to start.

While driving there were no warning indicator lights illuminated on the dash. He stated there were no mechanical defects, noises, or smells to be noted. Near milepost [xxx] on [xxx] both occupants saw smoke begin to come from under the hood. The employee pulled the vehicle to the side of the road. Both employees exited the vehicle to open the hood. Employee stated he reached down to pull the hood release and when he looked up flames were visible above the hood. Employees moved away from the vehicle and called 911.

I stopped the vehicle in the street after turning wide to back in my driveway. The vehicle lunged forward like it was being pushed. It continued forward, up the curb, paused, then was pushed (moved forward) harder up the incline and into a pine tree. Significant damage was to the front end. At no time did I accelerate. I was not in control of the car. It threw a message about parking assist on the dash. There were children on the street and I am glad it didn’t run into anyone. Yes you have my consent to check the vehicle data. I am going to file with Ford as well. Even if car is fixed I’m afraid to drive it.

Driver door latch and lock failure at extreme cold temperatures. Failed last year could not exit vehicle at Ford dealership. Ford dealership added grease and problem did not occur again for 11 months. Same problem occurred this December. Door latch stays open and will not latch so door has to be held shut by driver while moving down the road. Problem occurred on 4 different days of single digit temperatures during the past 2 years. The Ford dealership in gaylord observed the stuck latch and door not latching. Warning light of door ajar when put into gear and constant warning beeping while driving with an unlatched door.

Loud popping noise from radio. It sounds like gunfire.

There hasn't been an incident yet. But, I want a record of this somewhere. I'm assuming there may be an incident in the future; and, I'm concerned about that. Either an incident with my truck or an incident with the 100s of thousands of Ford and Lincoln vehicles from 2017-2023 that have this issue. The issue is Ford ssm 51939 - a whining noise coming from the bellhousing and the front of the transmission fluid pan. I have taken my truck to a dealership. I have called Ford about this. I have researched extensively online. I have called NHTSA. I have emailed the office of vehicle safety compliance. I am now filing this report online. The safety issue? for me, I'm now having to wear earplugs when driving my vehicle. For others, they have been told to turn up the radio. I am now hearing the noise all the time -- believe it or not, even sometimes when I'm not even in my truck. Ford needs to address this. They send me to you. I don't have the 'option' of trading in my vehicle. . . Others don't either. What am I to do? when something serious happens because people are remedying this themselves. . . It will be a very sad day. But, maybe only then will Ford do something. I don't know what else to do other than call Ford everyday, and email every agency that may be able to apply some pressure. Sadly, I have a full-time job. . . And this is really frustrating for me, in more ways that one. Hope you have a nice day! jafe parsons 418 8th st. Se, unit c-1 loveland, CO 80537 970-215-2900.

The bolt rear-end axle & transmission. No accident happened but due to the back left side tire almost coming off left me on the shoulder of the freeway which was a dangerous situation. I was process of me taking the vehicle to dealership for the recall but didn't make it there cause of the tire was coming off. The concentration of bolt was directed onto the tire coming off. The dealership notification me that the bill was going $5,000 dollars in order for me to get the truck back into my possession. So I asked them if there was a recall on the truck and they told that the truck didn't qualify for it. The mechanic technician and the insurance adjuster inspected my truck fail to notification me of the right side bolt being broken. When I have got the broken one in my hand. In other words for the tire coming off that it was my fault even with other damages. I never got a call from dealership or from the insurance company to ask any questions about incident & took the matters to there own hands.

--exhaust leak, at left first band clamp downstream from catalyst --safety is of immediate concern due to exhaust leak directly under driver seat --local Ford dealership service dept did not fix leak --exhaust leak was inspected and reported to local Ford dealer service dept- not fixed on 20 November 2023, I purchased a 2021 Ford F-150 xl, VIN: 1ftfw1e55mkd12411, from crain Ford of jacksonville, arkansas, 1800 school drive, jacksonville, arkansas 72076. Phone 501-436-4981. After driving the vehicle for a day, I noticed a fluid leak on my garage floor under the vehicle’s engine area. On 21 November 2023, I took the vehicle to the dealership, which I bought the truck from, crain Ford or jacksonville, ar. They inspected the underside and found no leaks and suggested I just keep an eye out for any fluid leaks. The next week I kept watching for leaks, and each day I saw what appeared to be a fluid leak of some type or fluid on the floor of my garage. On 27 November 2023, I took the vehicle back t o the same dealership, crain Ford, and I showed them a video of the leak I discovered. . Read more...

Radio started blasting a boom/ static sound from the rear speakers and subwoofer; extremely loud and has occurred multiple times. It had previously made a similiar sound occasionally at start up which when under warranty was always diagnosed as unable to duplicate but is now occuring while driving and I am out of warranty. Very startling and distracting when it occurs. Has occured multiple times and lasts upto an hour before I gave up an parked my vehicle. Have a special needs minimally verbal disabled child who is very sensitive to noise (rear speakers are always turned off via fade to front) who was very impacted by this loud explosion of chaos/ noise when it occured with him in the car. Ford response: since out of warranty can pay for diagnostic and repairs. Don't expect NHTSA to care as they weren't concerned with my complaint regarding complete loss of brakes (incomplete or bad programming) with this truck but maybe this will let others know they arent alone if they have this issue.

I was stopped at a red light at a busy intersection in an atlanta suburb. I was several cars back from the red light. I saw the light turn green so I took my foot off of the brakes to engage auto start and barely tapped the gas and the truck dinged and showed me an error on the screen. I was so mortified and my heart started racing that I could barely read the error, all I remember seeing was "shift to p. " however, I tried to shift to park and the shifter wouldn't do anything! I was desperately trying to engage the brake and shift to park or neutral and it wouldn't budge. I kept trying back and forth back and forth trying anything to get it to shift. It finally shifted to park. I turned truck off. Opened the door, closed the door, and restarted engine and it had a slight hesitation but then let me shift down to drive and proceed. Luckily, I had enough time to fix it before I started getting cussed out or honked at and possibly shot for having this happen on a busy intersection. My heart was beating so fast. So scary. I got home and connected my obd scanner and no error codes were found. Sunny day, about 65 degrees, and truck had drive 55 miles to my mom's a few hours before. This was on my way back to my house in atlanta from my mom's house an hour outside of atlanta. I had no time to take a picture of the error on the screen because I was scared to death trying to get my truck to shift and drive. There was no reason for this error as I did not do anything differently. The auto start/stop engaged on its own when I come to a stop and then starts itself when I begin to depress the gas. Very concerning and I don't panic at all, but in this case. . . I sure did.

Obdii reader which connect to vehicle ecm reads perfectly independently, however when connected to a state emissions inspection machine, machine indicates no vehicle information available and results in failures due to ecm not responsive. Ford says it is a known issue but will not replace ecm unless recall is issued.

The front section of the panoramic sunroof on my 2021 Ford f150 unexpectedly shattered as I was driving down the road today. There were no cars immediately in front of or near me. None had passed by me. I was not driving underneath anything. The only thing I can deduce is that the glass spontaneously shattered due to unseen stress or faulty glass. I have owned the truck since new and had no issues or concerns with the sunroof previously. As a result of the glass shattering shards fell on me and inside of my truck. After getting out and shutting the door, the glass began collapsing inward and falling inside the truck. This is a safety concern as glass shards flying into a vehicle on a roadway can cause serious injury to the occupants inside.

Active air dam: my 2021 Ford f150 XLT truck has an active air dam, (aad), that is suppose to move downwards at speeds of 40mph or greater to help with aerodynamics. This is to help the truck hug the road better at highway speeds. When the truck slows down to under 40mph, the aad is suppose to recess back up an be tucked away behind the stationary air dam. They started these aad's on their trucks in the model year of 2021. It has been a widely known issue that the aad design is flawed and they malfunction and get stuck on the front air dam. Some have came loose and flown off into other vehicles on the roadways. This presents a safety hazard to the owners and other vehicles on the road. Ford refuses to fix it stating that their extended warranty does not cover the parts. This is not a warranty issue, this is a poor design issue and a faulty part issue that is going to cause someone to get seriously injured or worse, killed. Some people have reported that their aad flew off their truck and they didn't even notice until the service tech at the dealership told them during an oil change. So that means their are people out there that are driving with this hazardous part flying off their truck and where is it going? into the traffic following behind, and what are those drivers going to do when it comes hurling at them at a high rate of speed? most likely slam on their brakes, causing a rear end collision, or they serve to avoid it and either hit an on coming vehicle head-on or slam into the vehicle next to them on a multi lane highway or interstate. Please make Ford fix their problem before someone gets killed or seriously injured.

A/c lines freezing therefore the air conditioning stop blowing cold air and I was sweating. I had to stop my trip, power off engine and wait 30 minutes with the hood open on the side of the highway. I was reading online and is a lot of people dealing with the same issue and Ford CO. Is not fixing because there is not codes coming up.

The audio system suddenly put out loud static noises from the speakers. The volume level was so excessive, I felt my ear drums were going to be damaged. This could have caused an accident if driving since the noise was so instant and loud. I had to turn off the vehicle to eliminate the noise. I read that several others have complained of this with no resolution yet. My vehicle is available for inspection. I have not notified my dealer or others yet since this occured in the evening. That was some minor static from the vehicle before this occurred.

Bolt that holds the axle on to the vehicle is broken in half and therefore the axle can unexpectedly fall off the vehicle. It is the rear driver side axle. This was noticed when I recently replaced my tires and the broken screw was loose in the wheel.

Rear camera becomes inoperable which poses risk to others and myself. Screen just goes black.

Ford has a felt protective cover installed under the transmission to prevent debris from getting to the oil pan and catalytic converters. The cover needs to be removed to service the vehicles engine oil. The felt is secured with just bolts and over time the felt fails and starts to separate from the vehicle. This could dislodge from the vehicle while driving and cause potential bodily injuries to other vehicles or motorcycles this could also leave extremely hot catalytic converters exposed to grass or other flammables which could cause property damage or bodily injury there are hundreds of threads online about this issue. Most with in def descriptions and photos. I can compile this information and provide if needed. This part has failed twice on my vehicle with only 35,000 miles. I have concerns for my own safety as well as others.

Audio/speaker system made extremely loud and surprising pop when vehicle on but audio system off. This could very easily startle the driver causing him to take an unsafe maneuver. The problem has not been reproduced by a dealer nor been inspected by anyone, but I have seen other reports of this problem for this model via an internet search. I saw no warning lights prior or after this occurred. Subsequent to this pop, the speakers crackled even when the vehicle was off, but this crackling stopped over the night.

After driving my vehicle, I parked the truck for about 20 min. Upon returning to the vehicle and leaving the parking spot, a loud crackle and pop sound came from the speaker system. Followed up a recurring static noise that was at the loudest volume I presume the audio system would get to. The static would not cease with turning the volume off, turning down the volume, etc. I tried to turn off the vehicle and leave the vehicle for 5 min but upon restarting the truck, the sound restarted immediately. I tried turning off and restarting 2 more times with no success. I had no choice but to drive 40 min to the closest dealership. The manager and a sales person heard and experienced the sound. They shut the vehicle off and on as I did. They shut off the vehicle for about 10 min while they went in search of a service tech. When the truck was restarted the sound stopped. The tech did a master reset just in case hoping for a error code but none appeared. This event was jarring and a day later, my hearing still is not normal and my ears hurt.

Rear window shattered. I was in a restaurant ate dinner and came back out the rear window was completely shattered.

Deafening pulsing noise coming from all speakers , volume button did not turn it off. Shut truck and locked it and did not stop the noise. Unplugged battery and did not stop noise. After about 15 minutes it stopped. Got into truck and there was an electrical burning smell. I have recorded the noise on video. Big safety concern, if the noise happened while I was moving I might have crashed. My ears were ringing for awhile after the incident.

There were no reported maintenance problems with the Ford f150 before the fire occurred. On the day of the fire, the vehicle was being driven by an adot employee who was east bound on interstate 8 near mile post 39 when she began to smell smoke. The employee pulled over to the side of the road and observed smoke emanating from the side of the hood. The employee report that she observed little plastic balls of fire dropping down to the ground. The vehicle continued to burn unabated in this rural area for many hours before most combustibles were consumed and the fire self-extinguished itself. The remains of the vehicle and fire damaged contents were then scooped up by adot maintenance personnel and taken to the yuma maintenance yard where it was later inspected.

I took my 2021 Ford F-150 VIN 1ftfw1e52mfa69374 to a 3rd party mechanic for a TX state inspection as required by law. The mechanic told me he could not preform the inspection because my truck would not communicate with his emissions testing computer. He said this has happened many other times with other newer F-150s. As can be seen with NHTSA id number 10209217 and manufacturer communication number: ssm 50602. It appears Ford via their software and emissions test is only allowing these vehicle’s to be serviced at Ford dealerships which is wrong.

The sound system blasted a loud, screeching sound, and I couldn't turn it down. It startled me so much that I ran a red light. . Read more...

The cabin recirculation button turns off by it self, lets air in from outside. . Ie. Smoke, car and truck exhaust. . Cold air. This has been going on since I owned the truck and Ford says it is designed to do that. . Window anti fog design. . I will get in my truck in the morning and turn heat on to take chill off. . . Low air speed and 2 clicks past half way on the heat and it will only stay on for 1 -5 min and turn off on its own. I drive 1 hour to work on interstate and everytime it turns off I smell exhaust from semi's and other cars around me in traffic. So I have to keep turning it on to keep from getting choked out by the smells from traffic. Ford says no way to turn off. . This is a design flaw. . I know of no other car manufacture that does this. . I have videos of it turning off. .

2021 Ford F-150. Consumer writes in regard to parts being unavailable to perform NHTSA safety recall 22v-842.

Complete loss of the throttle while in an intersection. Was able to shut down vehicle, then wait about 30 seconds, then turn it back on clears issue. This has happened at least three times.

Ford has issued two recalls for my vehicle. I've included the campaign/NHTSA# for each below. 22s53/22v623 22s26/22v250 in each case I have sought to have the vehicle repaired and in each case my dealer has said that Ford does not have parts available for their service department to make the repair. I've waited a reasonable time without any update from either Ford or my dealer prior to submitting this complaint. Ford has an obligation to make recall repairs within a reasonable time of announcing the recall. Their failure to do so could place consumers in danger. Otherwise, why would they initiate the recall in the first place? anyway, I thought this was unacceptable and felt the need to complain. Thanks, benjamin m. Shisler.

3. 6. 2021 - Ford f150 purchased at battlefield Ford (ourisman Ford), manassus va / registered in CT 7. 27. 21 – inspected by torrington Ford, torrington CT for rubbing sound front left side, nothing found / 6,325 miles 2. 10. 22 – inspected for same issue / nothing found / 16,000 miles 7. 27. 22 – inspected for same issue / nothing found / 24,000 miles 12. 24. 2022 – “catastrophic failure” of front differential / 34,369 miles. On christmas eve 2022 myself, husband and son were driving to family in NY when the truck very quickly started to make a severe grinding sound, became unable to steer, loss of control, and started to produce smoke & fire under the hood. We immediately stopped and got out unharmed. Fire was dripping out of the bottom of the truck and smoke/fire under the hood. We were lucky. Firetrucks came but were unable to do anything. The truck's wheels completely seized up - the tow truck had to skid it onto the flatbed. Repaired at simmons-rockwell Ford, hallstead, PA. Complete new front differential and damaged parts in proximity to the failure (pinion gear, axle shaft, etc). 12. 16. 2023 – again hearing a sound in front left side while driving; bring to the shop for inspection. Shop confirms front differential is failing again, per torrington Ford, (where all maintenance and repairs were completed, except for the first failed front differential in PA). Advise not to drive for safety reasons. 52,922 miles. With both front differential failures - no warning lights or messages. Symptoms - a slight rubbing/grinding noise in the front left side of vehicle; “rough” sound while driving. 1st front differential – inspected at 6,000 miles, 16,000 miles, and 24,000 miles. Failed at 34,369 miles. 2nd front differential – inspected at 52,922 miles, failing differential, advised not to drive. Dec 2023 – buy-back claim filed with Ford motor CO. Denied - "outside of the 18-month warranty period for va lemon law". Clearly, safety is not a guiding tenet for Ford motor CO.

Heard a small rattle in my wheel for a few weeks. Checked my passenger rear wheel and I had a rear passenger axle bolt sheer off. Took the truck to local, mac haik Ford dealership in georgetown, TX for repairs. Replaced the bolt and rear axle. This is a known issue in online Ford f150 forums. Good thing I decided to check it when I did.

When the weather reaches freezing temperatures or below. The drivers side door will not unlock or open. It will not unlock using the remote unlock, key fob, manual key, unlock button on the door or pulling the handle from the inside. If there were an incident that would require exiting the vehicle quickly or emergency services needed to extricate the driver quickly, this would not be possible since the door can not be opened. This only occurs during cold weather. I live in wisconsin and the temperatures during winter are consistently below freezing. The dealer will not get me in to address for another month to look at it. The truck was purchased February 2022. First sign of the issue occurred December 2022.

Ford stated a solution to this would be available q1 2025, but has not provided one. They had already pushed this back once before. The wheel end hub bolt in the rear axle may become loose or break. Continued driving with a broken bolt may lead to wear within the axle and damage the axle hub splines. This may initially result in a clicking noise as the bolt becomes loose and a rattle noise from the wheel cap if the bolt breaks. Vehicles with damaged axle hub splines may roll in park without the parking brake applied, or, alternatively, lose drive power, both of which may increase the risk of injury or a crash.