Ford offers 10-year warranty as EcoBoost engine-failure probe ends

It began successful July 2022 arsenic regulators started looking into reports of motor failures affecting 2021 Bronco SUVs. It past turned into a two-year probe covering much than 411,000 vehicles outfitted pinch Ford’s EcoBoost engines, including nan Ford F-150 Bronco, Edge and Explorer, arsenic good arsenic nan Lincoln Aviator and Nautilus.

And now, nan verdict is in.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed nan probe aft Ford agreed to cheque perchance affected engines and springiness owners an extended warranty.

NHTSA and Ford’s ain inspectors confirmed that nan rumor came from a faulty intake valve that could driblet wrong nan EcoBoost engine, causing it to suffer powerfulness aliases unopen down. The agency’s forensic study recovered nan defective valves would fracture erstwhile exposed to precocious temperatures during regular motor use. The faulty valves were made betwixt May and October 2021, NHTSA said.

A consequent alteration successful nan manufacturing of nan valves eliminated astir of nan perchance at-risk engines and vehicles studied by nan NHTSA probe.

Ford, meanwhile, said that not each valves manufactured during nan 2021 play were faulty and that half of nan failures happened earlier affected vehicles were driven for 5,000 miles. Most of nan remaining failures occurred earlier vehicles were driven for 20,000 miles.

In August, Ford recalled 90,000 vehicles, offering a trader inspection and a trial to place whether these contained nan defective valves. These included Bronco, Explorer, Edge, F-150, Aviator and Nautilus models. The F-150 was nan astir perchance affected model, pinch close to 48,000 vehicles recalled.

But fixed that Ford estimates astir faulty-valve engines had already failed, it did not perpetrate to replacing engines. Instead, it agreed to supply an extended powertrain warranty covering up to 10 years aliases 150,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Ford says its EcoBoost engine provides a powerful capacity pinch amended substance system than astir accepted engines. The EcoBoost’s turbocharger uses nan unit of nan exhaust to push much aerial into nan engine, debar nan nonaccomplishment of power successful nan exhaust, Ford says.