Ford F-150 Trucks Face U.S. Investigation Over Gear Shift Concerns
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating nearly 1.3 million Ford F-150 pickup trucks in the United States following reports of unexpected gear downshifts. The issue involves trucks from the 2015 to 2017 model years.
NHTSA announced on Monday that it is initiating a preliminary evaluation after receiving 138 consumer complaints.
Consumers have reported experiencing unexpected transmission downshifts to lower gears while driving at highway speeds. These downshifts occur without warning and without any driver input, causing the vehicles to rapidly decelerate.
A Ford spokesperson stated that the automaker is “working with NHTSA to support its investigation.” They confirmed that the issue concerns vehicles equipped with six-speed transmissions.
One owner of a 2016 F-150 reported a sudden shift from sixth to first gear while driving at 70 miles per hour, describing the experience as nearly throwing them through the windshield.
Some complaints also mention that the trucks’ rear wheels may temporarily lock, seize, or skid during the downshift, potentially resulting in a loss of control. NHTSA has stated that this can heighten the risk of a crash although no crashes or fires have been reported yet.
NHTSA will now decide whether to upgrade the probe to an engineering analysis. This could lead to a vehicle recall.
This investigation is the latest in a series of NHTSA inquiries into unexpected downshifting in F-150 trucks.
In June of 2024, Ford recalled over 668,000 2014 model year F-150 trucks because of similar complaints of unexpected downshifts, which could result in loss of driver control or rear-wheel lock-up.
In 2016, Ford recalled 153,000 2011-2012 Ford F-150 vehicles with six-speed automatic transmissions to address the same issue.
The agency opened a probe into the issue in December 2017, expanding a recall to cover 1.48 million North American F-150 trucks, including 2013 models, in 2019. Ford later recalled an additional 107,000 2013 F-150 vehicles for a related fix.
In November, Ford agreed to a $165-million US civil penalty after NHTSA determined the automaker failed to recall vehicles with defective rearview cameras in a timely fashion.
