Ford Facing Another Lawsuit For Alleged Engine Problems

Earlier this year, we found out that a class-action lawsuit had been filed against Ford over issues with its EcoBoost V6 engines. It turns out, those aren’t the only EcoBoost engines in legal hot water. Another class-action suit, this one filed in California, is taking on the four-cylinder line of turbocharged engines. It covers basically all the different four-cylinder variants from the humble 1.5-liter that was offered in the Ford Fusion, up to the 2.3-liter units in the Ford Mustang.

It Has To Do With Head Gasket Leaks

The lawsuit, Trevor Nelson, et. al v. Ford Motor Company, was filed by Capstone Law back in August, and has been working through the court system. It alleges that Ford has been selling its EcoBoost engines with a known defect that leads to leaking head gaskets and eventual engine failures without properly addressing the issue. In the court documents, the lawsuit points to small grooves between each of the cylinder bores where the gasket sits between the block and head. It goes on to suggest that coolant can pool in these areas, eventually degrading the gasket until it starts leaking.

Naturally, a head gasket leak can cause various problems. Too much coolant loss can lead to overheating. Coolant in the engine is detrimental to performance, can cause smoke through the exhaust, and can potentially cause engine damage. Head gasket replacements aren’t particularly cheap, either, since the cylinder heads have to be removed to replace them, which takes a fair bit of time.

The lawsuit also alleges that Ford has known about these issues for years, and that its attempts to address the issue have been insufficient. It highlights technical service bulletins over about a decade of stop-gap interventions, from engine recalibrations to additions of coolant sensors to catch issues early. It suggests these weren’t enough to fix the problems, and that the company should’ve redesigned the engine to address the problem and potentially offer engine replacements.

Related

Why Ford Is Being Sued Over Its EcoBoost V6

Ford has once again found itself wrapped up in a legal dispute. This time, a fault with its EcoBoost V6 is to blame.

Ford’s Other EcoBoost Lawsuit

The other lawsuit Ford is facing covers its turbocharged V6 engines. It’s about a different problem, though. Instead of head gasket issues, it was related to valves breaking, which could lead to severe engine damage. Also, unlike this new lawsuit, the V6 suit came from people who had purchased vehicles with potentially affected engines, but had not necessarily experienced any issues. They instead claimed that they would have paid less for their vehicles if they had known about the problem. Additionally, Ford had a fairly major recall involving replacing the problematic components and extending the powertrain warranty. Both the V6 and four-cylinder lawsuits have yet to be heard. In both cases, Ford has motioned to have the lawsuits dismissed.

Source: Trevor Nelson, et al v. Ford Motor Company