What 2,137 owners told NHTSA about the 2011 Ford F-150 (regular Cab) Gas

When driving on the interstate with the normal flow of traffic at 55mph, the vehicle abruptly downshifted from 6th gear to 1st gear causing the the vehicle to lock up an nearly caused an accident. This was followed by a a mechanic warning light and the speedometer to lock out and no longer work. Once pulled over, the vehicle was powered down. When the vehicle was turned back on operation returned in a limp state.

NHTSA ODI 11678885

While driving at about 50 MPH truck suddenly down shifted to 1st gear locked up rear wheels and sent engine into a roar. Instrument panel not showing speed or any information. Had transmission shop trouble shoot and determined frame rail failure. replaced frame rail and serviced.

NHTSA ODI 11661348

Unexpectedly downshifting into first gear result in a loss of vehicle control happened on September 20, 2024 and continue on and off.

NHTSA ODI 11660189

At highway speeds speedometer started occasionally dropping to zero while actually going 55-65 mph. Then it became quite frequent AND the truck started spontaneous downshifting causing the rear wheels to break loose and the rear of truck to fishtail. It was terrifying.

NHTSA ODI 11655334

2011 F-150 super crew Laredo is sifting gears down by its self at high spends causing immediate car speedometer cluster going to zero and not be able to accelerate. There was a customer satisfaction program 19N01 it was 10 yr 150,0000 miles

NHTSA ODI 11651856

Transmission downshifted to 1st gear causing the rear wheel to lock momentarily while driving 40mph on the highway and then shifted back to 5th gear. Transmission will occasionally stay on 3rd or 5th gear when at a complete stop. Dealership refuses to remedy recall issue for my truck. I have complained multiple times.

NHTSA ODI 11640464

While operating vehicle at highway speeds the speedometer suddenly drops to zero and the transmission downshifts to first gear without warning. Apparently a failure of the transmission speed sensor. (?) A driver unaware of this issue that continues to drive results in excessive heat and pressure developing in the differential..A recall has been issued by NHTSA but Ford and the local dealer refused to address the problem because my VIN was not included in the recall.

NHTSA ODI 11640518

Ford has a "safety compliance" which has an expiration date of 10 years or 150,000 whichever was first. How is that even allowed? A major issue with the transmission range sensor which doesn't show a driver what gear there in...the lights all disappear so driver doesn't know if there in P, R, D, N, etc...its extremely dangerous! It also forces my truck to go into limp mode which is very dangerous especially when driving down a highway at 55. The truck was "reprogrammed" a few years back to stop the sudden downshift issue from occurring but it didn't eliminate that problem. Do you know how scary it is to be driving down the highway at 55-60 WITH YOUR TODDLER IN THE BACK...and then your truck suddenly on its own shifts down to 1st gear and there's nothing driver csn do but hope they don't hit or get hit by another vehicle?? These are just a few major issues I've had with the truck since buying it 5 years ago. I've barely drove rhe thing since the sudden downshift occurred and could have killed my son and I. The back window quit working. The transmission seems to have alot of issues and I was told because I am past 10 years..yet still under the 150,000 miles id have to pay full price for the backordered part through Ford only which was quoted at $470.00 and that doesn't include any labor. Ford is letting people down majorly. I wish I never bought the truck because it was so exciting to finally have a nice vehicle only to be let down in numerous areas. I drive my 1989 suburban more than my truck due to safety issues and because I am not going to spend thousands on it for an issue that they know has been a major problem for so many customers but yet it wasnt ever an official recall. Total BS!! I can't even believe they can get away with such issues. It's appalling and I'm beyond disappointed with my basically useless truck.

NHTSA ODI 11632248

At 45 mph the gear downshifted causing back tires to skid. Then gear illumination disappeared and wouldn't go into gear(while trying to leave a steep boat ramp) very scary!

NHTSA ODI 11622066

A recall was issued for an intermittent failure of the transmission speed sensor (OSS), campaign 16S19. I took the truck to a Ford Dealership, Mike Reichenbach Ford, in Florence SC. The technician reprogrammed the PCM. This did not resolve the issue and the truck continues to downshift or not shift at all. I spoke with the dealership and with the Ford Motor Company. I believe this truck was taken to a dealership more than once without the issue being resolved. I am respectfully request Ford make good on the safety recall of a known issue.

NHTSA ODI 11621769

While driving, my truck down shifted suddenly. Already 3 times on different occasions.

NHTSA ODI 11613554

My truck start to accelerate by itself and the light indicator goes crazy from parking to gear 1 From there the truck it can be controlled

NHTSA ODI 11602934

My truck is doing exactly what the recall on all the others. Check engine light on for input shaft speed sensor. Speed odometer quit working then engine light came on for speed sensor. Now when you drive on highway it will be fine then all of a sudden throw a wrench light and truck goes into limp mode and barely moves. You stop turn it off it resets but still isn’t right it doesn’t seem to shift at proper times seems to be shifting to often.

NHTSA ODI 11599525

Was in 6th gear(on a 6speed transmission) and immediately my truck downshifted to 1st gear causing my back tires to lock up and almost crash into a median. This is due to a CSP that Ford no longer offers to fix because it "expired".

NHTSA ODI 11594249

The lead frame on my truck was experiencing issues. The truck would intermittently randomly downshift at high speeds or get stuck in one gear. I was going 65+ mph on the freeway and and my truck shifted to second gear with no warning causing me to swerve and slam on the brakes. Other times my truck did it on surface streets. There were no warning lights or anything to let me know it would happen. After it downshifted, the wrench popped up on the dash, my speedometer went to 0, and my odometer read blank. Forcing me to pull over, restart the truck, in order to get it out of limp mode to be able to make it home. I took my truck to Ford of Valencia California where they inspected the truck and confirmed it was the lead frame. The issue was that at the time the part was on an 8 month back order so my only option was to replace the entire Valve body instead of only the lead frame. My truck was no longer under the recall and I was forced to pay for this out of pocket less than a month of purchasing the truck from a used dealership. My truck was only inspected by Ford of Valencia and no other agencies. Since this truck was my only form on transportation, I could not wait the 8 months for the lead frame to come in and had to pay out of pocket for the new valve body.

NHTSA ODI 11580437

Ford 150 2011 has had acceleration issues for the last 2 years. I heard there was a recall on this model of truck with the Eco boost but mine was not on the list but I am now having issues and mechanics are having a difficult time figuring out what has been happening. Code light doesn't specify a problem.

NHTSA ODI 11578169

I was driving on the highway at 65 mph and the truck downshifted on it's own from 6th gear to 3rd gear causing the truck to loose power. This has happened twice while driving on the highway and the transmission recall has been updated prior to this.

NHTSA ODI 11572399

Truck took off with out me touching the gas in a parking lot had to hit the brakes several times then shifted hard and speedometer quit work and the wrench symbol popped up on the dash and it throw code PO720 which is the output shaft speed sensor /lead frame

NHTSA ODI 11571137

The vacuum pump recall was replaced in 2016 and it’s bad again. I have the emissions warranty with ford I am 6 owner the other 5 owners were resale so I get the one time lifetime emission warranty. the truck is doing all kinds of crazy stuff

NHTSA ODI 11570009

This vehicle has an automatic transmission. It will not shift out of first gear in the drive setting and the speedometer registers 0 mph when moving in first gear. If I shift to the manual setting, I can shift up. I did not notice if the speedometer registered my speed at that point.

NHTSA ODI 11560609

Just out of no where the vehicle stoped and wouldn’t go into gear

NHTSA ODI 11544431

Truck transmission shifted into 1st dear from 4th while driving on a large 4-lane road in the middle of traffic while i was going approx 35 mph. When the downshift happened the tired locked up and the rear end slid sideways. I was able to regain control; however, as I stepped on the accellerator, the truck bogged down for a few seconds before reving to high RPMs and shifting roughly and then went into a mode that only allowed the truck to move between 3rd and 5th gears.

NHTSA ODI 11526689

Driving down the expressway yesterday doing approximately 72 miles per hour and the vehicle does a HARD SLAM down to first gear and picks right back up to 6th. Now my concern is not only for the lead frame issue, but my transmission is being damaged every time this continues to happen. Since Ford was not able to even LOOK at my car until June 2023 (Its currently APril 28, 2023), I elected to take to a reputable 3rd party repair shop. At which I was told that the parts on are order and on an "undetermined time" for receiving and Im stuck driving my vehicle with these issues, that ford is aware of, that are becoming a bigger safety issue each time I drive it. Disappointing to say the least. Ford cant build quality trucks. They dont own up to their known safety issues. They cant even schedule to see them in a reasonable timeframe. They dont have adequate parts available. And us consumers are stuck footing the bill and inconvenience. Do better Ford. We are all disappointed.

NHTSA ODI 11519387

Driving down the expressway, doing around 70 mph and the vehicle randomly jumps to first gear and brings the vehicle to a near halt in less than one second. It happened during rainy conditions and luckily there were no vehicles nearby or I may have struck one of them. At least once per day the vehicle does this at some capacity. No service lights or check engine lights are present.

NHTSA ODI 11517589

While driving 75mph transmission down shifted unexpectedly to 1 gear. Once I got it home had codes checked called for they stated my truck wasn't covered under recall that is out there for 2011 ford f150 doing the same thing.

NHTSA ODI 11514914