What 1,835 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Ford F-150 Supercab Diesel

I’ve been having whistling/rattling in my truck for the last couple of weeks. Tried to make an appointment with my local dealer for the Cam phaser CSP out by Ford for 2018, and other, year models with this issue among other transmission/powertrain issues/problems/defects. I was at a stop light with a red light and waiting for my green left turn arrow. Left turn arrow turned green and I stepped on the gas; my RPMs skyrocketed, stayed in gear 2, and was traveling between 5-10 mph. After roughly 100ft, the transmission switched gears from 2 to 6th gear and the turbos kicked in and I ended up slamming my head in to my steering wheel. This was the last/final straw. The engine has been questionable at best the last couple months and this was the first time I’ve felt like I am no longer driving the safe, reliable vehicle I thought I had purchase. I have a service appointment scheduled with one of my local dealerships. I hope they fix this issue because if they don’t/these life endangering transmission/powertrain issues persist I will be hiring a lawyer and fighting for lemon law.

NHTSA ODI 11454158

When accelerating to pass another vehicle the truck started shaking violently engine rpms were erratic and I lost almost all forward momentum. This incident almost caused a head on collision. Truck has shifted erratic since purchased and has undergone the lastest ford updates/repairs to no avail. Four-wheel drive is also engaging randomly and has also been repaired to no avail. It would be great if something would be done about these issues before someone gets killed. You just never know how the truck is going to drive on any given day...

NHTSA ODI 11451860

Transmission slips gears and loses acceleration. Very dangerous when pulling out onto the road and have had a couple close calls with oncoming vehicles.

NHTSA ODI 11449758

10 speed Transmission has severe jerking and clunking while going through the sequence from 1 to 10 on dash board. It almost sounds like something is bound or about to break. The amount of noise and clunking happens most often. I’ve been told by the dealer it’s a normal occurance. My truck has 22,000 and has done it from day one(Nov 2018).

NHTSA ODI 11449151

Parked 2018 F-150 on slight incline facing downhill. 12' dump trailer attached with load of 2000 lbs. Put transmission in park and set park brake. While preparing to unload trailer, I think I heard a popping sound. Then the truck suddenly began to roll downhill. It traveled about 70 feet before crashing into two parked cars. I ran to the truck and confirmed the transmission was in park and the brake indicator light was on, confirming that I had set the park brake. The truck had rolled freely with no indication of resistance from the brakes or transmission. Considerable damage was done to my truck, the trailer, and the two parked cars. My truck was towed but repairs have not yet begun and no cause has been determined as to why both the park brake and the transmission failed at the same time.

NHTSA ODI 11448456

The contact called on behalf of the owner of a 2018 Ford F150. The contact stated while the owner was driving approximately 30 MPH and depressing on the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to coast the vehicle to the side of the road. The vehicle was not drivable. The driver had the vehicle towed to their residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 37,000.

NHTSA ODI 11448247

I have been having issues with my trucks transmission, it is the Ford 10R80 ten speed transmission, It has been slamming into 6th gear so hard that it feels like I'm getting rear ended, I don't even have 50,000 miles on the tuck yet and it's been doing it since it had 29,000 miles on it. My transmission has been to multiple dealerships on six accounts as of today (1-13-22) with an appointment for a seventh time on (1-24-22). The dealerships have acknowledged the problem, and reprogrammed the computer according to their TSB but that did not fix the issue and the TCM computer had been replaced as well. I was told that since the transmission is not giving a code to their scanners, they can not fix the problem. It is potentially a safety hazard because if the transmission finally failes while driving on the main roads or highway, myself and anyone around could be severely injured or killed when the truck loses all power from the trans and stops. This issue has been happening since I purchased the used truck on 6-13-2020 and has never flashed a check engine light or warning. I have seen over many social media outlets that I am not the only one having this issue with the 10R80 transmission, and that there is even a class action lawsuit on that model transmission as well.

NHTSA ODI 11447308

When cold harsh shifts, missing shifts. Feels like shifts to neutral, engine speeds up then slams hard into gear. Today wrench light came on. 3rd trip scheduled to dealer.

NHTSA ODI 11445622

2018 F-150 10-speed FX4. Hard shifting, erratic shifting, and failure to accelerate at times. Vehicle is dangerous to drive. Problem can occur from stop to initial acceleration. I have take the vehicle to the Ford Dealership three times for the same issue without resolution.

NHTSA ODI 11443814

As thousands of drivers have reported and as NHTSA is clearly already aware yet puzzlingly remains silent about - my F150’s transmission creates whiplash when shifting, causes the vehicle to lurch, and loses power unpredictably. Ford refuses to admit the problem but the problem is the same as the rest of their poorly designed vehicles’ problems - they knew the transmissions had design flaws that made the vehicle unsafe to drive. I almost died on I-295 in Jacksonville when the vehicle randomly lost power and took it to the dealer. Now, because Ford has lied and won’t issue a recall that they know is their fault (they are being sued in multiple states for this exact issue) I am going to have to pay almost $10,000 to repair their flaw, by replacing their unsafe transmission with a safe version.

NHTSA ODI 11443643

Problem is the Ford 10 speed automatic transmission. I’ll just list the problems I am experiencing. Harsh loud shifting. When shifted into reverse or drive it engages really hard with a loud bang noise. Hunting for gear causes loss of forward motion, this is a safety concern as well. This has been a problem since new, service department says nothing wrong and instructs to disconnect battery for a while for computer to relearn, however it always ends up the same problem.

NHTSA ODI 11441697

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving, the gears failed to engage. The vehicle inadvertently shifted into 4WD. There was an abnormal screeching and grinding noise detected. The contact stated while driving, the brakes engaged on the front wheels without warning. The vehicle was taken three times to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the solenoid and a recalibration were needed. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was returned to the local dealer however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact requested a buyback, but no further assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 9,900. Consumer stated vehicle has been sold.

NHTSA ODI 11438544

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated while an employee was driving the vehicle 65 MPH on cruise control, the vehicle inadvertently accelerated at full speed. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the employee depressed the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not decelerate and continued driving approximately 90 MPH. The contact stated the employee shifted into neutral while the brake pedal was depressed, and he was able to veer to the side of road and parked the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the independent mechanic who diagnosed that no issues were found. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA for assistance. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 80,000. The VIN was not available.

NHTSA ODI 11437365

My 2018 Ford F150 truck has cold start rattle from the phasers. Started occurring 1k miles after my warranty ran out. This is a well known issue with this year of Ford F150 based on the 100s of videos and articles on this topic online. There are several thousand people across many online sites stating they have the same issue. They have created a service bulletin to fix the issue and sent out letters to some and not all owners. Never received the service bulletin and they should include mine in the fix since it is an obvious issue of their trucks.

NHTSA ODI 11431441

Vehicle stalls when coming to a stop after towing then will continue to stall after the engine is started back up. The temp gauge did not indicate it was overheating and no warning lights or engine codes came on. This only seems to happen while towing after we have been driving for over an hour. We are towing around 4,500 lbs so it is well under the limits of the truck.

NHTSA ODI 11430955

Intermittent problems with 10 speed automatic transmission: Hard shifts into reverse when cold, rattling/jerking when shifting from 4-5 gears, at steady speed in 10th gear a “rattle” or “chain slipping” occurs for several seconds. Have had the vehicle in twice and told there are no issues.

NHTSA ODI 11430845

The transmission randomly drops in and out of gear. At time times it will slam into gear creating a near whiplash condition. At other times the vehicle will simply become momentary inoperable. As this occurs completely without warning, it can create a dangerous situation leaving you motionless crossing a highway or busy intersection. I have been told that the transmission requires replacement at the cost of approx $4500.00. Prior to the first occurrence there were no signs of any issues.

NHTSA ODI 11430171

TRANSMISSION: Erratic movements and jerking Vehicle lunging forward Loss of acceleration Rough shifting Slipping into neutral

NHTSA ODI 11429843

2018 F150 has problems with the 10R80 automatic transmission. Harsh shifting, delayed shifts. Very unpredictable. Dealer has had the vehicle for 10 days and is unable to repair it. I bought the vehicle used from a Ford dealer with 45,000 miles in January 2021. It has always been problematic since I bought it. I first dropped it off at the dealer for repair on 8/3/21

NHTSA ODI 11428778

At approximately 18:30 hours on July 27,2021. While backing from alley into my driveway, I coast into driveway since alley is on steep hill, so no gas is needed. Just incline is needed to get movement of truck into driveway. As truck was about five feet from closed garage door. Engine revved up without foot being on gas pedal. Since truck was in reverse gear, so backup camera was engaged to assist in stopping when I get close to door. The rear tires started spinning and burning rubber, my foot had been on brake pedal entire time I was coasting into driveway. I had to press hard on brake pedal to keep from accelerating into and through garage door. Engine finally stopped revving up after a few seconds. I quickly put transmission into park and shut off engine. My son was a passenger in truck and he said what the [XXX] just happened. Got out of truck and there were black tread marks on concrete driveway approximately 2 feet long in front of tires. Next morning July 28, 2021, I started truck up and it acted normal. Took son to work and drove out to Ford dealership to have them take a look at truck. They could not look at truck. Earliest they could get it in to look at it was August 13, They did ask if there were any warning lights on dash. Told them I didn’t see any engine lights indicating a problem is occurring. I have driven truck daily since incident without any further problems. I called Ford dealership today August 12, and canceled appointment to have truck looked at. I doubt they’d find anything, it was an intermittent issue, but it does need to be reported. I have photos of tire marks in front of tire s the next morning before I started truck back up. INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11428876

My F150 has approximately 69,000. When slowly accelerating from a stop light, the 10 speed transmission shifted from from 1-4, then back to 1st then up to 7 then back to first. I'm not an aggressive driver and it startled me. Luckily, i was not hauling anything or in a heavy traffic flow. I immediately slowed down as the sudden jerks between the gears did jolt all the occupants. The wrench light came on and within 10 miles I pulled into the dealership where I bought it. It was diagnosed by the dealership yesterday as needing the valve body replaced, costing $1,700. There were no warnings or messages present on the display prior to the failure. I simply have lost faith that had this occurred in a different driving situation I shudder to think that my family and I may not be safe.

NHTSA ODI 11428597

For the past 30 days, the 10-speed transmission in my F-150 is shifting very hard from 10th to 8th and in other lower gears. It also will not accelerate at times when applying the gas at 10 MPH. The Ford dealer was able to replicate the problem when presented with the truck today, but tells me that Ford said that "that's the way the truck drives. There is not a problem with it." Two days ago, a rough downshift caused my wife to strike her head on the headrest in the front passenger seat, and she will not ride in it until I get this problem resolved.

NHTSA ODI 11428436

Transmission shifts hard and/or will not up shift or down shift properly. Often shifting so hard that loud noises can be heard and felt, often causing dangerous lurching or pausing in acceleration. On several occasions transmission has nearly caused what could’ve ended in severe collisions with other vehicles. Ford service personnel have stated “that’s just how they are”. I feel this is a very dangerous vehicle to operate and will no longer take my family in it.

NHTSA ODI 11426756

The transmission would not change gears as needed. Dropped it off at the dealer and they reset it. Problem persisted and then they changed the timing chain. Now the transmission is not switching gears correctly still. There is a fan on that was never on before. Dropping it back off tomorrow.

NHTSA ODI 11425937

Transmission. It is currently at a Ford dealer being disassembled. Might be available for inspection! When pulling out into traffic the transmission would go neutral when shifting which causes the truck to slow down in front of moving vehicles. Naturally I push the accelerator to make it go which revs the engine and then it slams into gear. On wet pavement this causes the drives wheels to spin out so you have to really pay attention not to slide sideways and lose control. It happens at all speeds! Yes it has been reproduced by the Ford dealer! It is currently at a Ford dealer being disassembled and then send the information to Ford so they can find out from Ford how to handle it. The truck is still barely under warrantee! There were not any warning lamps or messages before or after it started malfunctioning. It started malfunctioning this year, 2021, when it had around 40,000 miles.

NHTSA ODI 11424795