The U.S. National Highway Traffic Security Administration has announced a large-scale investigation after receiving worrying reports about sudden catastrophic failures in all kinds of EcoBoost engines from Ford.
The automaker has submitted data about hundreds of known incidents with EcoBoost engines and said it had already repaired 800 units. However, the NHTSA believes that the issues may still be affecting over 700,000 SUVs and pickup trucks produced by the company, most notably the best-selling new Bronco.
All cars assembled in 2020 or 2021 with a 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine under the hood are potentially affected. Their intake valves may spontaneously fail, leading to the car abruptly losing power in the middle of the road. The most likely culprit is an inadequate alloy type used for the valves.