2021 Ford Bronco Investigated Over Reports of Engine Failure [UPDATED]

Steven Tobin
by Steven Tobin

Complaints of “catastrophic engine failure” involving the 2021 Ford Bronco have led to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) initiating a Federal Safety Investigation.

The 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine in the Ford Bronco has become a source of investigation after 32 consumers complained of their engines completely failing in normal, everyday driving conditions. The investigation was opened by NHTSA on May 27.

According to NHTSA, “under normal driving conditions without warning the vehicle may experience a loss of motive power without restart due to catastrophic engine failure related to a faulty valve within 2.7 L Eco-Boost Engines”.

Editor’s note: The original headline incorrectly stated that the Bronco had been recalled. This is not the case. We have fixed the headline to more accurately reflect this and we regret the error.

As many as 25,538 Ford Broncos could be affected by this condition, according to papers Ford filed with the federal agency.

The inquiry, which was initially reported by Carscoops and Ford Authority, seeks to determine if Ford will be required to recall the vehicles for engine repairs. The Federal Office of Defects Investigation has received three petitions requesting these investigations on March 17, 18, and 29. The petitions are currently under review by the agency.

“The petitioners alleged that 2021 MY Ford Broncos vehicles are experiencing loss of motive power at highway speeds with no-restart due to catastrophic engine failures,” the federal safety agency has written on its website.

The affected 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine is available as standard equipment on the Wildcat and as an optional engine on all other models except Everglades and Raptor.

Car and Driver is reporting that Ford has told them they are aware of a select number of engines affected and that Ford is cooperating with NHTSA on the matter as well as any consumers who have the 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty.

The 2021 Bronco currently has two safety recalls outstanding: One from October 2021, involving 553 vehicles for potential passenger airbag deployment issues; the other for a misaligned radar module that could cause affected vehicles to not maintain proper distance while using the adaptive cruise control feature.

[Image: Ford]

Steven Tobin
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  • Lightspeed Lightspeed on Jun 09, 2022

    So, we've gone from engines that had lots of little problems with emissions and fuel injection and ECUs to engines that are super reliable until they prematurely catastrophically fail.

  • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Jun 09, 2022

    This sounds newsworthy: "Over the past nine months, more Wrangler owners have defected to the Bronco than any other brand, with defection rates reaching between 9-10 percent in the first three months of 2022."

    • See 1 previous
    • Lou_BC Lou_BC on Jun 09, 2022

      @Jeff S - A friend of mine had an engine failure with his 2.0 turbo in his brand new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon. His Jeep was 6 weeks old. He also had an engine failure with his 3.6 V6 in his old Jeep just off of warranty.

  • Cprescott Fisker is another brand that Heir Yutz has killed.
  • Dwford Every country is allowed to have trade restrictions except the US.
  • 1995 SC Are there any mitigation systems that would have prevented this though? We had a ship hit a bridge in Jacksonville a few years back and it was basically dumb luck it didn't collapse. This looked like a direct hit.
  • Cprescott Oh, well.
  • 28-Cars-Later "The Chinese Ministry of Commerce claimed the Inflation Reduction Act is “discriminatory”"This what your mainstream social communism has wrought: a foreign power, major geopolitical rival and the #1 global industrial competitor cries "racism" when an act of Congress in any way presents a challenge - and the saddest part is there are Americans who will process this claim and agree if only in their own minds. To be clear, Wo xihuan Zhongguoren but the under 40yo PRC raised Mainlanders I've interacted with do believe they are a master race - but that's fine right?
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