2017 Ford Fusion Engine
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
The engine died and the car shut off in the middle of trying to drive the car. All maintenance has been done on time, all recalls have been done but one (brake line hose) which was scheduled to be repaired. The car is a 2017 with 128k miles on the engine and I did NOT get any engine light notifications to indicate anything was wrong prior to the engine dying. This is a major safety concern especially since no indication lights were displayed prior to the issue.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle made an abnormal sound and vibrated. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with a coolant leak into the engine, and it was determined that the short block needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12 (Short Block Replacement After Coolant Intrusion); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 98,526.
Vehicle was sputtering while idle or in park. Engine light came on and when tested the diagnostic said “cylinder 2 misfire” Noticed coolant level would decrease quite drastically in short matter of time, also causing vehicle to run hot or begin to over heat. It’s not always possible (or safe) to pull over on the side of a busy freeway or wherever you are driving when this happens. After investigating, found that coolant was leaking into the cylinders. Being that this was a common issue in these specific eco boost engines I knew my engine block would need to be replaced. Car was at 40,000 miles when this started happening and still under warranty. Took car to the dealership explained the issue only for them to try to say there was nothing wrong with it after not even getting down into the engine. After much back and fourth they finally ordered a new engine block to replace the faulted original. Only took 6 months of the dealership having my car and dodging my calls and messages.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while her son was driving 55 MPH, the vehicle began to shake and vibrate, prompting the driver to pull over to the shoulder of the road and turn off the vehicle. The vehicle then failed to restart. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who determined that there was no compression in cylinder #2, resulting in damages to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 106,000.
1. Vehicle went into "limp mode" while driving on the highway. 2. Safety was at risk - Starting slowing down immediately in rush hour traffic. Could not accelerate. Pulled onto shoulder. 3. Dealer could not reproduce. 4. Not inspected by manufacturer, police, or insurance. 5. No warning lamps lit prior to incident. Vehicle running normally prior to incident. Restarted the car and issue was no longer present.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that when the vehicle was started, the contact noticed white smoke coming from the tailpipes. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the coolant reservoir had to be refilled every four days. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the spark plugs and coil packs were replaced. The coil packs were replaced twice. The failure reoccurred, and the independent mechanic agreed to replace the coil packs another time. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to report the failure to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 98,275.
A couple of weeks ago, heater would not work and a very cold day. We stopped after a while for gas and then the heat went on. This went on every time we used the car. So we got an appt at local Ford place last week, where we bought car. Took them several days but turns out the coolant is leaking into the engine and we need a new motor to the tune of 7000 bucks. The car never warned us of any malfunctions. It only has 58,000 miles on it but because it is a 2017 it is out of warrantee. I later learned that the EcoBoost cars have a lot of problems with leaking coolant into the motor. Especially the Ford Fusion and we have a 2 L EcoBoost car.
The car was shaking when I started it. Took it to the dealership and they told me it got the coolant intrusion into the cylinder and now they need to replace the whole engine with a short block engine. I believe it's a design defect by Ford!
There was coolant intrusion into my engine which caused the engine to start seizing and misfiring and it also rusted a spark plug into cylinder #4. From my research this seems to be a known and common issue with EcoBoost Ford Fusions (I have a 2017 Ford Fusion 1.5L EcoBoost). This issue apparently can also cause fires and I'm lucky that it didn't happen to me. The Peacock Ford Service Center in Maitland, Florida confirmed to me that this is a known issue. The engine has been inspected by a Firestone as well as the Ford Service Center that i previously mentioned. The only symptom of the failure was the check engine light coming on but the only reason it came on was because the engine started misfiring.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the temperature gauge indicated that the vehicle was overheated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with coolant leak and engine failure. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the vehicle was shaking while idling, and then hesitated to accelerate. The contact stated that the engine overheated while driving at highway speeds of 50 MPH or higher. The check engine warning light was illuminated with a misfire. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that there was a coolant intrusion into the engine. The engine was replaced under warranty. The contact stated that the failure became persistent. The contact stated that the failure occurred after driving approximately 5 miles or while driving 45 MPH. The vehicle was returned to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle with coolant intrusion and that the engine needed to be replaced again. The dealer informed the contact that the VIN was no longer covered under warranty. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case filed. The manufacturer confirmed that the VIN was not covered under recall or warranty. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 28,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that engine coolant was present inside the cylinders, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 76,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 29,100.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the engine overheated. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted, and the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that there was coolant intrusion into the engine, causing a misfire in cylinder #3. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact also stated that the vehicle shuddered abnormally at start-up. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with a misfire in cylinder #4. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated and the engine overheated. The vehicle was taken back to the independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed with coolant leaking into the engine and that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.
My vehicle is exhibiting the same defects that are included in the NHTSA customer satisfaction program 21N12 regarding a coolant intrusion. When hooked up to a scanner it reports DTCs P0300 and P0301-P0303. Is my understanding that this is a safety concern as it could cause the engine to fail and a fire to erupt. Unfortunately by the time this was brought to my attention as of today's date May 2nd 2024, My bed has not been recalled and it does not meet the stipulations of the customer satisfaction program as the current millage exceeds the 84,000 mi specified. I have noticed The coolant needing refilled several times over the years I have owned the vehicle. And this is the third time that I've had issues with misfirings, that required changing of spark plugs and ignition coils to correct. The frequency of the misfirings and some concerns that my mechanic had or what led me to research the issue, though now it seems it may be too late. I am concerned because it is a safety issue.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while accelerating from a complete stop, the vehicle shuddered and was sluggish. The contact stated that the failure recurred while driving and while reversing. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where the spark plugs were replaced; however, the failure recurred while driving at various speeds. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to exceed 30 MPH on one occasion. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road. The vehicle was towed to another independent mechanic, where it diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #3, and the engine needed to be replaced. The contact was referred to the dealer for repair. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the same assessment was made. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to Ford Campaign Number: 21N12 and TSB Number: 22-2134; however, the dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was not covered. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact observed white smoke coming from the exhaust, after which the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to coast to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to be restarted. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who determined that coolant intrusion in cylinder #2 had damaged the engine, and the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who again determined that coolant intrusion in cylinder #2 had damaged the engine however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, and a case was opened. The failure mileage was 60,000.
My 2017 Ford Fusion has a coolant issue. Per TSB 19-2139. Ford has a known issue in the cylinder walls and had a program available until November 2022. Sadly this program ended and they still have issues. It has been verified at a third party mechanic and Ford doesn't want to assist in this issue.
My car has been diagnosed with the known engine coolant leak issue with the 2.0L engines in the 2013-2018 Ford Fusions. It just now today, 8/1/2024, threw up a check engine light and I went to an ASE certified technician and they diagnosed it to be the same problem Ford has covered in their own technical service bulletins.
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the vehicle experienced rough starts, shuddered, and made an abnormal sound. The contact was unsure if a warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure persisted while driving at 65 MPH. The contact pulled to the side of the road, where the contact's husband met the contact and drove the vehicle back to the residence. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that there was coolant intrusion into cylinder #4. The dealer determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. No further assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 81,571.
The vehicle has started going through coolant and the exhaust has a sweet smell. It has the 1.5 litre ecoboost that has an active recall. I believe this is the issue. We still owe more than its worth and cannot afford to have a known recall issue cost us our transportation. It is only a matter of time before it destroys itself. I previously owned a 2014 fusion 2.0 that blew the motor due to the same issue. I had to put a new motor in that car. We picked the 1.5 engine since there were no reported issues at the time of purchase in 2022.
Engine had to be replaced due to a faulty design by Ford of coolant intrusion and a misfire of the cylinder
The contact owns a 2017 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that upon the start of the vehicle, the engine backfired with a cylinder misfire message displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was initially taken to an independent mechanic however, the cause of the failure was not determined. The contact was informed that the coolant level was very low. The contact frequently checked the coolant level and discovered that coolant was leaking but the location of the leak was not determined. The vehicle was then taken to two dealers, and it was discovered that there was coolant intrusion into cylinder #3, causing the engine to misfire. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 73,719.
Check engine has been off and on for last 500 miles. Regular maintenance. Took to dealership, Codes found of P0303, P0300, and p2196. Found coolant was low and confirmed coolant intrusion into engine. Per dealership either bad head, head gasket, or block and ford recommended replacing engine. Quoted $9000 in repairs to replace engine. Declined repair due to cost. According to NHTSA this is a common issue and should be addressed. Unsafe to drive however repair costs, and now inability to trade in, force driving until no longer can
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The 2017 Ford Fusion has 363 Engine complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.