The contact owns a 2021 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost automotive power. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle hesitated to accelerate as intended while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact stated that the message "Auto START/STOP, Shift to Park then Restart Engine" and "Low Engine Oil Pressure" were displayed in the instrument panel. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 21,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
Ford Ecosport start-stop problems
14 of the 1,871 owner complaints about the Ford Ecosport describe start-stop system problems, most of them for the 2018 model year.
- owner complaints
- 14
- worst model year
- 2018
- typical mileage
- 42,000
By model year
- 20212
- 20202
- 20193
- 20187
Often reported together
Stalling 4Engine failure 4Won't start 2Hesitation 2Check engine light 2Slipping 1Loss of power 1Jerking 1
What owners say
1. The vehicle jumps when being put into gear and sometimes slips or is delayed as well. It also has a sound that goes along with it. This has been a problem since the first started driving the vehicle. Like many issues with this vehicle it is not consistent, however I estimate that this happens 75% of the time. 2. I have bumped are in my car port multiple times. I've stayed very vigilant as, it has jumped a couple times when I'm in a parking lot at a busy shopping area and people are walking in the lot. It feels very unstable and unpredictable. The whole car jerks. 3. I have been to the dealership for other issues related to the auto start stop not working and engine failure from the 23V905 recall. I am not sure if this was part of the inspections. 4. There are no warning indicators for this. It happens and is jarring. Note below, it is not one incident date, it is constant.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH and attempting to complete a turn, the Auto START/STOP feature activated and turned the vehicle off, with the message "Shift to Park(P) to Manually Restart" was displayed. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. The battery warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with a piston, resulting in damages to the engine. The contact was informed that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); the VIN was included, but parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was 125,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
I was having issues where accelerating was difficult for a couple weeks. Then I was going 70 on the highway and began dropping speed quickly (down to 30 mph within 30 seconds). I was pressing on the gas and nothing was happening. My check engine light turned on and the wrench light showed up, my screen when black and I had to pull over, felt like car stalled. Turned car off and then back on to try to get somewhere safer. Far would not go over 20 pulled into parking spot and breaks didn’t work. Got towed to my family mechanic and he drove it and said the same thing happened (he thought it was electric so send me to ford dealer). Dealer could not find anything wrong except a software update was needed. Problem was resolved but I found it hard to believe that was it. Fast forward 10 months later same thing happens. Lights turned on then off. Auto stop/start no longer working. Car feels like it is struggling to accelerate again and once I’m up to the intended speed it seems like it doesn’t want to change gears. Car basically seems like it is driving all wrong.
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the "WRENCH" symbol and the low oil pressure warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated the failure was intermittent and occurred while stopped at a traffic light. The contact stated that the automatic STOP/START engaged while depressing the accelerator pedal to move after the traffic signal had changed, and the vehicle stalled with the "WRENCH" symbol illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure had reoccurred; however, the vehicle was not taken back to the dealer. The contact called the manufacturer and was informed that there were no parts available to repair the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 107,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving approximately 45 MPH and attempting to depress the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. As a result of the failure, the contact drove in neutral a short distance to the residence. The contact also stated that the Auto Start/Stop warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or local dealer. The contact related the failure to the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
On December 07 2023 while driving off the interstate my vehicle abruptly stopped. It wouldn't accelerate at all and came out of no where. I had my kids in the car but thankfully I was close enough to their school that I was able to pull over and call a tow to take it to a dealership. That same day a service warning came up on the app that I did not see until after my car stalled on me saying there was a "Service Engine Soon Warning" On the app it stated: "The Engine Control system has detected that one of the engines internal components is not responding as expected. This can be caused by improper engine oil pressure or improperly operating engine timing components. The Engine Start/Stop feature (if equipped) may be disabled when this fault is present." The next step was: "Have your vehicle checked by an authorized dealer as soon as possible." It was 830 at night at this point I was not in the position to have it checked at this time but again it was towed to the dealership. At this time there had been ZERO recalls on this vehicle and I am diligent about getting my service done on it. Also I had no reason until this day to look up any issues with this vehicle but when I did I was furious to see that since September 2023 Ford has been made aware of this ongoing issue and had not issues a recall on my or other's vehicles. I am well within my 60K Powertrain warranty thankfully unlike others and my engine was replaced. I picked up my vehicle after repairs on January 03 2024. 1 Month later AGAIN while driving with my children in the car trying to get home in a snow storm my vehicle completely stopped and this time it would not budge. I could not safely get to the side of the road. I could not go in neutral it did nothing. Again it has been towed. Again the engine "has to be replaced" again the same issue is happening and it wasn't until February 23rd did I finally receive an advance notice. I am furious at the lack of safety for myself and my children in this car.
The contact owns a 2021 Ford EcoSport. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency Campaign Number: 23V905000 (Engine and Engine Cooling) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact stated that the Auto START/STOP intermittently locked the vehicle. After being idle at a red light and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle stalled. The contact restarted the vehicle and was able to continue driving. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was hesitating while attempting to accelerate. The failure occurred three times before the vehicle was taken to the dealer. The failure recurred approximately one month after the vehicle was first repaired. The contact stated that after the vehicle was shifted in reverse, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal was depressed, and the vehicle responded, however, the vehicle failed to exceed 10 MPH. The contact stated that after arriving at the residence, the vehicle was turned off and restarted and there was a loud pop coming from the engine compartment. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the transmission had failed. The transmission was repaired after the first failure. The dealer diagnosed that the transmission had failed again and needed to be repaired; however, the vehicle had not been repaired after the second failed. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 21,485. VIN tool confirms parts not available.
A couple year ago I got a random pop up saying low oil pressure I pulled over immediately and started hearing a noise. I called around and got told I should tow the car to a mechanic. Then, I was told I had to get a new engine, and that was not cheap. I have also had the problem where every time I get into the car the screen turns off and says “turning off to save battery” sometimes the screen turns back on and sometimes it stays off not allowing me to see navigation. Plus when this happens it sometimes turns my whole dash and air conditioning off, and I am unable to use the reverse camera. Now there was a recent recall on my vehicle for the low oil pressure warning. But I have also had multiple problems with the auto start stop function where I have to manually turn it off every time I get into the car, the reasoning is because multiple times on the road the car would not start and I would have to put the car in park and restart the car but on hills it really has a problem starting.
The contact owns a 2019 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact pulled over and checked the oil level, and the oil level showed full. The contact drove the vehicle to the gas station and added oil however, the failure persisted. While driving to the dealer, the Auto Start/Stop, Shift to Park, and Restart warning light illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed by the dealer and was awaiting the repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 69,576.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Ford Ecosport start-stop
Which Ford Ecosport years have start-stop system problems problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2018 (7 complaints), 2019 (3 complaints) and 2020 (2 complaints).
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