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2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid: stuck in gear or won't shift

9 of the 271 complaints about the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid describe stuck in gear or won't shift.

owner complaints
9
of this car's complaints
3%
recalls
0
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.

Stuck in gear or won't shift by model year

  • 2024
    1
  • 2023
    1
  • 2022
    2
  • 2021
    9

What owners say

Filed Nov 9, 2026 · Transmission · NM

Violent upshift and downshift, erratic shifting, difficulty finding gears, high revs, stuck in 10th gear more than two times, failure to find gears, loud bang when CDF drum seal blew along with loss of power causing it to rapidly slow down, unable to accelerate due to it being stuck in second gear, and unable to accelerate from takeoff causing close calls with traffic.

Filed Aug 28, 2026 · Acceleration · TX

My vehicle experienced significant transmission shift issues, skipping gears, stuck in gears, going to wrong gears, and inability to shift, that left me disabled in intersections multiple times. The situation worsened over time and had to have the transmission replaced. The failure was diagnosed as a CDF coupling failure.

Filed Mar 6, 2025 · Transmission · 102,000 miles · WI

The contact owns a 2021 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the vehicle was started, and several unknown warning lights illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that the gear shifter failed to shift into neutral while the vehicle was being towed. In addition, the contact stated that the gear shifter was stuck in park(P). The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with powertrain control module failure. The contact was informed that the powertrain control module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was advised to contact the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 102,000.

Filed Mar 4, 2025 · Transmission · OK

I purchased my truck in March of 2024 with an undisclosed problem from a dealership in Texas. I contacted them two weeks after it began and they said they couldn't do anything as is the greatest business disappointment of American commerce when used vehicles are purchased under the "As Is" clause. The undisclosed problem is this, my truck loses acceleration power for up to 20 seconds in dangerous situations when I attempt to increase speed from a stop or slower speeds and the truck doesn't shift to accelerate to reasonable speeds. This situation happens each time I drive this truck. The scarier situations happen when changing lanes, turning left, or right, or making U-turns. Each of these conditions threatens safety every time this happens, but more so when there is fast-moving traffic coming behind after changing lanes or if on-coming traffic approaches my now power-less truck when making a left/u-turn. My local dealership shop found the CBF drum in the transmission to be faulty causing internal leaks which fail to engage the gearing system. The repair cost to make my truck safe again is over $7.2k. If this truly is a safety failure problem, I request the federal safety agency for payment to my dealer or reimbursement, please.

Filed Jan 3, 2025 · Electrical · UT

I purchased a 2021 Ford F-150 Powerboost Lariat in November 2022. It was advertised as a Gold Certified Used vehicle. In October I stopped and put the truck in park, and when I got back in the truck it wouldn’t shift out of Park. The Message in the instrument panel said to shift into Park to start. However, the shift lever was stuck in Park with the yellow light flashing next to P. I had to spend $100 to have my truck towed to Young Ford in Ogden, Utah which is the closest dealership to my home. They had my truck there for two days and then called me and let me know my truck was ready to be picked up. They told me the problem was a software update and once they had completed the update, everything was working fine. They then charged me approximately $360 for the update. So essentially, I just spent $460 for a software update on my truck that is set to automatically download and install updates several times each week. The technician at the dealership checked my vehicle history and verified that I was up to date with all available updates. In just under two years of ownership, I have now had to take it to the dealership twice for software updates, and even more times for multiple recalls. This latest issue is infuriating because a simple software upgrade cost me two days of use, towing charges, and $360 to diagnose and download the update. Why does a software update completely disable a vehicle, and why is it not Ford’s responsibility? What if this happened during driving on the freeway? I should not have to take it to the dealership to be updated so that the vehicle will operate. In my mind this is no different than a recall. If a car becomes inoperable because of a problem from the dealer than the dealer should be financially responsible and not pass those costs to the consumer!

Filed Dec 20, 2024 · Transmission · TX

The vehicle fails to acclerate. When pulling out into a street the vehicles accelerator became completely unresponsive. The vehicle was stuck in 2nd gear going about 8mph and the vehicle would not accelerate, I even push the pedal all the way to the floor for several seconds with no response. I had to come to a complete stop in the middle of the street for the truck become responsive to my inputs. I was nearly rear-ended due to this issue.

Filed Dec 2, 2024 · Acceleration, Transmission · IA

Leaving a parking lot and after turning right, the truck failed to accelerate for over 800 feet. Over this distance, the accelerator was pressed all the way to the floor and the truck stayed stuck in 2nd gear, slowly increasing from 2,000 rpm to 2,500 rpm, and from 17mph to 21mph. After this time, the accelerator pedal was pumped, and the truck responded with normal acceleration. This is not the first time this truck has had the issue, but it is sporadic, and almost always when turning right from a rolling stop. This has a high potential of causing accidents when trying to turn on to a road with higher speed traffic and unable to accelerate as expected. There were no warning lamps or messages indicating an issue with the vehicle. The issue is not consistently reproducible for Ford to inspect it, but it does happen a few times a month.

Filed Nov 2, 2024 · Transmission · MN

When gearshift lever is in "DRIVE," it would not shift into "REVERSE" or "PARK." There were no warning lights. Gearshift lever would always move from "PARK" to "DRIVE" or "PARK" to "REVERSE." I was in traffic, I was unable to move the gearshift from "DRIVE" to "REVERSE" when I needed to backup. The only way to get the gearshift lever to move was to TURN OFF the vehicle while it was in "DRIVE" and on a 2021 F150, the gearshift lever will automatically move into "PARK." Then I was able to restart the vehicle and move the gearshift lever into "REVERSE." From "REVERSE" the gearshift lever would move into the "DRIVE" position. This failure resulted in my inability to control my vehicle when required. The dealership replaced a GEAR SHIFT ASSEMBLY to resolve the problem.

Filed Apr 12, 2023 · Electrical, Engine · RI

This problem has been ongoing, happening nonstop up to multiple times daily since Feb of 2022 and has spent now 70 days at the dealership in search of the issue. Luckily, the vehicle has not caused an incident yet, but I am afraid to drive it if I get it back from the dealer again as the issue has just gotten worse. The vehicle randomly while driving goes into a "limp mode" in which 1 of 2 things happens. 1) If unable to pull over immediately, the vehicle has very erratic throttle control and 2) the vehicle sometimes gives a warning about the "adavancetrack" system and will sometimes shift itself into neutral out of nowhere forcing you to coast to a stop no matter where or what type of street you are on. In researching this problem to help my dealer at first and now to try and protect myself while in a battle with ford, it seems to be a common problem discussed on many forums on the internet and facebook and seems quite common among the F-150 powerboost. Ford is refusing me a buyback at this time and ignoring the safety implications that my vehicle is having

Related recalls

No recalls on record for this model year.

Questions about the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid won't shift

Is stuck in gear or won't shift a common problem on the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid?

9 of 271 owner complaints about the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid (3%) mention stuck in gear or won't shift. The model year with the most reports is 2021.

Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid?

There is no recall or service bulletin for this area of the car on record.

Other symptoms on the 2021 Ford F-150 Hybrid

Jerking 18Grinding brakes 13Check engine light 13Loss of power 13Stalling 11Transmission failure 10Adaptive cruise 9Brake failure 8Harsh shifting 8Hesitation 8Wipers 8Slipping 7Fuel pump 5Sudden acceleration 5

All model years of the Ford F-150 Hybrid

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