2011 Ford F-150: sudden loss of power

Filed May 16, 2026 · Electrical, Transmission · MI

What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? “We lost power while driving, along with a weird downshift today, 5/16/2026. This is happen one other time, however not as bad.” How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? “It could have been way worse, lucky there was a left turn lane that avoided us being rear ended by the vehicle behind us.” Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? “Not for this time, but it will be going in first thing Monday. We did have it looked at back in April when it did a weird downshift while driving, but they couldn’t find an issue then.” Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? “No, but it will be after this incident.” Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? “No warning lights, just loss of power and an intense downshift. The first time the downshift thing happened was back in April, but nothing more. We had a mechanic look at it, but nothing happened for him then.”

Filed Aug 29, 2025 · Engine · MA

The display will show a wrench icon and check engine light. The transmission will suddenly downshift and lose power. The RPMs will either rise or remain the same but unable to accelerate. The wheels will intermittently lock up. This occurs at high speeds on the highway and on back roads at slower speeds. Stopping the tuck, shutting it off and turning it back on will "reset" and it will run ok but the timing between incidents is intermittent. There is a recall for this issue however the dealership (Greico Ford in Raynham) refuses to make the repairs, instead telling me this is no longer covered by recall: Transmission molded leadframe extended coverage [XXX] Today was the latest event, however this has been ongoing since December 2024. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Jul 12, 2024 · Electrical, Engine · UT

There is an active recall for my specific year/make/model - yet I'm being told it doesn't apply to my vehicle - but my vehicle is absolutely having the exact issue described in the recall. How do I get this resolved? The issue is that my vehicle will unexpectedly downshift, (I believe into first gear, based on the RPM's that I get stuck at) almost always while I am driving at freeway speeds. When this happens, an orange wrench appears in my dashboard warning indicator for a brief moment, then I lose all gauges - my digital displays literally just turn to blank dashes as I lose power and the ability to accelerate. My gauges all drop to as if the vehicle isn't even on, my speedometer displays "--" and my RPM's remain at approximately 1500 regardless of whether I try to accelerate or decelerate. If I decelerate, because I'm in the improper gear for the speed I'm traveling - I will not be able to accelerate. The only way for me to resolve the issue is to try and find somewhere to safely pull over, put the vehicle in park, turn the engine off, wait a few moments and then restart the engine. This happens without warning and at random. Sometimes multiple times in a day, sometimes not at all for a couple of weeks. I don't understand how my vehicle is exempt from the recall. This has been ongoing for several months now. Thank you for your consideration

Filed Apr 30, 2024 · Transmission · IA

[XXX] [XXX] Cedar Rapids IA 52402 April 27 2024 [XXX] PHONE: [XXX] I have a 2011 Ford F150 5.0 with a 6 speed transmission and within the last few weeks I have had serious transmission issues that have become so bad it is not safe to drive. At any time the transmission will down shift on its own causing my speed to be reduced dramatically and usually becomes stuck in third gear and lose power. When I come to a stop light it will lung forward until I can get it out of third gear into neutral also some times when I pull out from a stop light while making a left turn it will change gears and the power will drop making it very dangerous to make a left turn in oncoming traffic. I researched the internet trying to find what would cause this and it didn’t take long for hundreds of articles to pop up. Many articles said there was a recall in (2019) for the 2011s with a 6 speed transmission made in Dearborn Michigan and that would be mine. I called the Ford Motor Company last week and explained the issue I was having and gave them my VIN [XXX] . They agreed there had been issues with that transmission but my VIN didn’t match any recalls, they did say they have a review board that looks at these problems along with the federal safety agency and may cover the cost to fix it so I should save my receipts. I then went to my local Ford Dealer and gave them the VIN they said Ford had an extended warranty for that transmission but now it is outdated? I did more research and found the following (Ford is issuing a safety recall on select 2011-13 Ford F-150 vehicles with 6-speed automatic transmission that may experience an intermittent loss of the transmission output speed sensor signal to the powertrain control module, potentially resulting in a temporary, unintended downshift into first gear. Feb 13, 2019) (DEARBORN, Michigan — Ford is recalling 201,900 vehicles in North America, including the 2011-'12 Ford F-150 and 201 INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Apr 12, 2024 · Transmission · 31,870 miles · FL

The contact owns a 2011 Ford 150. The contact stated that while pressing the accelerator pedal a thumping noise was present coming from the transmission and the vehicle had experienced jerking and loss of power along with reduced speeds while driving and the service wrench had displayed. After restarting the engine the vehicle operated as normal but the failure continued to intermittently occur. The cause of the failure was not determined. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 31,870.

Filed Aug 24, 2023 · Transmission · 280,000 miles · AL

The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-150. The contact stated that the powertrain warning light was intermittently illuminated while starting the vehicle. Additionally, the speedometer and the instrument cluster were inoperable. The contact stated that the vehicle later went into LIMP Mode while driving. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced reduced power and the transmission failed to shift into the intended gear. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, who determined that the transmission leadframe was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 280,000.

Filed Mar 30, 2023 · Steering · 88,000 miles · MD

The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle sporadically shifted right and then lost power steering assist. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed the contact that the steering control arm failed; however, the part to do the repair was on back order. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 88,000.

Filed Mar 28, 2023 · Acceleration, Electrical · AK

My truck has been shifting hard..or taking a very long time to shift into gear. When I put the truck into reverse it doesn't indicate/light up the R-reverse light on dashboard which is dangerous not knowing what gear the truck is actually in..after quite some time it will slam or thud hard into reverse but still doesn't illuminate on the dash...then when switching into drive it slams very hard into gear. My acceleration has also been acting up and does not accelerate normal anymore. It's very sluggish and slow to get going which is very dangerous sometimes when entering a highway. I've also been going 40-50 mph and suddenly I lose power and my truck slows down and I have no control over it..hitting the gas only revs engine but does nothing. My reverse lights don't work sometimes either and my rear window has also quit working. I have contacted the locao ford dealer about these issues and the person was not only rude but was without doubt trying to rush me off the phone and told me they were booked up for many weeks and it'd be awhile before I could get the truck looked at...I bought thus truck in November 2019 and had taken it in for a recall that they had to do a quick reprogramming...come to find out there was also at the time a safety recall which "expired'" at 10 years or 150000 miles which is IMO total nonsense and unprofessional of Ford to not make this a real recall that they are required to fix knowing the many issues thousands of vehicles are having due to there negligence when they were built. It's not right to have there customers pay thousands out of there pockets to replace parts that are known to quit working properly and cause many safety issues for people driving the faulty vehicles. We are already paying monthly payments and the only thing the expired safety compliance/ not actual recall is doing for Ford is making them lose loyal customers. I truly worry about the unsafe occurrences that may happen with my child in my truck now and it's not right

Filed Feb 23, 2023 · Acceleration, Transmission · NM

I am getting a P0299 code truck and according to research, this is something to do with the Turbo. It is causing my truck to lose power while driving. I have had it parked since then.

Filed Feb 8, 2023 · Steering · 140,000 miles · NE

The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-150. The contact stated upon starting the vehicle, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. The message "Service Auto Trak" was displayed. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle responded as needed. However, the failure reoccurred inadvertently while driving. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the electric power steering assist had failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the referred the contact to the federal safety agency hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Filed Jan 22, 2023 · Acceleration, Transmission · MD

The transmission seem to not want to switch gears. It lost power in the middle of the road. Haven't seen a dealer.havent been inspected. A large wrench appeared and started becoming erratic. Put my scan tool on it and retrieved code P0720

Filed Nov 25, 2022 · Steering · 150,000 miles · TN

The contact owns a 2011 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist with the Advancetrac warning light illuminated. Additionally, the vehicle made abnormal sounds while driving. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.