2019 Ford F-150: headlights failing or too dim

Filed Feb 10, 2026 · Acceleration, Transmission · FL

When driving home from work at night on the highway in a 55mph zone my truck lost all power and the ability to accelerate. While on the highway began to hit the gas a bit more and saw the gears go from gear 10 all the way down to 1st gear at 55mph. Not sure what was happening and the truck began to “gear hunt” (attempting to find a gear that would give power). The truck gave me a check engine light and a alert of reduced power. I started to smell a burning smell in the vehicle and someone behind me was flashing me with their high beams to attempt to alert me something was wrong. I rolled the window down and looked in my mirror and saw white bellowing smoke being produced from behind the vehicle causing other drivers to either change lanes or slow down so they can see. I used what speed I had left from going down a on ramp to pull into a parking spot behind a building on the main road and had to call for a tow truck very late at night after my shift. I had the vehicle towed to that into the service department of a certified Ford dealership. After a few days of waiting for a response on the diagnosis of the vehicle, they stated that the transmission had blown and needed a replacement.

Filed Sep 8, 2022 · Driver assistance, Visibility · ME

I've been dealing with a vibration/shaking in my factory driver side mirror at high speeds and on bumpy roads since I got my truck in May 2019 (over three years). No issue on the passenger side. I've dealt with it off and on with the dealer as time and life have allowed. Currently I'm on my fourth mirror and have a case manager from Ford corporate. I have attached some of my correspondence with them for your reference. My problem is that the driver side shaking is very bad. It's distracting at high speeds and at night when headlights are shining behind you, it can be like a light show in the corner of your eye while driving. After much trial and error, I believe the vibration is coming from the articulation point between where the arm that comes off the truck connects with the arm that supports the mirror. Where it folds in basically. There isn't anything that can be adjusted, that particular area is all enclosed. I'm on my second dealer after the first claimed the mirror was fine. I took the truck for a drive with the foreman at the new dealer who confirmed he could see the issue. They ordered me a new mirror again and after installing it sure enough the new one shakes just like the prior ones have. The dealer said they had a regional service tech from Ford drive it after the new mirror went on and this person told them the shaking was normal. I'm talking with the case manager from Ford also and they are investigating what to do since there's clearly (in my opinion) some sort of defect with this part but no recall or fix has been made to my knowledge. I may be elevated to their legal team. At issue currently, I have asked my case manager from Ford whether they can have someone such as an engineer or safety team examine the part and assess whether the mirror design is faulty but they have no one in their company. The case Manager claims to not know if Ford has a team like this. The dealerships didn't design the part so they can't assess whether it's flawed.

Filed Dec 23, 2020 · Lights · 13,000 miles · TX

The headlamp seals broke. The headlamps have condensation in them during inclement weather or after a car wash.this makes driving at night extremely dangerous as the condensation refracts the light reducing the effectiveness of the headlamps to illuminate the road. I almost went off the road several times from colorado to texas driving at night due to this issue. Ford maintains that condensation in the headlamps is normal and refuses to repair them under warranty. They have offered to assist me with financial assistance to repair the headlamp, which is an admission of fault. Yet, ford expect me to pay for defective headlamps. I have located several videos and forum posts where others have been experiencing the same issue. The question is why is ford being allowed to get away with not having to recall these headlamps. In one video, the man explains exactly what I explained to ford's customer service rep, annamarie rocha. The condensation destroys the LED's and a computer control board on the bottom of the headlamps.

Filed Dec 10, 2020 · 25,000 miles · CA

I was using cruise control on a flat highway and my 2019 ford f150 stalled. Almost everything shut off (couldn't accelerate, main display screen went dark, dashboard went dark, and after a few seconds my headlights shut off as well). Luckily I safely pulled off the highway where the only thing that remained "on" was a message saying something about transmission not being in park. After coming to a complete stop, removing the keys, the vehicle started up again like nothing happened. I have approximately 25k miles on this vehicle. A similar incident occurred in a parking lot when I had 300 miles on it but the error message was something different. That time it took 10 minutes to get the car up and running. The issue is infrequent and impossible to replicate but having a brand new car shut off for no reason is dangerous and aggrevating.

Filed Jun 18, 2020 · Lights · 22,000 miles · AL

Ford issued a day running light (drl) recall on some 2019/2020 f 150 vehicles where some vehicles had drls that would remain daytime bright when the headlights were on. After ford's fix is applied, all truck lights, except headlights (side marker, tag lights, front lights, trailer lights) are on at all times unless the light switch is manually turned to the off position. In the off position, the drls are off too. Since this is the only way to turn off the unnecessary lighting, it puts the driver into a dangerous situation because the drls are off. States require drls to be on especially during poor weather conditions. Ford has managed to totally screw up exterior lighting by creating a fix that doesn't fix the problem. They simply turned on all lights all the time. In response to acknowledging the problem, ford states that exterior lights will be on when the light switch is in any position except off. So they know the fix they provided doesn't work correctly, but they are unwilling to provide a solution that makes exterior lighting operate normally. That is, drls are on during daylight hours, without all exterior lighting being on. Besides the safety factor, overall light failures will increase with time since there on full time.

Filed Jan 27, 2020 · Lights · 3,000 miles · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 2019 ford f-150. While driving at various speeds at night the headlights failed to produce adequate light. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to sanderson ford 6400 n 51st ave, glendale, az 85301 (800) 729-3501 where it was diagnosed that a light adjustment was needed. The vehicle was repaired however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 3,000.

Filed Sep 30, 2019 · Lights · 4,000 miles · MA

Vehicle is equipped with automatic headlights that will turn on/off high beams. The high beams should turn on when conditions ahead are acceptable and off when oncoming traffic is present. However, the automatic system frequently gets confused by oncoming headlights, turn signals and street lights, etc., which causes it to flash the high beams briefly at oncoming traffic. On two occasions oncoming drivers thought this high beam flash was a signal to them to go ahead and they turned in front of me, nearly causing and accident. Flashing high beams briefly is commonly done in our area to signal other drivers to go ahead. The automatic high beams should be reprogrammed to prevent flashing them at oncoming traffic. Note that we have a different make/model vehicle with the same type of headlight system that works flawlessly without this problem.

Filed Oct 4, 2018 · Lights · NY

F series 2019 & 2018 have a 4 bulb headlight daytime running and low beam headlight system that is always on. Very distracting and bright to on coming traffic and when this truck is behind you. Why is it necessary to have a 4 bulb headlight system that is always on?? Please look into this issue, I find it distracting and dangerous to other motorists, especially at night.