2011 Ford Fusion: misfire or rough idle

Filed May 15, 2021 · Electrical, Engine · 139,063 miles · TX

At 138825 miles, the engine began to have a misfire on cylinder #4, which was initially a vacuum hose leak. Then, the car starts having an “earthquake” whenever the car is stopped at a red light. The cause would then be an egr malfunction. As time went by, the misfire on cylinder 4 shows up again. Took my car to the shop to have the issue looked at, found to be a cross threaded spark plug, and they recommended the cylinder head be replaced, the engine assembly replaced, the coolant being replaced, and the AC being recharged. Repair would’ve cost $10,500.

Filed Jul 10, 2019 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 124,000 miles · NE

While driving, at posted speed, 40mph ....all at once, there was a complete loss of acceleration, a very rough idle to the engine and a wrench icon showed on the dash. I had to quickly pull off to the side of the road. I was able to turn the vehicle off and then when I started the vehicle again the problem seemed to reset and the wrench icon disappeared. I took the vehicle to local mechanic and their computer tools were not able to find anything wrong (codes with a diagnostic check). Car seemed to run fine for approximately the next 500 miles and then, while driving on a busier road at 65 MPH, the vehicle did the exact same thing, again causing me to need to avoid an accident and pull to the side of the road. I, once again, was able to reset the system by turning the vehicle off and back on. I am very concerned about the safety of this issue and feel that I am now limited only to local travel.

Filed Nov 30, 2018 · Engine · 98,000 miles · OH

My vehicle was moving in a parking lot when the engine suddenly began to misfire and stalled. The ford dealership told me the engine suffered a catastrophic failure. This happened without warning. All maintenance was preformed on time or ahead of schedule. This catastrophic failure happened with less than 100,000 miles. Ford would not cover this under warranty. From what research I have found this is a common problem with fords 3.5 liter cyclone engines. The water pump failes resulting in catastrophic engine failure. If this problem would occur at highway speeds no power steering or brakes would be operable,possibly resulting in accidents. This is an unacceptable situation!, not to mention a costly repair bill. Thank you for your consideration on this matter

Filed Dec 2, 2013 · Acceleration, Engine · 37,491 miles · MI

Traveling 70 MPH on the highway and lost power with no warning. Coasted to a stop with engine at a rough idle only. Accelerator pedal had no effect on engine RPM. Had vehicle towed the my ford dealership which diagnosed a failed "drive by wire" throttle body. I only have 37,400 miles on the car and yes 1,400 past the warranty (convenient $ for ford). This failed component at 70 MPH on the highway caused several moments of anxiety until I got safely off the road.

Filed Sep 12, 2013 · Acceleration, Electrical · 34,194 miles · AR

I have been sensing a surge in engine power for several months in my 2011 fusion. I suspected a throttle body problem and googled for information. I found all of the information on the federal safety agency website about throttle body problems for this car as well as information in other forums. It was a good thing as I was prepared for what happened today. I had just left my house when the dreaded (and expected) loss of engine power with the wrench light being illuminated. I experienced the same symptoms reported by so many complaints logged for this issue: loss of power, rough idle, just enough power to barely move the car, certainly not enough to limp anywhere, much less home, even though the engine was in "limp home" mode. I had my code scanner with me and was able to retrieve the p2111 (throttle stuck open) code before I restarted the car to restore full power. This only worked enough to get the car turned around when limp home was triggered again. I restarted again and was able to get within a block of my house when limp home triggered once more. The third time I was able to get to my house. I called the dealer and then roadside assistance to get my car towed to the local ford dealer after verifying that they had a throttle body in stock. The car was towed there and a defective throttle body was diagnosed and replaced. This is not a case of if the failure will happen, but rather when. I was fully expecting it any day and sure enough, it happened. I was extremely fortunate as I was less than a mile from home, knew what to expect and how to deal with it, and my car was still in warranty, but only by 1,806 miles! Any other situation would have resulted in me being in a very dangerous predicament with a car that was basically dead in the water. I was almost to the point of purchasing a new throttle body on my own in the interest of being proactive rather than being stranded.

Filed Jul 22, 2013 · Transmission · 47,630 miles · NJ

While driving at 35 MPH the engine failed to respond to the throttle (gas pedal) and slowed. The engine ran at a rough idle at about 900 RPM. The check engine light was illuminated. The car was towed to the ford dealer who advised the "throttle body" needed to be replaced. The part was on back order and it took 10 days to get the car repaired. This would have been a dangerous/life threatening situation had it occurred on the interstate at 65 MPH!

Filed Jul 3, 2013 · Engine · 31,243 miles · TX

I was driving my car at 60 MPH and it lost all power. I was able to pull over to the side of the road, kill the car, and when I restarted it; it seemed to be running fine. This same incident occurred today, 7/3/2013 while I was driving approximately 35 MPH. This time the car did appear to be running rough and once again had no power. It did not start as easily, it seemed to run rough when it first started and then it ran fine. This is a huge safety hazard! This could occur at any time in any kind of traffic.

Filed Mar 12, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 38,800 miles · FL

I was going through a school zone on my way to work. When I reached the end of school zone I attempted to accelerate but the engine would not. There was no throttle response and the engine was in a very rough idle. I pulled over, shut the car off, waited about 5 min and started it back up. On start-up, the engine cranked a few extra times before it finally turned over. I was able to drive again after that but noticed that the rpms jumped around when I was in third gear between 1500-2000 RPM. Seeing the rpms jump around like that made me think that the engine was going to lose power again, as it is characteristic of this problem. This is third time this has happened to the car.

Filed Mar 9, 2013 · Engine, Transmission · 21,700 miles · NY

Had the vehicle for about a month but had only driven it about 600 miles. (feb. 21, 2013 - 21,700 miles) my wife was driving along a 4 lane road doing about 50 MPH when she noticed the car suddenly losing power. She was in the left hand lane with no shoulder or room to move to the right lane because of traffic and was almost rear-ended by a dump truck who had no idea she was rapidly slowing down because she wasn't putting on any brake to indicate this. She brought the vehicle to a stop but it would not move even when the gas pedal was depressed. She thought it had stalled but later told me she didn't notice any dash lights on. She turned the key off and restarted it and it ran fine the rest of the way home. Called ford dealership where it was purchased and he asked about engine code lights (of which none were showing ). He said without a code he couldn't do anything. ( march 7, 2013 - 22,400 miles ) turning a corner from a stop the car accelerated and then lost power, engine seemed to sputter and run rough, pulled over and stopped. Wrench light on dash was on, depressed accelerator pedal but nothing happened. Engine was running but tachometer didn't move at all when accelerator was depressed. Turned engine off, restarted, wrench light went off and ran ok. Have also noted that transmission shifting is not always shifting as smooth as when we first started driving it. It seems to jump or lurch in at least one of the gears but this is just an intermittent problem right now. I will take note of this and report back. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).

Filed Mar 9, 2013 · Transmission · 42,000 miles · TX

While driving, engine completely loses power and wrench light illuminates on dashboard. Pull off of road and stop car and really rough idle. Turn engine off and restart and wrench light goes out. Engine runs fine after. This continues to occur on intermittent basis. Sometimes happens 3-4 times within about 10 miles. Other times it has gone hundreds of miles between incidents.

Filed Jan 17, 2013 · Transmission · 47,997 miles · IN

I was driving on the highway with my cruise control on, when suddenly the wrench light came on the dash and the car began to slow down, no power. I had to move from the fast lane over to the slow lane to get off the side of the road. There was a very rough idle. There were many cars around and so it was a dangerous situation. I called the ford store and they said to shut the engine off and restart the car. I did, and it started, drove it to the ford store, and dropped it off. The car did not store any codes, so the educated guess is that it is the throttle body. They say it isn't covered under the original warranty, but is under my extended warranty. It sounds like this is a big problem and should just be recalled by ford.