2016 Ford Fusion Engine
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
My vehicle has the Ford EcoBoost 2.0 liter engine in it that has been recalled on thousands of vehicles. My car currently has the same issue which is a coolant intrusion that has been recognized and was a class action lawsuit against Ford for this issue. I have been advised by a local Ford dealership that my engine should be part of the recall and Ford should be replacing my engine. However, when I called Ford, they are advising there is nothing they can do, because there is no current recall for my vehicles VIN and so I am trying to reach out and see if there's anything that can be done before hiring an attorney, because as a single mother I cannot afford $12,000 out of my pocket with hopes that eventually Ford will do the recall properly and reimburse me as they have stated "could happen". This is a known issue this engine of mine has been looked at by three mechanics one being a Ford dealership to confirm that this engine was in fact warped from the factory which is causing my coolant to seep into the heads or whatever and I need the long block replacement that the original recall fell under which was somewhere around the 50,000 mark of these vehicles recalled. The engine is needing to be repaired and taken care of so I'm seeking direction on how to possibly get Ford to take care of this issue that I should not be having to deal with due to a manufacturing defect since leaving off the factory floor
My car is having a problem with the a coolant intrusion into the intake so coolant is leaking into the engine, this being said there was a recall for my car a while ago when I did not own the car and I believe it was never replaced or taken care of. When I went to the ford dealership they are saying that there is no recall for my car. The car misfired once which is one of the symptoms, I got my spark plugs replaced, my check engine light came on again for a different problem, I got my intake replaced it ran fine for 4 days and now I am back with the same problem 4 days later. Doing some research I believe that there is a cracked cylinder head or failing gasket. Ford did have a recall on my engine coolant intrusion but like I said prior they are saying there is no recall for my engine which is why I am confused about it. All of my engine problems are leading to this recall that was never fixed on my car or was looked over in my engine. Any help on this would be great thanks
The engine experienced a piston misfire that occurred internally, causing a fracture within the engine block. The resulting damage allows oil intrusion into the spark plug chamber. This constitutes a mandatory safety concern that requires immediate attention.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the cylinders. The dealer determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and was taken back to the residence. The contact stated that the vehicle had failed to start. The message "See Owner's Manual" was displayed. The contact related the failure to the Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12 (Short Block Replacement After Coolant Intrusion). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
FORD ALREADY KNEW THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH ENGINES IN THE SE ECOBOOST,, THERE IS A MISFIRE ON CYLINDER 3.INSTEAD OF THEM RECALLING ALL OF THOSE ENGINES THEY ONLY RECALLED A FEW PUTTING EVERY ONE ELSE SAFTY AT RISK .PLEASE HAVE THEM RECALL MY ENGINE . THEY WERE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM WITH THESE ENGINES I HAVE BEEN CALLING THE LOCAL FORD SINCE LAST YEAR TO CHECK ON RECALLS FOR THIS ENGINE. I WAS TOLD THEY DIDNT HAVE RECALLS ONLY TO FIND OUT THEY DID HAVE SOME RECALLS ON THIESE ENGINES MY CAR STARTED OVERHEATING IN THE MEDIAN OF THE HIGHWAY I ALMOST CRASHED TRYING TO HURRY AND PULL OVER TO A SAFE PLACE. PLEASE DO A RECALL ON MY ENGINE
The contact's daughter owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed and determined that there was coolant intrusion in cylinder #4. The mechanic informed the contact that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.
Coolant intrusion into cylinder 1, low coolant and Engine DTC P0301. Multiple TSB's by Ford recommend engine replacement as a remedy for the Cylinder head - open deck cooling problem. Customer Satisfaction Program 21N12 addresses this problem in similar cars/engines. Has this been expanded to cover this vehicle with the same 2.0L engine? From Ford TSB 19-2346 "Issue: Some 2015-2018 Edge and 2017-2019 Fusion/MKZ/Escape/MKC vehicles equipped with a 2.0L EcoBoost engine may exhibit a low coolant level, white exhaust smoke and/or a runs rough condition with or without an illuminated malfunction indicator lamp (MIL). Diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) may include P0300, P0301-P0304, P0316, P0217, P1285 and/or P1299 stored in powertrain control module (PCM). This may be due to coolant intrusion into the cylinder. To correct the condition, follow the Service Procedure steps to replace the long block engine assembly."
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to immediately start, and the check engine warning light was displayed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who diagnosed that the vehicle had experienced coolant intrusion into the cylinders. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was covered under the Manufacturer's Extended coverage related to the failure. The failure mileage was 120,000.
Coolant Intrusion
The 1.5l engine is having known issues with coolant intrusion into the engine under 100,000 miles. Many people are bringing up their issues staying ford is confirming the mass amount of engine issues with intrusion and quoting $6,000 for new engines. This is absurd because these vehicles should not have an engine known to fail at 100,000 because of leaking coolant into the cylinder. I started losing coolant at 90,000 miles and having to fill it back up.
Had head gasket done at 78600 for misfire in cylinder 4 for coolant intrusion 11000 miles later I have misfire in cylinder 4 again with coolant intrusion
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the engine overheated. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle was experiencing excessive coolant consumption. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with coolant intrusion into the engine. The dealer informed the contact that it was a known failure, and that the failure had occurred due to the design of the engine block. The dealer determined that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to TSB Number: 22-2322. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 149,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, there was white exhaust smoke coming from the exhaust pipe while inspecting the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact related the failure to Ford Customer Satisfaction Program: 21N12 (Short Block Replacement After Coolant Intrusion); however, the vehicle was not included in the Ford Customer Satisfaction program. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 131,000.
Engine block needed replaced due to coolant intrusion. Started off with an engine light for misfire then started using coolant to smoking on start up then eventually hydrolocking the engine for a no start condition making car undriveable. Diagnosed at dealer for coolant intrusion with only fix of a new block at a cost around $10,000.
The engine light intermittently went off and on for a few weeks. During that time, the car would surge and slow/loose power while driving it, which was distracting when in traffic. The dealership found that coolant had leaked into the engine block and we were informed the engine had to be replaced. I talked to 2 dealerships and they both said this was something they had seen a lot - and while the engine for the Ford Escape was recalled, the same engine was not recalled for the Ford Fusion.
Coolant intrusion into cylinder 4. Engine light on. Reads Codes: p0304 and p0316. Recommended replacement of an entire short block. Common problem on their ecoboost engines. Officially diagnosed by Ford dealership on 04-08-2025.
Engine failed while driving on the highway due to a known defect with a coolant leak into the engine. My safety, and the passengers that were in the auto were put into danger when the engine malfunctioned due to the fact that we were on the highway, traveling at 65-70 mph, when the car suddenly started shaking, emitting white smoke from the exhaust and eventually stalling and not drive able. The only indicator that came on was the check engine light. There was no low coolant light to indicate that the auto was low or leaking coolant. There was no messages or codes to indicate a low coolant level in the car. The vehicle has been inspected and diagnosed by my a certified mechanic.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the engine RPMs would sporadically increase and decrease between 500 and 2,000 RPM and the vehicle would not properly accelerate when pressing the accelerator pedal. Also, the check engine light began to intermittently blink on and off. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the engine coolant was present inside engine cylinder number two. The contact was advised that the engine needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no assistance was offered. The local dealer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 111,000.
The coolant was leaking i to the engine and caused a crack in the block leading to the need to replace the engine
Dear NHTSA, I am reporting a potential safety and design issue related to my 2016 Ford Fusion Titanium with the 2.0L EcoBoost engine. The vehicle is experiencing coolant loss with no visible external leak, which is a documented issue under Ford TSB 19-2208. This condition can lead to sudden engine failure or hydrolock due to coolant entering the combustion chamber. A compression test revealed all cylinders at 155 psi, indicating the block has not yet failed β but the symptoms are known warning signs of the defect Ford acknowledged in its Customer Satisfaction Program 19N05, which does not include my VIN despite identical failure risk. Ford has refused to provide goodwill support under case [XXX], despite this being a well-known failure that has prompted engine replacements in other affected 2.0L EcoBoost models. Please document this case as part of your ongoing safety tracking. I believe this design flaw represents a serious long-term reliability and safety concern. Vehicle: 2016 Ford Fusion Titanium Engine: 2.0L EcoBoost Mileage at Onset: 130,000 approx. VIN: [XXX] Sincerely, [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
My car is hard crank when put fuel in it. It also puffed out blue smoke.My check engine light is on.
The engine coolant over temperature light came on and i was forced to pull off the side of the interstate because the car had lost most of itβs power. Itβs my understanding the 1.5 L eco boist engines have a failure where they allow coolant to leak into the cylinder. We had the car looked at, let it cool down and the code cleared and drove home. This happened again and luckily we were close to a family members home and were able to limp the car there with very little power. The car was checked by a mechanic and they could not find a problem. The code was cleared and it drove fine again. Today the car did the same thing after a 30 minute drive and luckily we were close to home and once again limped it back to the house. I will be calling Ford in the morning to have it looked at.
My engine died from the design error with the engine block and coolant leaking. This needs to be remedied by Ford. It is not on the recall list, and it absolutely should be.
Coolant intrusion 1.5l
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The contact was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle was able to restart. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 150,000.
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2016 Ford Fusion has 388 Engine complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.