230 complaints reported

2016 Ford Fusion Power Train

Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.

Reports
230
Crashes
5
Fires
0
Injuries
2

Complaint Timeline

Chronological view of owner reports

Aug 2026

Transmission started whining from the pump and then immediately lost power/acceleration. Electronic diagnosis found code P0733 for incorrect gear ratio for 3rd gear. Dealership recommends torque converter replacement and transmission overhaul. Fine metal debris found in transmission fluid sample. Estimate $5,500 and occurred at 110,000 miles on odometer.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Dec 2025
Dec 2025

The contact's father owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and shifting to reverse, the vehicle failed to reverse as intended. Upon inspection, the contact discovered that the transmission shifter cable bushing had detached. The local dealer was contacted and arrived at the residence and replaced the transmission shifter cable bushing and the vehicle was repaired. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (POWER TRAIN). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2025
Nov 2025

Driving at approximately 65 mph a maintenance light came on. While pulling over smoke filled the cabin of the vehicle. A large jolt occurred and the vehicle no longer had power to the wheels. Upon exiting the vehicle transmission fluid had coated the side of the car. It is available for inspection. Breathing in transmission smoke seems dangerous I have found other references to this problem on forums online It has not been inspected The maintenance light appeared just before failure. And the rest of the failure lights came on after.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Nov 2025
Sep 2025

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact initially received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train). The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the recall repair was performed. Recently, the contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, the gear shifter failed to shift out of park(P), with the gear shift indicator on the instrument panel indicating that the vehicle was in neutral(N). Due to the failure, the vehicle was towed to the dealer, and it was determined that the failure was caused by a defective shifter cable bushing, and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 225,678.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Sep 2025
Jul 2025

The shifter cable bushing failed after being replaced under recall 7 years ago. When leaving a parking spot and trying to shift into drive my shift lever started to move freely and my digital PRNDL display was all white letters (usually the selected gear is lit up orange). No warnings displayed on my dash. I sensed something was wrong so I applied the parking brake and shut off the engine. I’m thankful this happened when I was leaving a parking spot and not when I was parking my car and getting out (potentially causing the car to roll away with my kids running behind the car on my hilly driveway). This is a known problem that Ford has issued multiple recalls for in the past. My car was covered by one early recall in 2018 (I will upload the Carfax service history showing date and mileage of 2018 recall repair). An orange plastic shifter bushing was installed under recall in 2018. This bushing disintegrated eventually, leading to the problem I experienced a few days ago. I will upload pictures of the orange plastic debris scattered on top of my transmission. (these pictures include a temporary repair that was made after the failure occurred- shifter was reattached with zip ties in order to reposition the vehicle for service). Ford has since developed updated repair parts (a yellow plastic bushing and a plastic cover to keep contaminants off the bushing) for later recalls that affected different trims/configurations of the Fusion. I had to go to the dealer and buy those updated parts myself, which I installed so that I could continue driving my car to work (I will include pictures of repairs). I feel like Ford should be upgrading the earlier recalled vehicles with these latest and greatest parts. My car was fixed under recall and then experienced the very failure the recall was supposed to address. My car has about 245,000 miles on it. The initial recall repair was performed at about 88,000 miles. After about 7 years and 156,000 miles the recall repair failed.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jul 2025
May 2025

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle independently decelerated, and the vehicle stopped unintendedly. No warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that nearby drivers assisted with pushing the vehicle to the shoulder of the road. The vehicle was towed to the contact's boss's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 246,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2025
Mar 2025

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that his wife informed him that upon starting the vehicle and attempting to shift to drive(D), the gear shifter was stuck in park(P). The contact inspected the vehicle and noticed that the shifter cable bushing was missing. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V362000 (Power Train); however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the shifter cable bushing had rotted away. The dealer recommended the shifter cable bushing be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The contact was concerned that the repair was temporary because the dealer repaired the vehicle with the same part. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 145,068.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2025
Mar 2025

I was sitting at a red light and thought I felt my car very lightly shift out of gear. The light changed, I took my foot off of the break and pressed on gas car revved slightly but didn’t move. I placed it in park went back through the gears to drive pressed on the gas and the vehicle went into limp mode was able to pull over to the side of the road. Vehicle was towed to a certified mechanic who advised I need a new transmission. There were no warning indicators no messages NOTHING!

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2025
Mar 2025

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while parking the vehicle, the transmission was in park(P), but the vehicle rolled backward. The contact depressed the brake pedal, to stop the vehicle, but after releasing the brake pedal, the failure recurred. The contact depressed the brake pedal again and attempted to shift gear, but the transmission seized. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle. A transmission message was displayed. The contact activated the parking brake and pressed the manual shift button from reverse(R) to drive(D) to move the vehicle. After shifting into park(P), the transmission seized again. A bystander helped to push the vehicle into a parking space and then activated the parking brake, preventing the vehicle from rolling. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V362000 (Power Train); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Feb 2025
Dec 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact heard an abnormal sound coming from underneath the hood. The contact stated that while depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to respond as intended. In addition, the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,100.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2024
Nov 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that upon start of the vehicle, the gear shifter failed to move out of park(P). Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V362000 (Power Train); which the contact linked to the failure. The contact also discovered how to manually repair the failure. The contact stated that while driving at slow speeds, the vehicle independently shifted into park(P) without warning. The contact manually attached the shifter cable bushing back onto the gear shifter which allowed for the contact to resume normal driving. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 97,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jun 2024
Aug 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while sitting in the vehicle at a food pickup window, the vehicle was in park; however, the vehicle rolled forward. The contact stated that the gear shifter was inoperable and did not function as intended. In addition, the contact stated that the drive indicator was illuminated as if the gear shifter was in the drive. The contact called AAA. The AAA tow truck driver inspected the vehicle and informed the contact that the transmission bushing cable had failed. The vehicle was towed to the residence. The contact stated that the failure occurred while her minor children were in the vehicle. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that an unknown recall repair was completed in 2019 for the replacement of the transmission bushing cable. The contact was advised that the repair was not covered under warranty. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 147,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Aug 2024
Aug 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while the vehicle was started, the gear shifter was shifted in drive(D); however, the vehicle rolled backward. The contact depressed the brake pedal; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact used the parking brake to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with shifter linkage bushing failure. The contact was informed that the shifter linkage bushing needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was informed that an unknown recall repair was completed in 2019 for the replacement of the shifter linkage bushing. The failure mileage was approximately 145,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Aug 2024
Jul 2024

Ford states the Power Bushing previously recalled was replaced in 2021 in my vehicle. Their replacement failed today and left me unable to safely put my car in park. While I was looking under the hood to see why it wasn't going, the car began to roll forward because I didn't realize it was not safely in park. The replacement for the recall failed and had disintegrated. Previous recall 18S20. The dealership would not replace it because it was not an open recall and after calling customer support they let us know their records showed it had been replaced. There was not protective service cap added during this "fix".

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jul 2024
Jun 2024

Ford fusion Transmission shifter cable bushing was a recalled part that was replaced in 2019. As of 2024 it failed again and for will not cover the replacement because the recall was already serviced.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jun 2024
May 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that upon parking the vehicle, she became aware that the gear shifter was stuck in the drive. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the shifter cable bushing. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) but the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 126,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2024
May 2024

Gear shifter was stuck in “Park” and unable to move shifter and change gears. The car was actually in Neutral. There were not warning signals the car was in neutral and could roll away. This puts the driver, passengers, pedestrians, and property at risk of injury/damage. Several recalls have been issued for 2016 Ford Fusions transmission bushings for this exact issue. When I contacted the Ford dealership they stated my VIN number was not impacted by the recall. I had the vehicle towed to my mechanic where the issue was identified as the transmission bushing, which they replaced. I then contacted Ford Motor Company who looked up my VIN and stated my vehicle DID have a recall on the bushing and that the part was replaced in Dec 2019 (prior to me owning the car). The replacement part used to address the recall had the same issue as what it was original part was recalled for.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2024
Apr 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that when placing the vehicle into park(P), there was an abnormal grinding sound coming from the vehicle. There was no warning light illuminated. Recently, the contact stated that upon placing the vehicle into park(P), the vehicle began to roll backwards as the gear shift indicator indicated that the vehicle was in reverse(R). The dealer was notified of the failure and the contact was immediately informed that the failure was caused by the shifter cable bushing. The contact was also informed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000(Power Train). The vehicle was towed to the dealer for a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Jan 2024
Apr 2024

Engine failure-yes, available for inspection The engine may fail at anytime leaving me and/or family stranded. Putting us in danger of being seriously injured or even killed. Yes, the dealer mechanic explained that the coolant was leaking into the head gasket/ block. He stated this was a known issue by Ford. He also stated that he would not drive the more than just home from the shop because otherwise we were at risk for stalling on the road. The vehicle had not been inspected by anyone. However, the state of Virginia requires an annual inspection which was completed on 02/29/24. Check engine light came on, took to a mechanic he replaced plugs. Light was off and car running fine. Check engine light came back in. We took it to the dealer the next day. The car was only driven to the dealer.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Aug 2024
Apr 2024

The contact's daughter owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, while the transmission was shifting from second to third gear, the transmission shifted extremely hard. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the clutch had shattered into pieces and the transmission fluid was burned. There were metal fragments in the engine. The transmission was rebuilt. The contact called the local dealer who suggested a diagnostic test and transmission flush. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact called another local dealer, Stivers Ford Lincoln (1450 E Hickman Rd., Waukee, IA 50263); but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact there was no recall coverage on the VIN. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 100,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Oct 2024
Apr 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated that while his wife was driving and had stopped at a red traffic light, while attempting to accelerate, the engine revved, and the vehicle responded but failed to exceed 10 MPH. The were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that there were abnormal sounds coming from the center console. The contact stated that his wife pulled over to the side of the road and had the vehicle towed to a local independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission fluid was black and there were metal gear fragments and clutch material found inside of the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced or rebuilt. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 155,136.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2023
Apr 2024

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while the vehicle was parked on level ground, the contact attempted to shift the gear shifter into reverse and drive however, the transmission failed to respond as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but the vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The contact referenced NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) as a possible solution; however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 150,000.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2024
Mar 2024

most known issue with the fusions and escapes is cars make whining noise then randomly wont drive know a couple people experiencing this issue

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2024
Feb 2024

The transmission jerks sometimes between 1 and 3 gear. It was slipping a little in second gear. That issue only happened one time but for the most part it’s a hard shift on a regular basis between 1 and 3 gear.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: Mar 2024
Dec 2023

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Fusion. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate. The contact stated that moments later the vehicle accelerated unintendedly. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The dealer stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train) and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was not available.

Type: Vehicle, Vehicle: 2016 FORD FUSION, Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company
Incident: May 2023

Trend Over Time

Complaints by year

Quick Summary

The 2016 Ford Fusion has 230 Power Train complaints on file. 5 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.