Ford Class Action Says Trucks Prone to Catastrophic Engine Failure

A class action lawsuit filed by a group of Ford drivers alleges that its diesel trucks are prone to catastrophic engine failure, and that the company knew about this problem but did nothing to remedy it.

Plaintiffs Zachary J. Farlow and 14 other Ford drivers are current or former owners or lessees of the 2011 to 2018 Ford diesel vehicles that are equipped with a Power Stroke 6.7L engine and a CP4 fuel injection pump.

The plaintiffs claim that the fuel injector pump, which is manufactured by Bosch, is not equipped to handle American diesel fuel and malfunctions in a way that can cause catastrophic engine failure. Allegedly, this engine failure can occur without warning.

The Ford truck class action states that when the pump is used with American diesel fuel, the pump shoots metal shavings into the fuel injection system, an occurrence which can then lead to engine failure.

Farlow and the other drivers say that the pump works well in Europe, but doesn’t work in America, a difference that the company was aware of but did not notify consumers of.

The Ford diesel truck class action states that the auto maker did this in an attempt to sell more diesel vehicles than they would have had they properly notified consumers of the defect.

The plaintiffs say that had they known that the vehicles were fatally defective in this way, they would not have purchased the vehicle or would not have paid as much for it as they did to either lease or buy the vehicles. The Ford drivers claim that they were financially injured by Ford because of this.

Additionally, the consumers claim that Ford unjustly gained enrichment from this misrepresentation, because they profited from the sale of the vehicles in ways that they otherwise would not have had they faithfully represented the vehicles to the public.

The Ford engine defect class action states that “unfortunately for the American public, the easiest way for Ford to succeed was to cheat American consumers on usability and overall vehicle functionality by equipping class vehicles with this ticking time bomb of a fuel injection pump that dooms the modern Ford Power Stroke diesel engine system from day one.”

Allegedly, Ford’s communications with Bosch indicate that Ford knew that the pump would not work with American diesel fuel for more than a decade. The two companies partnered in 2004, and from the beginning, Ford was aware of the problem, the plaintiffs state.

To support their claim that the company knew of the problem and that they intentionally did not tell consumers about it in an attempt to not have their profits hindered, Farlow and the other consumers cite communications between Ford and Bosch that indicate that Ford was concerned about the possible financial hit to Ford if the company were to cover the problem under the vehicles’ warranty.

Farlow and the other drivers are represented by Jeff D. Friedman, Steve W. Berman, and Sean R. Matt of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and Robert C. Hilliard and Rudy Gonzales Jr. of Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP.

The Ford Fuel Injection Pump Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Zachary J. Farlow, et al. v. Ford Motor Company, Case No. 3:18-cv-06967, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.