Ford Class Action Says Super Duty Truck Engines Constantly Leak

A recent class action lawsuit claims that Ford Super Duty truck engines contain a chronic leaking defect which the dealer allegedly knew about.

Plaintiffs Jacques Powers and Janice McMillan recently filed a class action against Ford Motor Company on behalf of Big Island Climbers on the Mainland Inc., claiming that they experienced the defects after purchasing a used model year 2006 Ford F-350 truck.

In November 2005, the plaintiffs reportedly experienced steering problems while braking and driving, prompting them to bring their vehicle to an authorized service facility for repair.

The Ford truck class action states that their vehicle was repaired by correcting the alignment and replacing the front brakes. Plaintiffs believed that their vehicle would be fine at this point, but the truck reportedly continued to experience continued defects over the next several years.

According to the Ford truck class action lawsuit, Ford publicly promoted their fuel-efficient six-liter diesel engine as a desirable feature. However, the engine was allegedly a liability instead due to the chronic leaking reportedly caused by defects.

Powers and McMillan argue that Ford knew about the defect in their truck engines but chose not to warn consumers about the problem and instead provided quick fixes to affected vehicles without addressing the underlying issue.

“Despite its knowledge of the (six)-liter engine’s many flaws and quality concerns, Ford trained its dealers throughout the country to specifically tout the supposedly superior attributes of the engine, without ever mentioning its troubled history of design, manufacturing, and reliability defects,” the Ford truck engine class action argues.

The defects associated with the engines allegedly included injector malfunctions, cold start problems, idling problems, and engine stalls resulting from the issues. Powers and McMillan claim that these defects affected trucks from model years 2002 to 2006 equipped with six-liter diesel engines.

Ford allegedly obtained the affected engines through Navistar International Transportation Corp., the company which designed and supplied the allegedly defective engines. In 2007, Ford reportedly took action against Navistar and filed a lawsuit, seeking compensation for “exceptionally high repair rates and warranty costs due to quality problems attributable to Navistar.”

However, despite acknowledging the defects in their lawsuit against Navistar, Ford allegedly had aggressively marketed their engines while the Navistar models were used in their trucks.

Countless consumers reportedly fell for representations that trucks with the engines were fuel efficient and performed well, only to be met with an allegedly defective engine and countless problems.

“[Ford’s] conduct in employing these unfair and deceptive sales practices was malicious, willful, recklessly disregarded the harm to consumers, and was so reprehensible as to warrant the imposition of punitive damages,” the Ford class action states.

The Ford truck class action lawsuit seeks general damages, special damages, actual damages, restitution, incidental damages, consequential damages, civil penalty, punitive damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The plaintiffs, on behalf of Big Island Climbers on the Mainland Inc., are represented by Steve Mikhov of Knight Law Group LLC.

The Ford Truck Class Action Lawsuit is Jacques Powers, et al. v. Ford Motor Company, et al., Case No. 5:18-­cv­-02687, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.

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