Paul Tassin  |  August 30, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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The emblem Ford on the office of official dealerAn allegedly defective throttle body in some vehicle engines is the subject of a new Ford class action lawsuit recently filed in a California federal court.

Plaintiffs Janis Benkle and John Kovak allege the defect has to do with the sixth-generation Delphi electronic throttle body used in certain Ford engines.

A throttle body is a mechanism in fuel-injected engines that controls how much air is sent to the engine in response to the driver’s control of the gas pedal.

According to the Ford class action lawsuit, the defect occurs because of a build-up of electrically non-conductive “resistance materials.”

This build-up allegedly blocks the electrical connectivity between the electronic throttle body and the powertrain control module.

The control module responds by engaging “Failure Mode Effects Management,” also known as putting the engine in limp-home mode, which limits the vehicle’s speed to a few miles per hour.

This alleged defect can cause the vehicle to suddenly lose speed while traveling at highway speed, “immediately [placing] the driver and occupants in imminent danger of collisions with advancing or oncoming traffic.”

The danger is particularly aggravated while changing lanes on the highway or in heavy traffic, where moving a disabled vehicle across lanes to the shoulder can be extremely dangerous, the plaintiffs say.

The class action lawsuit states that scores of affected owners and lessees have complained about this problem to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and in various Internet forums.

Benkle and Kovak say the defect is present in Ford vehicles that contain a Delphi sixth generation electronic throttle body.

Their Ford class action lawsuit says this throttle body is found in these specific vehicles model years between 2011 and 2015:

  • Mustang with 3.7L TiVCT engines
  • Edge with 3.5L TiVCT and 3.7L TiVCT engines
  • Lincoln MKX with 3.7L TiVCT engines
  • F-150 with 3.7L TiVCT engines

 

Benkle and Kovak are proposing to represent a nationwide plaintiff Class consisting of all current or former owners or lessees of one of the allegedly defective vehicles that was bought or leased within the U.S.

As an alternative in case the court does not certify the nationwide Class, they are also proposing a smaller California Class that would consist of Class Members who purchased or leased their vehicles in California.

The plaintiffs seek a damage award including punitive damages, restitution and disgorgement of profits related to the alleged defect, and reimbursement of attorney’s fees and court costs.

They also seek an injunction requiring Ford to recall, repair or replace the allegedly defective vehicles and to extend their warranties for a reasonable period of time.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Mark Pfiko, Roland Tellis and David Fernandes of Baron & Budd PC; Eric D. Barton, Tyler W. Hudson and David P. Barclay of Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP, and Blake P. Green of BG Law LLC.

The Ford Defective Throttle Body Class Action Lawsuit is Janis Benkle, et al. v. Ford Motor Co., Case No. 8:16-cv-01569, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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48 thoughts onFord Class Action Says Engine Defect Causes Dangerous Loss of Power

  1. Corey Marshall says:

    2013 ford edge does same thing

  2. David Weikel says:

    2008 ford edge same issue starts loosing power. The coughs the regains power. Told it needed cool packs. Had it done still having issues. Now told throttle body needs replaced. Come on ford this has been going on through many years of this model.

  3. Wendy says:

    I have a 2014 Edge and have had issues the last 3 years. I have been told it must needed a computer update. It gets updated and the problem starts again. Now, I’m sick of taking it and getting it updated, back up camera doesn’t work, there is no pick up from a stop and the car just shuts off.

  4. John wallers says:

    My 07 edge looses power making turns and I’m afraid this’ll cause me an accident

  5. Lynne Forner says:

    I have a 2020 Edge. I too am having the powertrain issues. FORD is also ignoring issues. They gave me a premium maintenance plan. I just started researching and found this site. I can not believe that Ford gets away with this.. I filed a claim with Bbb lemon law. I don’t think this is going anywhere.

  6. KAREN HEAD says:

    I have a Ford F150 that’s currently in she shop x54 days .. it did it to me 3x repair and it started shaking and was reported as engine failure… NEVER EVER buy a FORD again … Found On Tiad Dead … Fix Or Repair Daily …. pay me out of this Lemon … we could have been seriously hurt cause it just lost power on a busy highway

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