Five Ford Models Are Being Recalled For The Same EcoBoost Engine Problem

Last year's undisputed recall king, the Ford Motor Company, is now recalling 10,001 cars across five different model lines because the piston domes in their engines may have been manufactured incorrectly, according to NHTSA's report. This comes after the news that Ford is recalling 148,663 Mustangs for a potentially dangerous wiring harness issue, a problem not related to this recall. Ford's back, baby.

This recall exclusively covers 2026 model year cars, including 1,062 Broncos equipped with the 2.3-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine, as well as 237 Mustangs, 3,071 Explorers, and 432 Rangers with the same engine. It also includes 5,199 Bronco Sports equipped with the 1.5-liter EcoBoost inline-3 engine. You'd think a company that has 123 years of experience building internal combustion engines would be able to get it right by now, but to be fair, the faulty parts that caused this recall were manufactured by an outside supplier called Dong Yang Piston in Mexico.

The fault that causes these two engines to grenade themselves comes down to a bond failure between the piston's Nickel-Resistant (Ni-Ring) insert and the piston's aluminum material. The failure may result from a crater crack at the Ni-Ring insert and aluminum face, leading to a failure of the piston dome.

Ford discovered the first engine failure during an end-of-line test of an Explorer at the company's Chicago Assembly Plant, but the subsequent teardown of the engine failed to identify that the piston dome in cylinder three had failed. Ford had several different departments look into the issue, but its Supplier Technical Assistance and Internal Combustion Engines Propulsion Thermal Systems Engineering teams found the cause, and the supplier then determined the issue occurred due to an intermittent machining collision issue on a production line. Ultimately, it boiled down to a lock nut that loosened on Dong Yang's machining tool, which allowed the tool to intermittently hit the Ni-Ring insert and fracture the inter-metallic bond. The nut has since been tightened, correcting the fault.

As of August 12, there have been 38 engine failures at Ford plants, between 16 1.5-liter engines and 22 2.3-liter engines, and 13 engine failures in the field between 11 1.5-liters and 2 2.3-liters that were identified as potentially related to the condition. Owners should look out for a check-engine light, but the issue may arise without triggering any warnings. Ford dealers will inspect all engines for potential cracked pistons, and vehicles that fail the inspection will have their engine long block replaced at no charge. Dealers should already be notified of the recall, and owners should be notified by Sept. 11. Check your VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup tool.