I was merging onto an interstate, accelerating from 20 mph to 65 mph to blend in with heavy traffic. The engine began to spit, sputter and shake and bogged down and wouldn't exceed 50mph. With a tractor trailer coming I had no other choice but to abort my merge and pull to the side of the road. I then waited for all traffic to subside before I made another attempt to pull onto the highway. I took the truck back to Ford. They could not duplicate the problem. I have had the truck in for many issues(slow speed shudder, high speed shudder, emergency brake issues, warped rotors, electronic problems, tire issues, acceleration hesitations, rough idle, failed brake pump, and more with less than 30, 000 miles) all of which Ford states are characteristics of the vehicle! this is my family vehicle that I Transport my 3 children and their friends. What will it take for Ford to resolve the problems they have with these trucks?! do people have to be killed before anything is done........ like with Chevy!!!!! Ford is covering up the issues they have with the #1 selling truck in America. It is a shame that people have a facebook page on the problems they have with their F150 because Ford covers up the problems because they don't know what to do to solve them. They told us it is a characteristic of the truck..........really!!!!!!!.

- Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Traveling on interstate highway from St louis to memphis in right hand lane. Accelerated to pass slower traffic when truck begin to shake violently, lurching forward and back. All the while losing speed and made me fearful to attempt to try to pass or merge. This continued all the way back to memphis. I took the vehicle in for service and described the problem to the service tech. When I picked the truck up the service ticket said "could not duplicate the problem. Since then the problem has gotten worse. I never know when it will occur. It could be rain or shine and there doesn't seem to be a pattern. It is now a weekly/daily occurrence. It has contributed to several near miss accidents. I am afraid to drive anywhere except side streets and I avoid the interstate hwy. The problem is so bad and the vehicle shakes so violently I was looking in the mirror to see what I had ran over. It is a serious safety issue that my Ford dealer denies exists!

- Coldwater, MA, USA

I was driving my F150 2012 ecoboost on an onramp getting on to the freeway. It was raining, wet and about 50 degrees. I accelerated from about 35 to 65 mph to change lanes and get in line with traffic. The engine lost power and the truck started shaking. There was about a mile stretch where the vehicles power was completely unpredictable. When I let my foot off the gas the truck would stop shaking. This was very scary as cars were bearing down on me from behind and I had to get over to the far right lane incase I needed to come to a stop. The vehicle then seemed to function normally and I drove about 5 miles straight to the Ford dealership.

- Davis, CA, USA

1st time happened when trying to pass a big truck, pick up lost engine power during acceleration that I barely made it, opposite traffic coming, vehicle lost all chances to made on time I was afraid not to pass on time this is a hazard issue if it happens again, I had to stop and shut down vehicle because I had a engine check massage at the main screen of dashboard with the wrench character image, after I restart vehicle everything was normal. 2nd time happen when made trip to Texas on December 2013, when trying to enter freeway I had to speed up and suddenly pick up again lost power and start shaking I could no gain any more speed over 50-55 mph I almost got rear end it by a car on the back that was already in the high speed stream. This time the check engine came on, ;later started to drive ok. When I came back to home town I took vehicle to check the check engine light at autozone and retrieve the P0430 code. I took vehicle to dealer because still under warranty and explain everything. They check vehicle and retrieve the same code, they replaced only the driver side catalytic converter. I was researching on forums and they commonly have to replace not only cat but have to change intercooler, change plugs and re-flash ECU and or place a deflection plate on current intercooler but home town dealer only replace cat, I don't think this will fix issue. Please push Ford to address this issue, for experience this needs to be classified as a recall because safety issue is involved when you lost power when is need it. The actual intercooler on pre 2013 is not good because tends to accumulate condensation and this is sucked under boost condition and probably causing multiple misfires that leads to unexpected power lost and vehicle shaking. My wife and I bought this F150 new on 2012 ecoobost engine re great but this issue needs to be addressed.

- Garden City, KS, USA

When passing and increasing speed, vehicle lost acceleration. No accident occurred but could have caused a head on or other accident.

- Aitkin, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 60 mph, the vehicle decelerated independently with a rapid increase in engine rpms. The brake pedal was engaged and the vehicle came to a stop. There were no warning indicators illuminated at the time of failure. The vehicle resumed normally upon restarting however, the failure recurred four times. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis but the technician was unable to locate the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

- Valleysprings, CA, USA

I was traveling on a 4-lane, 65mph highway when I floored the gas pedal. The truck failed to accelerate as it should have. Instead, it acted as if it was coasting. There was no power for several seconds even when I moved the gas pedal to different positions. When the truck finally seemed to resume power, it started to shake violently. The shocked passenger and I looked at each other, then I checked to see if there were parts strewn on the road behind me. Suddenly, it smoothed out and there were no more issues on that trip. I had been driving that truck for about 10 hours with various forms of precipitation at the time. This was December 21, 2013. The second incident was on December 28, 2013. Weather conditions were sunny and dry. I had been driving about 50 minutes. I floored the gas pedal again to overtake a vehicle and was barely able to overtake due to no power. Again, I worked the throttle to no avail. The truck finally recovered but started shaking violently again. As before, it smoothed out. I took my truck to a local Ford dealership where they told me it was showing no codes and that their techs could not reproduce the symptoms I had mentioned. I checked on NHTSA website and found this issue is under investigation. I do not agree with the service bulletins. My theory is that there is a computer programming problem specific to this direct-injection, turbo gasoline engine. I plan on trading for something other than an ecoboost engine, as this problem is dangerous.

- New Burnside, IL, USA

Driving on highway went to accelerate to pass semi pulled beside him. Engine light began flashing truck lost power and began shaking had to hit brakes as car approached in opposite direction almost had head on collision. Made it to rear of semi and pulled over just I time to avoid accident.

- Regina, TN, USA

Attempted to pass a slow moving vehicle by accelerating quickly. My vehicle initially accelerated and then violently shook and stopped accelerating while alongside the vehicle I was attempting to pass. I was stuck next to the vehicle I was attempting to pass and almost struck by oncoming traffic. Engine light was flashing and then went off after about 2 miles. Everyday since, the engine light is lit solid at all times. Taking vehicle in for service tomorrow morning to see what they say. After reading complaints on-line related to the same issue, seems as though I will not be happy about what they are going to tell me.

- Delray Beach, FL, USA

Ecoboost engine: 7/06/13 first time after driving 90 miles on I-10, pulled off in rest area. When getting back on the interstate, went to accelerate to match traffic and engine fell on it's nose, felt like a stall then bucked, misfired, lost all power. When lifting off accelerator engine returned to normal. Attempting to accelerate again, engine lost power again. It felt like either bad gas or ignition failure. Was able to get truck up to speed using cruise control. With a light accelerator touch, was able to make in home from pensacola to winter haven, fl. Filled up with different fuel and problem seemed to go away, so I did not take it to dealer. Second occurrence 11/16/13 while heading to pensacola after driving several hours (70-75mph), when passing a semi going uphill on I-10, faster traffic was approaching from behind, so I attempted to accelerate to get around the semi to clear the left lane. Engine fell on it's nose once again, stalled, misfired, shook and lost power. The traffic was upon us in seconds. I was able to get truck back up to speed by gently using cruise. This time took truck back to dealer. They installed a "shield or partition" in the charge-air and did a reprogram. Current mileage is 14,800. Dealer did not seem confident that this was the fix. We will see.

- Winter Haven, FL, USA

On three different occasions was in the process of passing a vehicle, and all of a sudden lost engine acceleration, pick up began to vibrate, pulled over and called service center, was told to turn off and restart vehicle, proceeded to destination!

- Graham, TX, USA

I have a 2012 Ford F-150 with the ecoboost engine. While slowly accelerating at higher speeds (generally around 50 to 70 mph), the engine misses terribly on multiple cylinders and the truck jerks and lunges violently all while losing power and speed. It happens frequently, but most often when slowly accelerating to maintain speed up a hill or pass another vehicle. The loss of power is extremely dangerous, especially while passing other vehicles on a highway.

- The Woodlands, TX, USA

I was on a highway going 65 mph, the conditions were drizzle/very humid, roughly 90 degrees outside. There was a slow car in front of me so I got in the on coming traffics lane to pass the car, but when I stomped on the gas pedal there was no response. My truck wouldn't accelerate so I pushed it a few more times and still nothing. There was a car coming and I almost got hit head on because of this incident and probably would've been badly injured had I not gotten back in my lane just before the car passed. The engine returned to normal after about 20 seconds and I was able to accelerate and finally get around the car. This is only 1 of the 5 times it has happened in this specific vehicle, its happened to me three times, and twice when I've loaned the truck to my father. It only happens in humid or rainy conditions and I'm guessing has something to do with the intercooler. But I'm not an auto guy so I wouldn't know. I called Ford corporate and they said go to the dealer, the dealer didn't see any codes that were thrown during these incidents so they said they could not help me. It was [xxx], and Ford needs to step up and help us who have defected ecoboost engines. Information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- College Station, TX, USA

Loss of power during acceleration. Entire truck vibrating. Was in the passing lane in heavy traffic and bogged down. Vibration stopped when letting off gas pedal. Started right back as soon as I tried to speed up again. After a few times it went away.

- Broken Arrow, OK, USA

I experienced a sudden loss of power in my 2012 Ford F150 super crew with ecoboost engine.. this happened 3 times on 11-22-13 at interstate speeds, I was unable to pass slower vehicles that were running below the posted speed limit. Each time I tried to accelerate past in the passing lane the vehicle shook violently and it was as though I had run out of fuel. As soon as I took my foot off the accelerator pedal the truck would run again. The 3rd time this happened a semi truck was barreling up behind me and there was a semi on the side of me, I noticed the semi beside me moving into my lane and tried to accelerate to get clear and the semi behind me almost ran me down as my vehicle lost power and I had to pull over. This time I had to shut off the engine and restart it for the vehicle to run right again. After the 3rd time my truck went from getting 18 mpg to 12.3 mpg and ran rough as though it was cutting out. The weather was rainy and the vehicles ahead of me were throwing up quite a bit of moisture. I took the truck to the Ford dealer the next day 11-23-13 and they kept the truck for repairs. I am concerned as I and my wife could have very easily been killed of maimed yesterday because of this engine failure. If this happens to some family, they could have a fatal accident and I don't want that on my conscience. If this is a recurring problem maybe there should be a recall to fix these trucks. Thank you for your consideration.

- St. Johns, AZ, USA

I was on a trip from Oklahoma to Florida. I stopped for gas in Louisiana. When I got on to the on ramp to return to the interstate I floored the gas pedal to get in front of a semi truck, and it lost all power almost being hit by semi truck. After my trip I took my pickup truck to my Ford dealer to have it checked out.they told me they can not find anything wrong with it. This is a very dangerous problem that needs to be fixed. Me and my wife could have been killed if the semi truck did not have room to move over to miss us.

- Lawton, OK, USA

I live in lake geneva, wi. I was driving home from work in the rain and had a truck pull out in front of me when I was going 70 mph. I was unable to slow down, so I hit the gas pedal. The truck stalled completely and would not accelerate. It felt the truck missed the down shift and never went back into gear. It was raining at the time of the incident around 630 pm. Was just scary as I had a semi behind me and another vehicle to my right that I was trying to avoid. The truck is a 2012 F150 lariat with the ecoboost engine.

- Lake Geneva, WI, USA

When accelerating from a stop in a right hand turn, the truck lost power and began to sputter and misfire. This is the 4th time this has happened to this F-150 off road 4X4 with ecoboost since I purchased it brand new. After the second time it happened, the check engine light came on so I took it to the dealer. The fix was a deflector plate installed for the twin turbo. They did not replaced the cac (charge air cooler). I was told this would most definitely fix the issue. Clearly, this did not fix the issue since I experienced the same issue yesterday. This is a potentially dangerous situation as I was turning onto very busy M59 in howell. I turned in front of a semi. Thank goodness I had enough room since I had no acceleration after the turn. Had I not given myself enough room and chanced it, the semi may not have been able to slow down in time. This vehicle should be recalled and Ford should discontinue making the ecoboost engine until they get it right.

- Cheboygan, MI, USA

I only just learned of your investigation so my memory on exact dates and mileage may be off by a few weeks. I did take my truck to the Ford dealer to report my incident so they should should have a record of this and the work they performed (baierl Ford, zelienople, pa 16063). My 2012 F150 with the 3.5L ecoboost was about 6 months old at the time. I was passing a coal truck uphill on a 10% grade. I was not towing, nor did I have a load in the bed. He was going about 30 mph. I eased out and got along side running now at about 50-55, then 'punched' the throttle to complete the pass. That did not turn out well. The engine cut out exactly like a reverse limiter on an atv and the check engine light came on. I barely was able to complete the pass, and was 'pushed' up the hill by the coal truck, engine running in that cut-out mode all the way. Got over the top and it continued to run like this down the other side. After about 6 miles, it went back to normal and the check engine light went out. Took it to my dealer not too long after. They installed something - since it was warranty work I wasn't given the paperwork and simply don't recall what they did. Apparently there was a tsb on the problem though. I have not had a repeat in the 6 months since, although I do drive differently now, having experienced that episode. That event severely compromised my confidence in this engine. Since then I have been very adverse to passing on two lane roads and have delayed towing several times for fear this would happen again potentially creating a deadly situation.

- Mars, PA, USA

Raining out, went to pass a slower moving vehicle. My truck lost all power and shuddered like it was going over speed bumps. Check engine light came on and truck couldn't do more that 40 mph. Had to keep a level head to avoid a head on collision and get back behind vehicle I attempted to pass. Very scary. This continued to happen every time you gave it hard throttle throughout the trip. This is an ecoboost F150 with the twin turbo V6 engine.

- Claresholm Ab Canada, MT, USA