62 of the 742 complaints filed about the Ford Transit Connect are about the engine — 8% of everything owners reported. The worst model year for it is 2016.
62
Complaints
8%
Share of all complaints
1
Crashes
3
Fires
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
See attached document for complaint.
NHTSA complaint #11700496 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE:OIL/LUBRICATION
See attached document for complaint.
NHTSA complaint #11700496 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
The radioator failed it started leaking the car is only 60k ish miles
NHTSA complaint #11682740 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
Damaged torque converter pump and foreward planetary assy bushings. Jerks when accelerating, loses power, hesitates backing up. Overhaul of torque converter, reseal and reassemble. Hydraulic control unit not working properly and break on left front does not release and overheats. Replaced hydraulic control unit. Airbox loose and damaged. Rattling. Replaced airbox.
NHTSA complaint #11682139 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
While driving my 2022 Ford Transit Connect (cargo model, 2.0L) in city traffic, I experienced a serious intermittent issue. Twice now, the vehicle suddenly jerked, throttle response was delayed or non-existent, and a “Collision Detection Disabled” warning flashed on the dash. Simultaneously, the “Service Vehicle Soon” light illuminated. Both times, I pulled over and shut off the vehicle. Upon restarting, the warnings cleared and the vehicle drove normally again. There were no prior warning signs or fault messages. I brought the vehicle to Mullinax Ford in Apopka, FL, and explained the issue in detail. However, I was told there were no diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) stored, and they refused to conduct any further testing. I specifically asked them to perform: A full scan of all vehicle modules (including the IPMA/collision system), Check the forward collision camera and wiring, Confirm all PCM/ADAS software is up to date, Perform a battery and charging system test, Inspect the throttle body or related sensors. They declined, saying “if there are no codes, there’s no issue.” This is concerning because the symptoms are intermittent and potentially safety-related — including unexpected loss of power and the disabling of a major safety system. Based on owner reports and technical bulletins from Ford for similar symptoms in other models (such as F-150 and Explorer), this may be due to software or hardware faults that do not always trigger DTCs. This issue affects my confidence in the safety and reliability of the vehicle. I am requesting that Ford investigate further, open a case, and provide support in ensuring proper diagnostics and resolution — even if the dealer won’t take further action.
NHTSA complaint #11658074 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
After placing vehicle in Park, vehicle rolled away and destroyed my mailbox. Luckily I was able to stop it inches away from neighbors car. There is a recall for other years, but none for this year. The vehicle has not been inspected by a dealer yet, however, after talking to the dealership service department, it is a common problem and would cost a lot to repair
NHTSA complaint #11649597 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Transit Connect. The contact stated that the ABS warning light was illuminated. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds, the vehicle stalled. There was smoke coming from the rear of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who determined that the brakes and calipers needed to be replaced. While the mechanic was test driving the vehicle, the vehicle stalled. The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact called another local dealer, Wayne Ford (444 US-46, Wayne, NJ 07470); but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 33,000.
NHTSA complaint #11621200 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2014 Ford Transit Connect. The contact stated while driving 45-55 MPH, the engine overheated. The message “Pullover - Engine Temperature High” was displayed. The contact pulled over and noticed that the coolant level was low. The contact added coolant to the reservoir. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V209000 (Engine and Engine Cooling). The contact called the local dealer, but the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 106,000.
NHTSA complaint #11619373 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
For starters, about 2-3 days before August 6, 2024 (the day I took my van to Autozone to diagnose my check engine light) my ford transit shot a check engine light due to a "P0304 Cylinder 4 Misfire". On August 8, 2024 after dropping my van off once the mechanic opened, around 11:27 AM i received a call from the mechanic I was referred to by the dealership I bought the van from that the car was fixed and ready to go. I was also told by one of the mechanics that work at the shop that the threading on the spark plugs were stripped, these were the original spark plugs that came with the vehicle when i purchased it before the misfire happened. On August 10th after work, my transmission had failed on me and i was not able to park my car, i ended up having to let my car roll back on a hill, blocking a strangers driveway having to call a tow truck around 11pm-12am. After having to wait some time, the same mechanic i was referred to by my dealership called me a day after receiving the new transmission telling me the van was ready. Not only did they try to charge me an extra $200, but the car wouldn't even start once i paid the balance due and tried to leave, and to top it all off there was still a jerk in the transmission every time i tried to put it in drive, the job was rushed. Less than a week later, the van was displaying another check engine light related to the same misfire as before, and also a transmission failure message on my dashboard while on the highway with my dog in the back. I'm a dog trainer and need the vehicle to safely transport animals to and from north to south jersey. I have not been able to do so due to all the complications I've been encountering with the vehicle. I dropped the van off Thursday August 29th and have not received any updates from the same mechanic and it has been 5 days (today's Sept. 3rd). I understand labor day just passed but I was told by the head of the shop that they would look at it Friday Aug 30th & update me asap.
NHTSA complaint #11612415 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2015 Ford Transit Connect. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the contact became aware that the engine was overheating. The contact was not able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road and was forced to keep driving. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic; however, had not yet been diagnosed. The contact related the failure with an unknown NHTSA recall; however, the vehicle was not included. The local dealer was contacted and confirmed that the vehicle was not under recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 190,000.
NHTSA complaint #11595736 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
The transmission is having a shuddering issue, and looking online there on tons and tons of people having the same issue and stating it’s the torque converter and this is over many different years and variants of my vehicle… how is this not a recall yet?? People are having this issue right after purchase?
NHTSA complaint #11582928 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
My windshield is leaking and has been leaking since manufacturing. The windshield is flexing and is missing the adhesive along the top. Caused electrical damage to the car.
NHTSA complaint #11577242 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Transit Connect. The contact stated that while driving 65 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power. The accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle was slow to move. The engine HOT message was displayed. There was an unknown running sound detected. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, and an unknown repair was performed. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that water had leaked into the engine from the front windshield. The vehicle was repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the window was replaced but was installed incorrectly. The weather strip was detached. The manufacturer was contacted, and informed the contact that there was no warranty coverage on the vehicle. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000.
NHTSA complaint #11575596 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
Powertrain fault Transmission torque converter clutch is not operating as expected. Transmission not shifting properly. Fixed many times and still same issue, now it needs new transmission.
NHTSA complaint #11574808 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
This vehicle keeps flashing service engine soon light and malfunction indicator lamp. Dealer is keep saying that there are nothing to fix the issue. However, they have noted that it might be related to fueling hole and also fuel misfire. Dealer is not addressing the issue and on the manual page 99, it advises not to operate the vehicle when both lights flash together. However, dealer is not addressing the issue. Please help.
NHTSA complaint #11500742 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
While traveling at highway speed the vehicle suddenly and without any warning lost propulsion and died forcing the driver to pull over. As a result of how sudden the failure was the driver was just barely able to find a safe place to pull off the road. The vehicle would not start or run leaving the driver and his passengers stranded in the hot weather. This very easily could have resulted in an accident as the vehicle was going up hill on a mountain road with many curves. After taking the vehicle to the Ford dealership it was determined that the throttle body had failed suddenly and without warning. There were never any service lights that illuminated when the problem occurred. We are reporting so that there is a record in case this becomes a common issue with other vehicles of this type.
NHTSA complaint #11486672 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:EXHAUST SYSTEM:EMISSION CONTROL:CATALYTIC CONVERTOR
The catalytic converter is stopped up, and that is definitely a safety issue, causing extra heat. In the event of it touching almost anything, it makes it more likely than not that a fire will ensue! This happened on the day that I purchased the Car. Within hours. Dealer is LDT Motors in Amarillo Texaa.
NHTSA complaint #11466991 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
Air bubble in coolant system caused by faulty placement of heater core allows air bubble to form there. This cause no heat or defrost in cab of vehicle. Also causes overheating which leads to cracked block, coolant leak into combustion chamber, destroying catalytic converter and emissions to soar and fuel milage to drop. Engine stumbles and stalls and goes into fail safe mode which could cause an accident because vehicle won’t accelerate or shift.
NHTSA complaint #11450305 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
AFTER HAVING SEVERAL FLAT TIRES I HAD TO DRIVE OFF THE INTERSTATE AFTER THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE WENT FLAT AND THE ENGINE MUST HAVE BOUNCED UP AND DOWN TOO MUCH SO THE ACCIDENT DASHBOARD LIGHT CAME ON. THE FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM WAS AFFECTED AS WELL AND THE CAR DIDN'T WANT TO START, STARTED MISFIRING AND CONKED OUT AT LOW SPEEDS. WHENEVER I PUT FUEL IN TO THE GAS TANK THE CAR DIDN'T WANT TO START AGAIN AND SOMETIMES I HAD TO TURN THE KEY 10>20 TIMES TO START THE ENGINE. UNLESS WHEN I PUT FUEL INTO THE TANK AND I KEPT THE ENGINE RUNNING (FIRE HAZARD). AFTER SEVERAL THOUSAND MILES OF DRIVING THE CAR AFTER THE CAR ACCIDENT LIGHT CAME ON AND NO REPAIRS DONE TO THE CAR THE MISFIRING AND STALLING OUT AT LOW SPEED WOULD DISSIPATE EXCEPT FOR THE REFUELING PROBLEM. OR AT LEAST UNTIL THE CAR WENT OVER A LARGE BUMP/POTHOLE AND THEN START ALL OVER AGAIN STALLING OUT AT LOW SPEEDS. I DID TAKE THE CAR TO A GOODYEAR AUTO REPAIR SHOP AND THEY TOLD ME IT MAY TAKE 2>3 DAYS WORTH OF REPAIRS TO FIX IT. UNFORTUNATELY I STILL DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO FIX IT AND PROBABLY CAN'T AFFORD TO FIX IT MULTIPLE TIMES AS THE EXPENSE WOULD AMOUNT TO TWO>.THREE TIMES THE CURRENT VALUE OF THE CAR ITSELF PLUS THE PROBLEMS WITH THE ENGINE BOUNCING TOO MUCH JUST CAUSES THE SAME PROBLEM TO REOCCUR SO IT'S BASICALLY A BOTTOMLESS PIT OF REPAIR AND EXPENSE.
NHTSA complaint #11406445 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
ENGINE
THERE WAS A RECALL FOR POTENTIAL ENGINE FIRE ISSUES. I TOOK THE VAN TO FOR SEVERAL TIME TO ASK ABOUT THIS AND WAS TOLD THE VEHICLE I HAD WAS NOT PART OF THE RECALL. I EVENTUALLY SOLD THE VAN TO A FRIEND OF MINE WITH ABOUT 106,000 MILES ON IT. I ALSO ADVISED HIM OF THE RECALL INFO AND TOLD HIM FORD SAID IT WAS NOT PART OF THE RECALL. THE VEHICLE BURNT TO THE GROUND WITH IN 10,000 MILES AFTER I SOLD IT TO HIM. IT WAS TRAVELING DOWN THE FREEWAY AT ABOUT 60 WHEN THEY NOTICE SMOKE COMING FROM THE COWLING AND PULLED OVER. THE VAN THEN BURST IN TO FLAME FORWARD OF THE WINDSHIELD NO ONE WAS INJURED BUT THE FIRE DID MAKE IT TO THE FRONT SEATING AREA.
NHTSA complaint #11404024 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.