Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - SOFTWARE | |||||
| AS-21769 | 03/01/2011 | 10039053 | Ready | 07/06/2011 | |
| AS-21769 | 03/01/2011 | 10039053 | Ford: if there is an intermittent lack of power, surge, or hesitation while driving the brakes will override acceleration. *rm | 07/06/2011 | |
| SIS-21841 | 04/01/2011 | 10038965 | Ready | 06/29/2011 | |
| SIS-21841 | 04/01/2011 | 10038965 | Comm-trans lund: some 2009-2011 models may have the air bag inicator flashing with a stored trouble code. this is a software problem. *rm | 06/29/2011 | |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 08/28/2009 | 3611 | 2 | |
| Twice while driving my ford flex, i had spontaneous total shut downs of the engine. the first time, my car was only a few months old and i was idling in front of a friend's house when all the lights came on and it completely died. i started it right back up (and it subsequently performed perfectly) and i drove it to ford where they did some diagnostics checks and found no anomaly. it concerned me but thinking it may be a fuel injection issue while only idling, i went about my business. on july 20, 2012, at 38k mile, my ford flex died again! total shutdown of the engine and all the lights came on while i was driving approximately 30 miles per hour with my daughter in the car! no power steering, no power brakes, no power anything! because i was on a slight downhill, i was able to get the car over to the side of the road without catastrophe, thank god. the engine started up again as if nothing occurred. i drove direct to ford where they did 10 minutes of diagnostic testing and told me once again that there was no anomaly. i went a little crazy, informed them that i was leaving for a 10- day vacation the following morning and that they had the full 10 days to fix the car or that i wasn't going to be picking it up ever again. a ford tech drove my car with a computer plugged into the car, typed in the problem and after maneuvering the car to try and get a repeated response, the car did indeed shut down while he was driving it! apparently, the throttle body was binding internally and needed to be replaced. after replacing part # 1 7t4z 9e926 fa, ford walnut creek ca is telling me it is fixed. let's hope so. i pray that no one has been involved in a fatal or injury accident as a result of this part's failure. i am writing this as an alert and a heads up to anyone who has had the same scary experience. *tr | |||
| 08/28/2009 | 3611 | ||
| Twice while driving my ford flex, i had spontaneous total shut downs of the engine. the first time, my car was only a few months old and i was idling in front of a friend's house when all the lights came on and it completely died. i started it right back up (and it subsequently performed perfectly) and i drove it to ford where they did some diagnostics checks and found no anomaly. it concerned me but thinking it may be a fuel injection issue while only idling, i went about my business. on july 20, 2012, at 38k mile, my ford flex died again! total shutdown of the engine and all the lights came on while i was driving approximately 30 miles per hour with my daughter in the car! no power steering, no power brakes, no power anything! because i was on a slight downhill, i was able to get the car over to the side of the road without catastrophe, thank god. the engine started up again as if nothing occurred. i drove direct to ford where they did 10 minutes of diagnostic testing and told me once again that there was no anomaly. i went a little crazy, informed them that i was leaving for a 10- day vacation the following morning and that they had the full 10 days to fix the car or that i wasn't going to be picking it up ever again. a ford tech drove my car with a computer plugged into the car, typed in the problem and after maneuvering the car to try and get a repeated response, the car did indeed shut down while he was driving it! apparently, the throttle body was binding internally and needed to be replaced. after replacing part # 1 7t4z 9e926 fa, ford walnut creek ca is telling me it is fixed. let's hope so. i pray that no one has been involved in a fatal or injury accident as a result of this part's failure. i am writing this as an alert and a heads up to anyone who has had the same scary experience. | |||
| 09/09/2010 | 25000 | ||
| I purchased my flex new on oct 2009 and it has shut off while driving three times since i bought it. the first time it happened i was driving through my neighborhood (with my children in the car with me) at 20mph all the warning lights came on my engine shut off, loss of power steering, loss of brakes. luckily i was able coast to the side of the street. i waited a few minutes and it wouldnt start. i tried to start it again and it started up. the second time i was driving on the highway(with my children in the car with me) at 55mph engine shut off, loss of power steering, loss of brakes and check engine light came on, i coasted to the shoulder, waited a few minutes and it started right up. i took it to the dealership; they told me they couldn't find any issues that would cause the vehicle to turn off while driving so they didnt attempt to fix it. the third time was last week while driving through my neighborhhod(with my children in the car with me) at 20 mph, engine shut off, loss of power steering, loss of brakes and check engine light came on. i took it to the dealership again and again they told me that they couldnt duplicate the issue so they didnt attempt to fix it. my children were in the car with me all three times. i've taken to the dealership 3 times for this issue and they cant duplicate the issue so they can't find the problem so they didnt even attempt to fix it. i just dropped it off this week for the fourth time. its very frustrating to have this issue especially since im scared to drive the vehicle with my kids in the car. i feel its a huge safety issue. its a total inconvenience to have to keep going back to the dealership and drop off my vehicle. i have three children and need a dependable vehicle. luckily we werent injured but im worried that the next time it happens an injury could occur. why hasnt ford listed this issue in their tsb! | |||
| 10/08/2011 | 23126 | ||
| Intermittent no start of vehicle. towed to dealer after 5 previous incidents. delivered to dealership in same no start behavior. upon initial attempt a relay was replaced as the pcm (main engine computer) was not receiving power. service advisor calls to indicate vehicle is ready and starts up after repair. at the dealership, picking up the vehicle, car starts up, however, dash lights light up, warning check awd, check this, check that... service engine light on as well (the wrench). shut the car down, try to restart, will not restart. tech is with me and observes behavior and tries as well. no start again. tech attempts to download error codes. mentions rfi interference. will be doing another diagnostic. previously, car was towed to dealership for stalling at freeway speeds (65+). ended up being a soaked pcm (main engine computer). this took two trips (towed both times). this is now four times to repair the same non-running / no start defect. the rear brakes were also repaired due to dragging calipers as per tsb 10-7-2. | |||
| 07/08/2011 | 38000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2009 ford flex. while driving at approximately 5 mph the contact noticed the tire monitor default warning light began to flash on the instrument panel. all the electrical features failed including the headlights, defroster and anti skid activator. the failure occurred intermittently. the vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnostics. the technicians replaced the battery, the wiring connected to the brake pedal, and wiring connected to the remote starter. the vehicle was not repaired. the vin was not available. the approximate failure mileage was 38,000. ds | |||
| 01/08/2011 | 16225 | ||
| 2009 ford flex will not start. warning about low fuel, check awd with 3/4 full tank of gas. | |||
| 12/29/2010 | 16209 | ||
| Engine stall at speed. merging on to freeway at 50+ mph, engine cut off, no power. assist brakes and steering disabled. safety issue. was not able to restart vehicle immediately. waited 10 minutes and car was able to restart. car was towed to dealership for diagnosis. | |||
| 08/20/2010 | 25000 | ||
| 1. recurring break noise, breaks, rotors and brackets replaced repeatedly. has happened 4 times over 8 months. abs system also replaced. 2. vehicle stopped in the middle of the road without pressing on breaks - vehicle was still running and would not move. eventually (30 to 90 seconds) the vehicle was able to be moved. dealership kept vehicle to try to identify issue (apparently not first flex this occured with) and returned vehicle with no repairs other then to replace the abs. they said there was not issue and it was likely a one time occurance. when asked dealership to look at the transmission and the chain in the t-casing (was told if the chain seized it would create the reaction that happened) i was told they would not as it was timely, expensive and unwarranted. 3. the electronics on the vehicle tend to start/come on whnever they choose with not assistance. the entertainment system/electronics has been malfunctioning repeatedly since the next to last visit to the dealership when the abs was replaced in august. | |||
| 10/19/2010 | 24000 | ||
| 09 ford flex. coming up on a turn and my car shuts off. i rolled to the corner put it in park and restarted the car. this is the second time since i've had the this car that it shut off. thank goodness no one is hurt. my car is at the dealership as i type. | |||
| 08/20/2010 | 25000 | ||
| 1. recurring break noise, breaks, rotors and brackets replaced repeatedly. has happened 4 times over 8 months. abs system also replaced. 2. vehicle stopped in the middle of the road without pressing on breaks - vehicle was still running and would not move. eventually (30 to 90 seconds) the vehicle was able to be moved. dealership kept vehicle to try to identify issue (apparently not first flex this occured with) and returned vehicle with no repairs other then to replace the abs. they said there was not issue and it was likely a one time occurance. when asked dealership to look at the transmission and the chain in the t-casing (was told if the chain seized it would create the reaction that happened) i was told they would not as it was timely, expensive and unwarranted. 3. the electronics on the vehicle tend to start/come on whnever they choose with not assistance. the entertainment system/electronics has been malfunctioning repeatedly since the next to last visit to the dealership when the abs was replaced in august. | |||
| 10/19/2010 | 24000 | ||
| 09 ford flex. coming up on a turn and my car shuts off. i rolled to the corner put it in park and restarted the car. this is the second time since i've had the this car that it shut off. thank goodness no one is hurt. my car is at the dealership as i type. | |||
| 03/24/2010 | 6600 | ||
| I have a 2009 ford flex built october 2008 which stalled yesterday. i was driving about 10-20 mph when the stall occured. restarted the car without any problem. problem seems to be rare. fortunately traffic was light so i was able to steer the car to safety. please note that power steering was lost during the stall. i will take the car to get a look at by the dealer and hope to get this fixed. | |||
| 08/16/2009 | 14000 | 1 | |
| My wife was driving our 2009 ford flex in a driving rainstorm approximately 500 miles from home and the car died twice. each time, she called roadside assistance and a tow truck had to come out and pick her up. a local ford dealer look at the car, but naturally did not find anything wrong. she made it back home and i took it to the dealer we purchased it from (crain ford + little rock, arkansas). they kept it for a week and we drove a rental car around. they never did find out what was wrong. now, today, december 11, 2009, my car is back in the shop for the 2nd time for brake grinding. they tell me also that i have to pay for a new tie rod...$500. i'm sick of ford motors!! *tr | |||
| 08/02/2009 | 13900 | 1 | |
| 2009 ford flex. driving through my neighborhood when i noticed loss of power steering and brakes. the car had simply died while driving. was able to stop it on the side of the street and restart it. continued on without another occurrence. learned through a web forum that this has occurred to approximately 8 other owners of this vehicle. *tr | |||
| 07/05/2009 | 1450 | 1 | |
| This is a 2009 flex dealer demo with 1450 miles. it has died twice while driving during a test drive. the first occurrence was while in drive, in a parking lot at about 5 mph. the engine, a/c, radio/accessory power, and all lights suddenly died. it was as if the key had been turned to off, except that the retained accessory power and all dash/warning lights went out as well. the car re-started easily once put into neutral. the second occurrence was in reverse, backing out of a driveway at about 3 mph. this time the engine suddenly died, and a/c turned off, but the accessory power to the radio and dash /warning lights remained on, and the security light on the dash was blinking slowly. again, the car re-started easily. both times the power steering and braking went out and the car was much more difficult to control, and shifting gears, re-starting it, and shifting back to drive took several seconds. this could cause a serious collision if it happened while pulling into traffic. i have heard of at least 4 other similar incidents, and most of those were resolved at the dealership with a simple change to the computer control module in the engine. hopefully ford will recall units already sold to make this change before someone is injured. *tr | |||