2016 Ford F-150 complaints

The first sign of trouble with my 2016 Ford F-150 was that the blind spot sensor failure light came on while driving. Then the engine warning light came on and the gear indicator on the dash went blank. Also, while the truck was in forward driving motion, it lost throttle control. After stopping the truck and shutting it off, it would not restart. The check engine codes were 0706 and 0707. After clearing these codes, the truck started again, but repeated the same issues three more times in one week. The truck was taken to the Ford dealership and confirmed that the lead frame needs to be replaced.

Vehicle is having ECM module errors and sensor issues just like other Ford models. It throws a code and then will not go above 5th gear or go below 3rd gear until vehicle is shut off and restarted. Once it restarts it is fine for a bit. It can go a few days in between malfunctions or can happen multiple times per day.

Had issue with sudden downshifting ,not changing gears ,hard shift as well. Took the vehicle to AAMCO and was told the transmission needed to be rebuilt. So i did just, at 99,000 miles. Not sure if this helps your findings.

Truck down shifts randomly, causes a shutter, and has a hard time accelerating. I had a sensor replaced inside of my transmission along with new transmission fluid put in and it failed to fix my problem.

I was driving down the road with the cruise set at 60 mph when I came over the top of a hill and I started to decend down the hill if felt like my truck had down shifted and the back tires locked up and screeched a little bit then a big bang happened and had no more drive gear as I hit the gas it just reved the motor up and didn’t move. Upon further inspection I pulled the rear differential cover off and my spider gears and the shaft holding the gears in place was snapped in 2 different places, chips in the gears. My transfer case chain was snapped in half and my transmission had hard shift from first to second gear and a loud buzzing noise. . I took the truck to my mechanic and hooked a scanner up to it and took it for a test run. As it was driving a sensor was telling the truck to shift into park as it was shifting from first to second or second to third causing a hard shift and buzzing noise and eventually losing all connectivity to the transmission and internals as well. I have sense replaced the whole rear axel, transfer case myself with used parts and is currently in the shop swapping transmissions as I needed my vehicle to continue working. Safety of myself and or others was definitely at risk when my rear tires locked up the rear end could have slid out cause me to wreck and possibly wreck into someone else. There was also no warning lights or anything on my dash before this incident occurred.

The transmission is clunks on random shifts through gears. Changing the shift selector results in a jolt and then it pops into gear. This truck has had new tranny wire lead replaced at ford dealership because of the same issue in the past

The contact's husband owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at 55 MPH, the transmission unexpectedly downshifted to first gear. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that while her son was driving 60 MPH, the driver lost control of the steering wheel and the vehicle unexpectedly downshifted, and the vehicle almost came to a complete stop. Despite the failure, the contact's son was able to drive the vehicle back to the residence, and the vehicle was parked and remained parked at the residence. The dealer was notified of the failure, and the contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 103,000.

My transmission started down shifting on its own while driving one morning and the check engine light and wrench light illuminated. I took it to the dealership that afternoon and had the conductor board replaced. They said it was the speed sensor that malfunctioned.

The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 MPH, the vehicle shuddered and stalled. The WRENCH symbol (Powertrain Malfunction Indicator Light) was displayed, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The failure had occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken back to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.

Was traveling down the road and my truck randomly downshifted into 1st gear and caused my rear wheels to lock up and i almost went off the road..occasionally 9n way back home gear shift selector was randomly cycling back and forth and truck would seem like was neutral and would suddenly go back into a random gear.

Frame is rusted through along the bottom weld. Most likely water, sand and debris entered the frame from side openings and this corrosive mixture sat in the bottom of the frame as there were no drain holes nearby. The problem was discovered by a Ford mechanic and the dealership said they could not repair it, and to try a collision center. An auto body said they could not strengthen the frame as Ford does not allow welding but they could replace the frame for $9,179 plus other cost for draining fluids, etc.

Gets stuck in 3rd and 5th gears randomly, on the interstate it will get stuck and won’t shift, we believe it is a lead frame issue, in town it won’t down shift out of third, we can turn it off and on and it can jump from first to third gear while not moving, sometimes it runs just fine, it does this at random

Ford has known about these 2 issues but refuses to do anything about it one of them they flat failed to mention at to anyone. The climate control seat module burns due to a ground wire. But they have to release the information they on 2014-2019 you can’ use aftermarket thermostat as they’re not calibrated right for the motor and also fit bit differently which causes people to spend so much to fix a cooling problem that doesn’t exist

The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, there was an abnormal rattling and wind sound coming from the panoramic roof. While attempting to inspect the vehicle, the contact stated that the panoramic roof glass seized, opened, and failed to close. The contact stated that the panoramic roof glass seemed as if it was about to fracture. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The dealer was made aware of the failure; however, the contact was informed that the repair was very expensive and not worth the cost. The contact referenced an unknown recall with a similar failure description; however, the VIN was not associated with the recall. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.

While driving at approximately 55 mph the vehicle began to behave strangely. The "D" light for drive and the gear indicator began to flash. Then the transmission abruptly down shifted to 2nd gear from 5th then lost all power before returning to somewhat normal operation for a short period of time before happening again. The issue occurred multiple times in a 5 mile trip. If there was anyone close behind me it could have resulted in a crash, or it could result in myself losing control of the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by a mechanic. There were no warning lamps or any messages prior to, during, or after the issue.

Over the past few years, I have experienced sporadic issues with my transmission. I am aware of an investigation into 2015-2017 F-150's with 6-speed 6R80 automatic transmissions which is what I have. According to articles I have seen, there have been reports of sudden down-shifts at highway speed from 6th to 2nd or 1st gear. While I have not experienced anything that drastic yet, I am concerned that it's just a matter of time. I have experienced slipping out of 6th gear or what I would describe as the transmission "hunting" to find a shift point between 4th and 6th. I first became aware of this while trailering an RV on the highway using cruise control in the summer of 2023. Periodically, I would notice a "lurching" sensation as the vehicle seemed to have difficulty maintaining 6th gear. As time has gone on, I've had this happen even when not trailering but when going up hills at times (transmission under load). Additionally, I have experienced sudden loss of power under acceleration like entering an on-ramp to a highway. Twice (at least) I have had this happen, the check engine light will begin flashing and I lose the ability to accelerate. After stopping, shutting off the vehicle and then starting again, the CEL turns off and I can resume driving. I have brought this issue up with my local dealer twice, but they have not been able to diagnose anything because of how sporadic the problem is.Their advice was to simply wait until the problem got worse and more predictable. Sin

Sudden downshift from 4th to 1st gear. Rear end locked up, had to manually select 1st gear in order to get power back to the wheels.

Transmission downshifted unexpectedly during normal driving .

The contact owns a 2016 Ford F-150. The contact stated that while driving approximately 55 MPH with cruise control engaged, the vehicle experienced transmission failure. The contact stated that the engine seized, and the vehicle abruptly stopped. The “Service Transmission Soon” message was displayed on the instrument cluster. The vehicle was turned off and restarted, and the message was cleared. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Action Number: PE25002 (Power Train). The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, who confirmed that the VIN was not under recall and there was no recall related to the failure. The dealer diagnosed the vehicle with transmission valve body failure. The transmission valve body was replaced. The manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 47,000.

My 2016 F150 with a 6R80 transmission will randomly fail to go into gear resulting in my vehicle going into neutral and rolling. It will randomly go into neutral while driving down the road which makes my car roll forward unexpectedly, it will randomly when you shift into park it will go into neutral and roll, it will also downshift randomly at random speeds, it has caused me on more than one occasion to almost roll into another vehicle due to it unexpectedly going out of gear without notice almost causing an accident. I believe it to be the lead frame in the transmission. It has been replaced twice with oem ford parts and has failed once within a week and the second time failing the next day, all work done at a licensed service shop, inspected and has failed completely regardless of parts being replaced,

Vehicle: 2016 Ford F-150, 5.0L V8, 6R80 automatic transmission Mileage at time of failure: Approximately 118,000 miles Approximate date of occurrence: Late 2025 (Late October to Early November) While driving at speeds above approximately 40 mph, the transmission would randomly and unexpectedly downshift, causing a severe and sudden jerking motion accompanied by extremely high engine RPMs. After several seconds, the transmission would violently upshift back into the original gear. Most occurrences involved the transmission downshifting one or two gears; however, on multiple occasions it downshifted from 6th gear directly to 2nd gear while traveling at highway speeds. This caused the rear wheels to momentarily lock up, creating a dangerous loss of traction and loss of vehicle control. These events occurred frequently, including during short trips, and were not related to driver input, braking, or road conditions. During these incidents, the check engine light and wrench warning light would illuminate. Diagnostic trouble code P0720 (Output Shaft Speed Sensor Circuit) was consistently stored. This pointed to a failure within the transmission molded lead frame, which houses the output shaft speed sensor and related circuitry. Due to the severity of the symptoms and the known issues with the Ford 6R80 transmission molded lead frame, I replaced the molded lead frame myself. After replacement, the erratic downshifting, wheel lockup, warning lights, and fault codes were completely res

Vehicle showed wrench lite and went into safe mode when stopped went back to normal continue to drive and then vehicle showed wrench lite lite and engine check lite went into safe mode stopped vehicle and engine died would not restart checked codes received 706,708,and 1702. Prior to this no indication of problems

While driving at about 50 mph, the truck will go from 6th to 1st, and lock up the rear end briefly. I'm the mechanic filing this for my customer, seems to me, its the lead frame failing in the trans, and they have done nothing about it, customer says ford worked on this transmission, the only updated part i found was 1 extra magnet. old part number for the lead frame, and a known failing lead frame #, I'm pretty sure you guys have a open case for these trucks.

Transmission issue with the shift from 3rd to 4th gear. While accelerating, i,ve experienced grinding and a drop from 4th down to 1st gear, then jumping back up. This causes the RPM to rapidly increase and the truck to lose acceleration immediately. This problem has happened more than once, less than ten times over the past two years. I have not had the local dealership diagnose this yet.

Several times while at highway speed and while towing, the transmission suddenly downshifted into a very low gear causing the rear wheels to lock up and skid. This happened randomly and also left me stranded for a bit at a stop light. The vehicle was towed to porter ford and they replaced the lead frame harness

Transmission downshifting and electrical issues

Sudden downshift from 4th to 1st gear, rapid deceleration and loss of traction. Unable to accelerate until manually shifted back into 2nd gear.

I have a 2016 f-150 5.0 L sport edition truck. Last year I had to replace the OSS on the transmission due to rear wheel lock up and transmission slipping/ down shifting while driving. I don’t see that my truck VIN is under the current recall or investigation that is taking place but I do have receipts of where I paid for a certified mechanic to replace that sensor. The truck has less than 100k miles on it currently and even less when that sensor was replaced. Any help regarding the current investigations or recalls so that I can be reimbursed would be great.

Approximately a year ago I started having trouble with the shifting in my transmission. Had the fluid changed thinking this may be the problem. My engine light continued to stay on and has been on ever since. Periodically the truck will down shift or not shift into another gear without the rpms going above 3000.

The truck suddenly downshifted to 6th to 2nd gear on the highway. Engine rpm hit more than 7000. Transmission now grinds, shudders and slips. Almost caused a wreck. Hasn't been documented to anyway, just by word. Has not been inspected as there is no way to inspect. No warning before incident, transmission now grinds 4th to 3rd gear, shudders in every gear and slips.

On 11/22/18, Thanksgiving Day, I was driving our 2 year-old Ford Lariat F-150 Supercrew alone on a backroad in Northern Colorado. I was going approx., 65MPH when out of nowhere the truck downshifted from 6th to 2nd gear and caused the truck to lockup, slam me into the drivers seat, and stop in the middle of a thankfully empty road. The engine made a popping sound. The truck made creaking noises from the wheels as I drove it home. It immediately started leaking oil. I took the truck that was still under warranty to the local dealer we bought the truck from the following week as it was a holiday, where I left the truck for a few days, and upon pickup, was told my concerns could "not be replicated" other than an oil leak. I spoke to the 'managers' in a backroom who were 2 men who LITERALLY told me I just needed to learn how to drive my truck better. I asked them if they had actually driven the truck to LISTEN to what a truck still under warranty sounded like after it how downshifted for no logical reason and dead stopped in the road after locking up. They did not. I told them I thought they wiped the codes and were relying on computers to diagnose issues and if Ford knew they had a problem and were hiding it, and people died, Ford would be sued. True story. I reported this to the FBI due to the response because it was disturbing. I know what happened to me when our truck downshifted. If I was on the highway people would have died. Period. I have 10 years worth of documents and a

Our 2016 Ford F-150 experienced a sudden, forceful, uncommanded lane deviation while traveling at highway speed. Without warning or driver input, the vehicle abruptly jolted into the left lane. The steering was corrected and returned to our lane, but shortly afterward the truck again forcefully veered left. The movement felt comparable to being struck by another vehicle. There was no oncoming traffic at the time; however, had there been oncoming traffic, this would have resulted in a head-on collision. Weather conditions were calm, roads were dry, and visibility was clear. Prior to this incident, the vehicle exhibited no warning signs, including no pulling, steering issues, warning lights, or diagnostic codes. We immediately pulled over and had the vehicle towed to a mechanic who inspected the truck but could not replicate the issue. Although the vehicle was later driven approximately 120 miles home and short distances locally without recurrence, we believe it remains unsafe due to the unpredictable nature of this failure. A vehicle should never abruptly and forcefully change lanes without driver input. We have also experienced ongoing issues with the key becoming stuck in the ignition and intermittent starting problems, raising concerns about potential electrical or mechanical defects. This incident involved two uncommanded lane deviations under normal driving conditions with no identified cause or warnings. Due to the risk of serious injury or fatal collision, this remains

Transmission will get stuck in 5th gear. Downshifts when traveling at highway speeds. Sometimes hard shifts.

Transmission unexpectedly down shift.

Transmission lead frame failed.

Transmission will randomly shift gears. At speed sometimes it will shift into a lower gear causing rapid deceleration. From a start it will jump to 5th then back to 1st and stall the rear tires.

Transmission downshifts from 6 to 5 and locks up. I have taken to dealership many times still not correcting the problem. They have replaced celluloid ,spark plugs as well as coils. Although better it is dangerous to rapidly accelerate especially when changing lanes or pulling onto a highway because it loses power.

Multiple times while driving my 2016 F-150 I would lose all power to my wheels. The RPMs would rise but no power would be transferred to the wheels. This happened one time while on the on ramp at 50+ MPH, a second time while drive down a city street at about 30 MPH, a third time while starting from a stop light, and a fourth time again when driving in the city at about 45 MPH. The check engine light would come on for a minute or two and then turn off. After the vehicle did this for the fourth time the check engine light stayed on. After reviewing there are two error codes the vehicle relayed that the mechanic said are related. During these 4 instances there were two time (highway on ramp and city street at 30 MPH when the loss of power to the wheels caused the vehicle directly behind the F-150 to have to swerve around to prevent a collision. P0722 (Output Shaft Speed Sensor Circuit No Signal) and P061A (Internal Control Module Torque Performance). The vehicle is available as well as the Scan results from the OBD2 sensor from 4 February 2026. The vehicle was not taken to an auto shop due to the check engine light not remaining lit prior to the 4 February incident at that point it remained lit and an OBD2 scanner was used to read the error.

Vehicle would get stuck in gear while driving, then randomly downshift harshly. Occurred in Feb 2025 and immediately brought in for service at 98730 miles. Service advancetrack, wrench light, and no hill start assist light illuminated on dash. Truck would go into limp mode. P0715:00-64 and P0717:00-6C codes were pulled at 1st mechanic shop. 1st shop did not work on transmissions and referred me to ford dealership. Dealership wasn’t able to reproduce hard shifting, but while test driving it went into limp mode with all previously mentioned lights on the dash again. Code P0717 was thrown again. Determined bad lead frame and needed replacement. Paid out of pocket for lead frame, pump adaptor, bulk head connector, and filter replacement. Problem has not occurred again since repair.

While driving vehicle between approximately 30-50mph and making a slight turn left or right and lane changes, vehicle steering would stick. Power steering would get stuck and driver would have to manually correct the steering wheel in the opposite direction after lane changes or slight turn to prevent further veering off of the vehicle. Only occurs when vehicle speed is approximately 30-50mph.

My transmission has unpredictable and harsh downshifts as well as downshifts to a to low of gear

Transmission failure resulting in replacing transmission. Vehicle was shuddering when driving. This happened multiple times causing excessive shaking when driving on the hwy.

Oil leak at transmission fittings requiring repair.

While driving at normal highway speeds 65 to 70 the truck downshifts to 1 gear which locks up the rear wheels

Turn Signals, Speed Control Radio Functions, Windsheild Wipers STOPPED WORKING! It effects people in front ,back or side knowing what I am doing so they can react like turning in any direction , My vision is blocked during rain or snow and will cause an accident harming me or others . ' No warning lamps came on when problem happened ! ' Problem has been confirmed by a Qualified Mechanic !

I have a 6-speed (6R80) transmission. My V8-FORD F-150 2016, truck transmission has been experiencing SHIFTING issues for quite some time now. I reading now that all of these same problems that has been going on with my truck might be a recall. My truck downshifts very aggressively and I was told it does not need to be replaced but it could be something electrical. I have taken my truck to numerous mechanic shops and all of them have told me the same thing it could be something electrical but they cannot figure out what that might be without just replacing the entire Transmission which cost $8K to do, this is the only issue that has been wrong with my vehicle. I cannot drive over certain speeds on a highway and sense this might become apart of this recall and every issue that I have been experiencing, I would rather have it fixed if it is a recall instead of replacing an entire transmission if the issue is ALREADY known by FORD. Current Miles 154,395

The component that malfunctioned is the transmission, specifically the internal transmission lead frame and related sensors. This vehicle previously required a transmission lead frame replacement in December 2023 after experiencing loss of power, erratic shifting, wrench warning lights, and limp-mode behavior. After that repair, the vehicle operated normally for approximately two years. Beginning in December 2025, the same symptoms reoccurred, including unexpected downshifts, RPMs not matching vehicle speed, reduced acceleration, flashing or erratic gear indicators, wrench warning lights, and intermittent reduced-power or limp-mode operation. During the recurrence, the vehicle experienced loss of power at highway speeds, creating a safety risk during normal driving conditions and requiring me to quickly pull over. Although no collision occurred, the sudden loss of power at highway speed presented a safety concern for maintaining speed and safely interacting with traffic. Shutting off and restarting the vehicle typically clears the issue temporarily, but the problem may return unpredictably, sometimes within as little as 10 minutes or other times not reappearing for days or weeks. Prior to the most recent failure, intermittent symptoms occurred for several weeks, including occasional wrench warning lights and hesitation. The issue was previously confirmed by an independent transmission service center (AAMCO), which diagnosed and replaced the transmission lead frame. A Ford dea

My truck has had multiple issues with randomly downshifting while on the freeway, i'm getting a code that leads back to the "Lead frame" wiring every now and then. The code comes and goes without having it cleared. I've had this issue before and have replaced it with the Ford Manufactured part. Its now doing it again but now more frequent not even a year and a half after replacement. I have been almost rear ended multiple times due to it locking up the rear tires and once it locked up the tire on ice and it caused me to slide into the median. There are multiple reports of this issue currently on many Ford Truck Forums. I am currently in the process of contacting Ford again as last time they said to just replace the wiring. My truck is equipped with the 6-speed transmission

Transmission down shifted and a wrench came up on the dash. I took it to a Transmission repair shop and they confirmed what the codes read, lead frame problem. I had them repair it. Cost me nearly $2000. I did call Ford in advance of the repair and I was told there are no recalls for this on my truck. Now 2 weeks later I see many trucks have recalls for this very issue, yet after checking the VIN, my truck still has no recall. I believe my truck should have the recalls and I should get reimbursed. My truck is a 2016 with only 82000 miles on it. Let me know what can be done to help me. Thank you

When shifting into reverse, backup camera screen went to a constant blue screen — no rear image at all now.