Ford EcoSport's India-built engine recalled in the US after years

What the US investigation found

In September 2023, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened a preliminary evaluation, PE23-015, into sudden engine failures on the Ford EcoSport. The regulator had received 95 complaints from owners describing a loss of oil pressure followed by stalling, and the inquiry covered 241,014 EcoSports from the 2018 to 2021 model years fitted with the 1.0 litre EcoBoost three cylinder turbo engine, according to a report that cited the agency's own filing. That engine, and the car around it, was built at Ford's Chennai plant, which supplied the US market EcoSport from 2018 after Ford made India the global export hub for the model.

The recall, and what it covers

The investigation led to NHTSA recall campaign 23V905000 in December 2023. Ford's own filing, reported on Cars.com's recall page, describes the defect plainly: the oil pump drive belt or its tensioner can fail, cutting engine oil pressure, which can stall the engine and cut power brake assist. Ford's fix is to replace the tensioner assembly and belt free of charge, and where the belt has already failed and damaged the engine, dealers were authorised to fit a replacement engine as an interim repair. The recall also folded in the 2016 to 2018 Ford Focus, which shares the same engine family. Owner complaint pages on CarComplaints.com, built from the same NHTSA database, list 311 engine complaints for the 2018 EcoSport at an average of 14,559 miles, 156 for 2019 at 10,334 miles, 126 for 2020 at 8,572 miles and 49 for 2021 at 8,582 miles, with the oil pump belt named repeatedly as the cause.

Why India did not get this one

Ford exited India in September 2021 and built its last EcoSport for export at Chennai in the first quarter of 2022, so there is no Ford dealer network here to run a domestic recall even if one were needed. But the specific fault only strikes US spec cars built with the 1.0 EcoBoost paired to Ford's 6F15 automatic transmission, a combination India never sold. The Indian EcoSport's 1.0 EcoBoost came only with a manual gearbox, and the automatic was reserved for the 1.5 litre Ti VCT petrol with Ford's dual clutch unit, a different drivetrain altogether.

That does not mean Indian EcoSports have had an easy run. Search results show several long running Team-BHP threads on ageing EcoSport diesels and petrols in India, including ones titled around an engine seizing on a 1.5 TDCi and a powertrain control module failing near six years and 80,000 km, each describing a single car's repair rather than a counted pattern. Team-BHP's own pages did not open for direct reading in this reporting, so none of those threads are quoted here beyond their titles.

What an owner can do

Anyone who bought a left hand drive, US market EcoSport privately imported into India, or who still owns one abroad, should check the vehicle's VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls for campaign 23V905000. Indian market EcoSport owners with oil pressure warnings should ask their independent service centre to inspect the oil pump drive belt and tensioner regardless, since the parts came from the same supply chain. With no Ford India dealer network left, owners with a dispute can approach the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 or file at consumerhelpline.gov.in.

Sources

• Ford EcoSport Engine Failure Complaints Prompt NHTSA Investigation
• 2019 Ford EcoSport Recalls, Cars.com
• 311 Complaints: 2018 Ford EcoSport Engine Problems, CarComplaints.com
• 156 Complaints: 2019 Ford EcoSport Engine Problems, CarComplaints.com
• 126 Complaints: 2020 Ford EcoSport Engine Problems, CarComplaints.com
• 49 Complaints: 2021 Ford Ecosport Engine Problems, CarComplaints.com
• Last unit of Ford EcoSport produced. Ends Ford's India operations, CarWale