NHTSA probes Ford's handling of 2019 F-150 pickup recalls

WASHINGTON — U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating Ford Motor Co.'s. handling of two recalls from 2019 involving older model F-150 pickups after new reports of unexpected transmission downshifting.

NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation said it received 86 consumer complaints for 2014 model-year Ford F-150 pickups alleging the vehicles "suddenly and unexpectedly downshift to a lower gear without warning, often accompanied by temporary rear wheel lock-up," according to a report made public Friday.

One consumer who experienced the issue said the unexpected downshift caused his vehicle to crash into a concrete barrier and another vehicle, injuring himself and the driver of the other vehicle, the report states.

The agency said it opened the investigation — known as a "recall query" — to look into the scope of two Ford recalls from 2019 that addressed similar issues.

About 540,000 F-150 pickups from 2014 could be affected.

Ford spokesperson Maria Buczkowski said the automaker is “working with NHTSA to support its investigation.”

In February 2019, Ford recalled nearly 1.3 million 2011-13 F-150 pickups equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission over the unexpected downshift into first gear, regardless of vehicle speed. To fix the problem, dealers reprogrammed the powertrain control module.

Ford later issued another recall in June 2019 for about 108,000 F-150s from the 2013 model year that had the powertrain control module reprogrammed under the February recall. The automaker said the software used at the time "did not have the necessary updates to prevent the transmission from unexpectedly downshifting," according to the recall report.

Those recalls came after Ford in 2016 called back about 154,000 vehicles, including 2011-12 F-150 pickups with six-speed automatic transmissions, for unexpected transmission downshifting.

NHTSA launched a recall query in 2017 to assess Ford's handling of that recall, including the scope and fix, which also involved reprogramming the powertrain control module. The investigation led to the February 2019 recall.