Problems · by component

2020 Ford Ecosport engine problems

173 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2020 Ford Ecosport cite engine, 43% of all 403 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
173
43% of all complaints
Crashes
0
Reported by owners
Fires
8
Reported by owners
Injuries
3
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the engine

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“My 2020 Ford EcoSport was delivered to a certified Ford franchise dealership for a mandatory safety recall. The dealership held my vehicle in their service department for 18 consecutive months (1.5 years) claiming an extended parts and repair delay. Because the manufacturer and dealership held my car for a year and a half, it was physically impossible for me to complete a Texas state emissions inspection, causing my state vehicle registration and tags to completely expire while under their care. The dealership is now forcing me to take delivery of an unregistered, illegal vehicle, hanging up the phone on me when I request safe transit or legal temporary tags, and demanding their service loaner vehicle back. I am filing this complaint due to severe recall repair delays and resulting state vehicle compliance failures.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Nov 4, 2026Unknown or other, EngineODI 11775784
“"Our 2020 Ford EcoSport has suffered multiple catastrophic engine failures directly caused by the defective oil pump drive belt covered under NHTSA Recall 23V905000 / Ford Recall 23S64. The authorized recall remedy completely failed to permanently resolve the safety hazard on this vehicle, leading to repeated, highly dangerous highway emergencies. On 5/22/24 We towed the car to the dealer after sudden loss of oil pressure on highway during rush-hour traffic creating a stressful and dangerous stalling hazard. (93,601 Miles) On 7/31/24 An Interim engine (#2) was installed without the fix due to a lack of parts. On 8/28 - 9/24/25 We left our car for a month to complete the recall remedy. (131,635) On 8/21/26 We brought our car to the dealer after severe overheating occurred on the highway creating a dangerous situation. (164,934 Miles) On 8/25/25 the dealer misdiagnosed this recall symptom as a simple sensor issue and replaced the cylinder head temp sensor. We paid $2,659.57. On 10/1/26 (168,664) Just 3,730 miles after the misdiagnosis, the engine catastrophically blew during rush-hour traffic with the total loss of vehicle power creating a very dangerous…”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 29, 2026EngineODI 11774383
“The engine to my car completely caught on fire and destroyed the engine and inside of my car. All my items in my car were melted and put myself and other people in danger. There were no lights on until that morning where the engine light started flashing and in the span of 10-15 minutes the car was slowing down. Parked and turned off the car and the engine started smoking and caught on fire. Police department and fire department were called.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 26, 2026Electrical system, EngineFire reportedODI 11773870
“The contact owns a 2020 Ford EcoSport. The contact stated that while driving at 35 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the engine seized. The contact stated that while attempting to start the vehicle, the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the wet belt and the oil pump had failed and needed to be replaced. An attorney advised the contact to call the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 36,000.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 13, 2026EngineODI 11770778
“The authorized Ford dealer failed to properly execute the safety recall repair. They twice filled my 1.0L EcoBoost wet-belt engine with standard domestic XO5W20BSP oil instead of the manufacturer-mandated, recall-specified WSS-M2C948-B oil. once under interm recall they replaced long block, second part of recall they repaired recalI but put wrong spec oil in again. car has been driven 6,000 miles on the wrong oil, creating a renewed risk of timing belt delamination, oil pump starvation, and sudden engine failure on the highway.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 1, 2026EngineODI 11768379
“Kept like revving the engine like it was whining tight never show no check engine light nothing ever showed up was driving down the road and the car completely shut off no warning signs no nothing all was coming out of it like a oil pump or something had went out in the car.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Sep 12, 2026Power train, EngineODI 11763855

Showing 6 of 173 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 11, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.

Other 2020 Ecosport problem areas