Ford Motor Company notified the NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration back in October of 2013 that it had decided to conduct a safety recall on a number of 2011 and 2012 Ford F-350, F-450, and F-550 “Ambulance Package” trucks with the 6.7L diesel Power Stroke engines. This recall was to cover complaints of an EGT failure that was ultimately causing the engine to shut down and not restart. However, the NHTSA has recently opened an investigation into other Super Duty 6.7L diesel trucks of those model years for the same EGT failure.

When the EGT sensor goes on the blink, the powertrain control module thinks there is an exhaust system overheating situation. The vehicle then goes into a “controlled power reduction mode” while five warning chimes are ringing away. This ends with the engine shutting down completely as soon as the truck slows to four mph, with no engine restart immediately available.

The vehicles in question have four EGT sensors, and any one of them can fail and cause the same engine trouble. As of the most recent “ODI Resume” published by the NHTSA, the fix that Ford has been undertaking was to replace the EGT sensor that is inline behind the DPF. This was thought to be the single culprit and the solution, but the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has on file 30 non-duplicative complaints on 2011 and 2012 Ford F-250, F-350, F-450 and F-550 Super Duty Power Stroke trucks suffering from this failure, and some of these are not included in that initial Ford recall.

Some of these complaints go further to say that there have been multiple EGT sensor shutdowns, with some sensors having been replaced more than once. In these are reports of engines shutting down and stranding the trucks on the road. If you think your truck is among these with EGT troubles, you can contact the NHSTA through its Recalls and Defects website or call (888) 327-4236.