2016 Ford Fusion · symptom sheet

Check engine light or misfire

334owner reports
92,000median miles
$7,000median quote
2involved a crash

Newest report Jul 26, 2026 · checked Sep 9, 2026

700 of the 1,614 complaints on this car are about the engine. 334 of those describe misfire, which makes it the most reported problem on the 2016 Fusion.

Tick what matches of 334 reports

rough idle or shaking

a P0300-series code

a catalytic converter code

the light flashes

coils or plugs were replaced

it came back after repair

What got replaced

Owners who name the part that was replaced mention the spark plugs (62 reports), the ignition coils (38 reports), the injectors (11 reports) and the sensor (11 reports).

Recalls and investigations

One recall on the engine covers the 2016 model year. A recall on the same system isn't always the same failure, so read the defect text.

15V-618Oct 1, 2015

Fuel System, Gasoline:Storage

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2016 Ford Fusion vehicles manufactured September 3, 2015, to September 13, 2015, and 2016 Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured September 3, 2015, to September 12, 2015. The affected vehicles have a fuel tank that may have insufficent wall thickness. As a result, the fuel tanks may crack in the event of a crash and thus the vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 301, "Fuel System Integrity."

Risk and remedy

Risk: A fuel tank that cracks may leak fuel, increasing the risk of a fire.
Remedy: Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel tank, free of charge. The recall began on October 19, 2015. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 15C11.

NHTSA investigations into the engine on the Fusion

PE13-003opened Feb 21, 2013

Engine · model years 2010 to 2013

Electronic throttle body malfunction. Closed feb 28, 2014.

NHTSA summary

On February 21, 2013, the Office of Defects Investigations (ODI) opened Preliminary Evaluation PE13-003 to investigate allegations of electronic throttle body (ETB) failures resulting in sudden reduction of engine power in model year (MY) 2009-2013 Ford Escape, Fusion, Mariner and Milan vehicles. During this investigation, Ford identified a condition in subject vehicles equipped with 2.5L and 3.0L engines that may result in a sudden reduction of engine power.According to Ford, the ETB internal motor contacts may develop a high resistance material buildup condition on the commutator, resulting in intermittent electrical connectivity and reduced engine power. When this condition occurs, the Malfunction Indicator Lamp (MIL) or Wrench light will illuminate and the vehicle may enter a limited limp home mode.Ford?s trade name for the feature is Failure Mode Effects Management (FMEM) mode.In this mode, engine power and vehicle speed are reduced, while full function of the power steering, power braking, lighting, and climate control systems are maintained.ODI?s complaint analysis indicate that the predominant failure mode involved reduced motive power associated with the limited limp home mode with engine speeds limited to approximately 900 RPM. Analysis of warranty claims provided by Ford identified 59,807 claims related to ETB replacements and approximately 50 percent of claims are associated with diagnostic trouble codes (DTC) P2111, Throttle Body Stuck Open, and P2112, Throttle B

None of these investigations covers the 2016 model year.

What owners paid

59 of the 334 reports quote a price. Each dot is one quote. The middle half runs $1,500 to $10,000.

$1,500$7,000$10,000

$0k$2k$4k$6k$8k

When it happens

The middle half of failures fell between 70,000 and 120,000 miles, from the 226 reports that gave a mileage.

816

517

518

1119

4820

2721

3822

6323

7724

3825

1426

What owners wrote

“Coolant leaked into a cylinder due to a failed head gasket at 61,000 miles. Ford replaced head gasket, but the issue is due to poorly manufactured engine, and I had the same issue starting again at 99,000 miles. Ford refuses to fix engine since it is out of warranty, but the issue is due to poor manufacturing, not customer negligence.”
Filed Jul 21, 2024 · 61,000 miles

“Head gasket and block cracked and caused coolant to leak into cylinder and caused misfiring and over heating and check engine light with smoke coming out of tailpipes”
Filed May 2, 2024 · 126,118 miles

“The engine cooling failed inside the block on cylinder #2. The cooling system is not operable and resulted in blue smoke under acceleration. The car is no longer under warranty and only has 65K miles on it and is otherwise in good working order. I am told the whole engine needs to be replaced.”
Filed Apr 15, 2024 · 65,000 miles

“After doing research I have found that I am not the only one experiencing this issue,but I have a 2016 ford fusion 1.5 ecoboost engine and I am having problems with my cylinder leaking. I have to constantly refill coolant and the only option to fix this issue is to replace the motor”
Filed Jan 16, 2024 · 148,682 miles

Should you keep driving it?

This page can't tell you that. 2 of 334 reports involved a crash and 2 people were hurt. Owners who file are the ones who had a bad experience, and nobody checks their reports. If the problem affects steering, braking, power or a fire risk, treat it as a safety fault and have it inspected before a long or high-speed drive.

File your own report with NHTSA. Complaint counts are how a problem gets an investigation.