Mach-E front motor dead at 33.5K

[Brons2]

TL: DR version: front motor is dead and will need to be replaced, waiting on parts from the mothership in meat chicken (say it fast, you'll get it).

I was going to post the video from the service advisor at the local Ford dealer but you can see my phone number in the work order at the start of the video, and the video isn't downloadable to edit it out. Maybe there's someone here smarter than me that can figure out how to do it.

There's motor ATF coming out of multiple joints including the PCM connector and they can hear the grinding noise my wife experienced, so it's got to be replaced. They had about 5 or 6 PO codes on the work order also.

Browsing the Mach-E forums it seems there have been a spate of motor failures. I haven't seen the same on the Lightning forums, so it seems maybe this is a Mach-E issue and not a Ford issue. In our case it's never seemed quite right, there has been a whine at certain RPMs that didn't sound right to me, I actually asked them to look at it when it was back for a software recall about 6-9 months ago. They said they couldn't find anything wrong.

The motors are warrantied for 8 years 100K. The buyout on the car is $19K at the end of the lease and with the increase in used EV prices recently it's looking like a better deal to keep it. The results of this repair will be informative as to whether we will keep it or not though. If the motors are quiet when we get it back then I'll lean towards keeping it. If it still whines at certain speed ranges I'm almost certain to dump it, I don't want recurrent motor issues, 8/100 warranty or not.

 

[GaryMX5]

One has to wonder when the EV teething problems will be solved. I remember a thread from several months ago where EV advocates were arguing the virtues of EV vehicles vs ICE vehicles. The EV's having far fewer moving parts to break.......... Sounds like both will have continued problems for a long time to come.

 

[Brons2]

One has to wonder when the EV teething problems will be solved. I remember a thread from several months ago where EV advocates were arguing the virtues of EV vehicles vs ICE vehicles. The EV's having far fewer moving parts to break.......... Sounds like both will have continued problems for a long time to come.

Tesla has mostly solved their early motor issues with coolant leaks and so forth. The aftermarket has moved in to help with the early motors, as well, with coolant bypass kits. There seems to be no ill effects for older Model S owners who have done the coolant bypass.

Perhaps the other manufacturers are still in the teething stage on motor issues.

 

[buster]

One has to wonder when the EV teething problems will be solved. I remember a thread from several months ago where EV advocates were arguing the virtues of EV vehicles vs ICE vehicles. The EV's having far fewer moving parts to break.......... Sounds like both will have continued problems for a long time to come.

Everything breaks, its a matter of what breaks and how often. With significantly less moving parts, EVs theoretically should be less maintenance overall. However they will still have problems like any other vehicle.

 

[JeffKeryk]

@Brons2 I do not follow the Mach-e much. Do you know if your motor failure is an outlier or has this been a recurring problem for Ford?

 

[bdc101]

Would you say it is going to be ... Found On Road Dead?

 

[demarpaint]

Would you say it is going to be ... Found On Road Dead?

A shame really, I gave up on them years ago. Even though I won't own an EV this just reinforces my reasons why not to own another Ford. Kudos to the OP for leasing it.

 

[Cujet]

The hope is that the replacement will have the manufacturing upgrades necessary to ensure reliability. I know that Ford's replacement transmissions (for pickup trucks) nearly always include the latest mods. So they don't have a repeat warranty claim.

 

[The Critic]

A shame really, I gave up on them years ago. Even though I won't own an EV this just reinforces my reasons why not to own another Ford. Kudos to the OP for leasing it.

Given Ford's track record of parts availability, it wouldn't shock me if the motor becomes discontinued after a few years.

The hope is that the replacement will have the manufacturing upgrades necessary to ensure reliability. I know that Ford's replacement transmissions (for pickup trucks) nearly always include the latest mods. So they don't have a repeat warranty claim.

They've already diverted their attention and resources to the next cool model to be released. That seems to be how the Big 3 operate.

 

[alarmguy]

Consumer reports 2025 reliability scores based on consumer survey responses. The Ford Mustang Mach E ranked number one.
1. Mach E number one in reliability, score 93
2. Subaru Solterra - 90
3. Volkswagen. Id4 - 56
4. Honda prologue - 36
5. Hyundai Ioniq5 - 35
6. Kia EV6 -30
7. Tesla Model Y - 30
8. Chevy Blazer - 22

If it helps the OP the electric motor and drive system was rated best five out of five. I’m not defending Ford. I’m just relaying information. I would be very leery after his experience but it seems like it’s not a common issue at all. I’m not sure what year the OP has

Sidenote, I had a nephew who purchased a Mach E I believe in the first production year, possibly the second and it had to be bought back under the NYS lemon law. They just couldn’t get the charging right however he did get another one because he loved the car so much.