NHTSA Opens Defect Petition on Camshaft Claims in 54,787 Ford 7.3L Trucks and Vans

• NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened defect petition DP26011 on October 23, 2026, covering an estimated 54,787 Ford vehicles with the 7.3L gasoline V8.
• The agency’s file counts one incident and zero crashes, fires, injuries or deaths, and the camshaft and lifter claims remain allegations.
• Owners of 2021 and 2022 E-350, 2021 F59 and 2021 F-750 models can check their VIN on the NHTSA recall site, file a complaint after an engine failure and keep every service record.

Is Your Ford Van or Truck Among the 54,787 Vehicles in the Federal File?

Federal safety regulators have opened a formal review of camshaft and lifter failures in the Ford 7.3L gasoline V8, the engine known as Godzilla. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) logged the action as an open defect petition, numbered DP26011, on October 23, 2026. The estimated population is 54,787 vehicles: the 2021 and 2022 Ford E-350, the 2021 F59 and the 2021 F-750.

The file is early-stage. Its failure report summary lists one incident in total, with zero crashes or fires, zero injury incidents and zero fatalities. NHTSA describes the risk as engine failure that could cut off motive power and raise the chance of a crash. The agency has made no finding of a defect, and the file contains no recall order.

The action is a petition review. A petitioner the file does not name asked NHTSA to investigate, and the agency opened the file to evaluate the issue and decide whether to grant or deny that request. For an owner, the practical questions are whether the vehicle is on the list, what the claims say and which steps cost nothing today.

What the NHTSA file says and which vehicles it names

The subject line on the ODI resume reads “Camshaft and Lifter Failure in Ford 7.3L Gasoline Engines.” The manufacturer is Ford Motor Company. The products are the 2021 and 2022 E-350, the 2021 F59 and the 2021 F-750, and the population of 54,787 carries the label “Estimated.” That number sizes the group of vehicles that share the engine and model years. It counts no failures.

ODI received the petition on June 13, 2026. The resume does not name the petitioner. It says the petition itself can be reviewed on NHTSA.gov under ODI number 11764421, so any owner can read the full text of the complaint instead of relying on a summary.

Ford fits the 7.3L to more than the three named products. The F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, F-600 and F-650 use the engine, as does the F-53 chassis sold for motorhomes. Ford introduced the Godzilla family in 2020 and also sells a smaller 6.8L version. The NHTSA resume names none of those models, so DP26011 as written covers only the E-350, F59 and F-750. Whether any later investigation would reach further is a question the file does not answer.

The three named products are work vehicles, which puts fleet operators and small businesses at the front of the line. A shuttle operator, a delivery company or a contractor running a 2021 vehicle on this list has the most at stake, as a vehicle that loses power at highway speed is also a vehicle that stops earning.

The allegation about oil pressure and the idle-speed update

The petitioner makes two claims. The first concerns lubrication. Insufficient oil pressure at low idle, about 6 psi, is said to cause severe wear on the lifter rollers and the camshaft lobes. The petitioner says that wear leads to catastrophic engine failure and a sudden loss of motive power at highway speeds, with little or no warning. Loss of motive power means the vehicle can no longer drive itself forward, which on a highway leaves a driver coasting in traffic.

The second claim concerns Ford. The petition alleges that Ford knew the root cause and released a software calibration patch that raises idle speed to about 1,000 rpm. It alleges the company did not start a public safety recall or notify owners.

Every part of that is an allegation. The NHTSA summary reports what the petition says and carries no response from Ford. It also does not say whether such an update exists, which vehicles would receive it or whether the oil pressure figure holds up in testing. Those answers belong to the technical review the agency conducts next. A reader should hold the claims as unproven until NHTSA or Ford says otherwise.

The idle-speed detail does give owners one concrete question for a dealer. Ask a Ford service department whether any software calibration or technical service communication applies to your VIN, and ask for the answer in writing.

How a defect petition works and what happens next

Petitions run under 49 CFR Part 552, issued under 49 U.S.C. 30111, 30118 and 30162. Any interested person can file one. The rule requires a heading that includes the word “Petition,” facts the filer claims show an order is necessary, a description of the order requested and the filer’s name and address.

After a petition arrives, the responsible Associate Administrator conducts a technical review. That review can analyze the material submitted along with information the agency already holds, collect additional information or call a public meeting announced in the Federal Register. The Administrator then grants or denies the petition, taking into account appropriate factors, among them agency resources, agency priorities and the likelihood of success in litigation over any order. Under 49 CFR 552.8, NHTSA notifies the petitioner of the decision within 120 days after it receives the petition.

Three paths follow. If NHTSA grants the petition, 49 CFR 552.9 says a proceeding to determine whether the defect exists starts with an ODI investigation. If NHTSA denies it, 49 CFR 552.10 requires a Federal Register notice within 45 days of the denial that sets out the reasons. The third path sits outside the petition rules: NHTSA says most recall decisions are made voluntarily by manufacturers before the agency steps in, so Ford could open a recall at any point.

NHTSA says an investigation closes when the agency either notifies the manufacturer of recall recommendations or finds no safety-related defect. If a recall does follow, the manufacturer must repair the problem, replace the part, offer a refund or, in rare cases, repurchase the vehicle. Owners get a first class letter within 60 days of the manufacturer telling NHTSA of its recall decision, and the dealer performs the fix free of charge. The letter also carries any interim safety guidance, which owners should follow.

A recall that reached the repair stage looks like Ford’s F-150 fuel tank recall, covering 223,000 pickups and announced earlier this month. DP26011 has not reached that stage and could end without ever reaching it.

What owners and used-truck buyers should do now

Start with the VIN. The 17-character number sits on the lower left of the windshield, and it also appears on the registration card and sometimes on an insurance card. Enter it on the NHTSA recall page, and the result will say whether the vehicle has an unrepaired recall. A clean vehicle shows the message “0 unrepaired recalls associated with this VIN.” The same lookup flags a recall such as Ford’s headlight recall, and the search takes a VIN or a license plate.

A clean VIN result tells an owner about unrepaired recalls only. To see investigations, complaints and manufacturer communications, search NHTSA by year, make and model instead, for example a 2021 Ford E-350. NHTSA says that route returns general results for all four categories. The VIN search also leaves out recalls already repaired, some recently announced recalls where not every VIN has been identified and recalls by small manufacturers.

Fleet managers can search up to 100 VINs at once. Owners can download the free SaferCar app for iOS or Android and enter the vehicle to receive an alert if a recall is posted, or sign up for general recall alerts by email. NHTSA advises registering the vehicle and checking recalls twice a year.

An engine failure that looks like the one described deserves a complaint. NHTSA accepts them under Report a Safety Problem, adds them to a public database with personal details removed and reviews them. The agency says similar reports from a number of people about the same product could indicate a safety-related defect that would warrant an investigation. One owner’s account of a power loss, with the date, mileage and model year, adds to the public record NHTSA reviews.

Keep paperwork in one folder. Oil change invoices, service orders, repair estimates, tow receipts and any dealer correspondence give a technician, an insurer or a future buyer the history of the engine. If a recall or a goodwill repair does appear, those records show what was done and when.

Used-truck buyers should run the VIN, run the year, make and model search and ask the seller for the service history before paying. The 2021 and 2022 E-350 and the 2021 F59 and F-750 are the named products. A seller with a clean record and a documented dealer visit about the engine gives a buyer a better basis for the price than a vehicle with no paper trail.

Check the petition status now and again. The full text of the petition sits on NHTSA.gov under ODI number 11764421, and a Ford recall will show up in the NHTSA recall tools above. A denial would appear as a Federal Register notice. A recall letter, if one comes, arrives by mail from Ford, so keep the address on the registration current. Owners who want to see what a later stage of an engine probe looks like can read about the NHTSA GM engine probe that now covers nearly 1 million trucks and SUVs.

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