A judge recently gave a partial green light to a class action lawsuit involving 2011-2023 Ford trucks equipped with 6.7L Power Stroke diesel engines. The plaintiffs allege that defective high-pressure diesel fuel pumps can cause failures requiring repairs of $9,000 or more, a figure discussed in the September 30 class-certification order. That is an alleged repair cost, not compensation awarded by the court.
Droesser v Ford
Ford Motor Company is named as the defendant in a suit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division. The plaintiffs had sought to elevate their case to class action status, which the judge granted on a partial basis on Wednesday. The suit alleges that Ford knowingly built the 6.7L Power Stroke diesel engine with a high pressure fuel pump that was unsuitable for use with diesel fuel sold in the United States. Per the September 30 class-certification order, a class action suit will proceed in five US states – California, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina.
Power Stroke Woes
At the heart of the lawsuit is the popular 6.7L Power Stroke diesel, which Ford has used in numerous trucks over the course of the past 15 years including the F-250 and F-350 Super Duty models. The lawsuit alleges that the high-pressure fuel pump used in the Power Stroke can introduce metal shavings into the engine, eventually leading to catastrophic engine failure. In the court’s companion summary-judgment order, Ford argued that some customers claiming damage allegedly failed to replace dirty fuel filters, and others used “allegedly abusive amounts” of DEF, poor diesel fuel, and diesel additives.
Diesel Lubricity and the Bosch CP4 – Built for America?
The 6.7L Power Stroke diesel engines cited in the case use a Bosch CP4 high pressure fuel pump. At question is whether this pump is appropriate for use with the ultra-low sulfur diesel commonly sold in the United States. The CP4 is designed to be lubricated by the fuel it pumps and diesel fuel sold in Europe has a higher lubricity than the fuel sold in the US, a fact pointed out in the court order issued on September 30th by the district judge. While there is a secondary fuel filter in the Power Stroke designed to capture debris flowing from this pump to the injection rails, this would not prevent the pump itself from being damaged due to lack of sufficient lubrication. However, Ford maintains that replacement of the filter at recommended intervals would prevent the catastrophic engine failure alleged by the plaintiffs.
Recalls
There have been two NHTSA recalls in the past two years specifically directed at the CP4 fuel pump – 24V957 (Ford 24S78) and 26V158 (Ford 26S17). These are the NHTSA and Ford identifiers for the same two campaigns. However, 24V957 and 24S78 address issues with biodiesel deposit buildup in the CP4 that can lead to failure, not the issue of low sulfur diesel and its lack of lubricity. The fix in that case was a software update that increased pump cooling. Recalls 26V158 and 26S17 follow up on the biodiesel deposit issues originally addressed in 24V957 and 24S78. While these recalls both address fuel pump failures, none address the issues raised by the lawsuit and there do not appear to be any other safety recalls that deal with the failures described in Droesser v Ford.
Ford is not the only truck maker to face CP4 pump complaints. In the separate Chapman v. General Motors case, a judge approved a $50 million settlement on May 6, 2025, involving certain 2011-2016 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks with the 6.6L Duramax diesel. The settlement covered qualifying purchases from GM-authorized dealers in seven states. Eligibility and payment details are available on the official GM fuel-pump settlement website.
Ram’s response included a safety recall. NHTSA recall 21V-880, also known as Y78, covered 222,410 model-year 2019-2020 Ram heavy-duty pickups and chassis-cab trucks equipped with the 6.7L Cummins diesel. A pump failure could send debris through the fuel system and cause a loss of power. The recall repair instructions call for replacing the high-pressure fuel pump and addressing fuel-system contamination where needed. This was a recall, separate from GM’s settlement and the ongoing Ford lawsuit.
Other CP4 fuel pump class action lawsuits
The CP4 dispute extends beyond Ford and the GM settlement described above. Other owners have brought proposed class actions against Nissan, FCA and Cummins. Filing a proposed class action does not mean a court has certified a class or found the manufacturer liable.
In Stanley v. Nissan North America and Cummins, owners of 2016-2019 Nissan Titan XD diesel trucks allege CP4 pump defects. Plaintiffs’ counsel currently lists the case as active, and a 2024 court ruling allowed some claims to proceed. That ruling recounts one owner’s allegation that he received a $22,000 repair quote after a pump failure. It does not establish that amount as a typical repair bill or an award to owners.
Withrow v. FCA concerns CP4 failures alleged by owners of a diesel Ram 1500 and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The court allowed some claims to survive a dismissal motion in 2021, and a January 2023 order described the proposed class action as being in discovery. We have not confirmed its latest disposition or a settlement.
Ram heavy-duty owners also brought Sharp v. FCA and Cummins, primarily involving 2019-2020 trucks with the 6.7L Cummins diesel. The court granted the defendants’ dismissal motions in October 2022. We have not verified a later reversal or revival of that case, so it should not be described as an active certified class action. This lawsuit was separate from Ram’s Y78 fuel-pump recall.
What’s Next?
Wednesday’s order merely certifies the class action status of the case in five states; it offers no judgement on Ford’s culpability for the alleged issues. The order also appointed law firms Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Hilliard Law, and The Miller Law Firm P.C. to act as class counsel in the case. For background, see our reporting on the NHTSA Bosch CP4 investigation and the separate GM CP4 class action. With the order in place the next step is for the case to go to trial. A date has not been set but we will continue to monitor this case and provide updates.
