Ford CP4 Lawsuit: Costs, Case Status, and 2024 Recall

The Ford CP4 lawsuit is an active class action accusing Ford of selling 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel trucks equipped with a Bosch high-pressure fuel pump that is incompatible with American diesel fuel and prone to catastrophic failure. The lead case, Droesser v. Ford Motor Company, has survived Ford’s motions to dismiss and remains pending in the Eastern District of Michigan as of mid-2026, with no settlement reached and no trial date publicly set.¹

Which Ford Trucks Are Involved

The litigation targets Ford Super Duty trucks with the 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel engine, model year 2011 to the present. That covers F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550, and larger Super Duty trucks sold with the Power Stroke diesel option over more than a decade of production.²

What the Lawsuit Says Is Wrong With the Pump

Plaintiffs claim the Bosch CP4 fuel injection pump was designed for European diesel, which is more lubricating than the Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel (ULSD) sold in the United States. U.S. regulations require sulfur to be stripped from diesel fuel, and that process also strips out natural lubricity. According to the complaints, the CP4 cannot generate enough internal lubrication on American fuel, so its metal components grind against each other and shed microscopic shavings into the fuel system.³

Once the shavings enter the system, they circulate through the injectors, fuel rails, fuel lines, and eventually the engine, until the truck suffers what plaintiffs describe as “sudden and cataclysmic” failure.² Owners have reported engines shutting off while driving, trucks refusing to restart, and violent shaking accompanied by reduced-power warnings.³

The complaints go further. They allege Ford knew the CP4 was incompatible with U.S. diesel before putting it into production, chose it anyway to improve fuel efficiency, and then denied warranty claims by blaming “contaminated or substandard fuel” — a characterization plaintiffs call fraudulent.³

What a Failure Costs

When a CP4 lets go, the damage rarely stays contained to the pump. Owners typically end up replacing the high-pressure pump ($1,000–$3,000), the full set of injectors ($2,000–$5,000), fuel rails and lines ($500–$2,000), and sometimes the fuel tank ($500–$2,000), plus $1,500 to $4,000 or more in labor.⁴ Total repair bills of $8,000 to $20,000 have been reported across the lawsuits.³

Plaintiffs argue that a standard repair does not actually fix the problem. As long as the truck keeps running on U.S. diesel, the replacement CP4 faces the same incompatibility, which they say leaves owners cycling through expensive repairs.² Some owners have turned to aftermarket CP3 conversion kits or “disaster prevention” filtration kits meant to catch metal debris, though neither is part of any factory-authorized remedy.

Where the Case Stands

The lead active case is Droesser v. Ford Motor Company in the Eastern District of Michigan (Case No. 2:19-cv-12365). In March 2023, Judge Bernard A. Friedman issued a 65-page order denying the bulk of Ford’s motion to dismiss the Second Amended Complaint, allowing claims for economic loss, unjust enrichment, and multiple state consumer protection violations to move forward. The court wrote that “a standard road vehicle must be able to provide safe and reliable transportation and be substantially free of defects.”² The case is now assigned to Judge Laurie Jill Michelson, and the docket shows activity as recent as May 5, 2026.¹

Ford lost a similar dismissal fight earlier in Texas. In Stevens v. Ford Motor Company (S.D. Tex., Case No. 2:18-cv-00456), Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in November 2020 dismissed the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claims but let fraudulent concealment, Texas Deceptive Practices Act, and other claims proceed. She rejected Ford’s argument that the CP4 defect amounted to a “mere inconvenience,” calling the risk of high-speed engine stalls a significant safety concern.⁵ The Stevens case was terminated in March 2023.⁶ A later Michigan case, Clark v. Ford, was dismissed by stipulated order in April 2026 after Ford moved for summary judgment.⁷

Ford has denied that the pump is defective and, in warranty disputes, has attributed failures to contaminated or substandard fuel used by the owner.³ There is no public indication Ford has entered settlement talks.² Bosch, which made the pump, has not been named as a defendant in the Ford cases.⁸

The 2024 Recall Is Narrower Than the Lawsuit

In December 2024, Ford authorized Recall 24S78 (NHTSA ID 24V957000) covering about 295,449 trucks: 2020–2022 Super Duty models (F-250 through F-600) and 2021–2022 F-650 and F-750 trucks with 6.7-liter diesel engines built between February 2019 and August 2021.⁹ Ford blamed “aged biodiesel deposits” that formed on pump roller components during the COVID-19 pandemic, when fuel sat in storage for extended periods. By November 2024 the company had logged 3,070 warranty reports, 498 field reports, and 58 customer service reports on the pumps.¹⁰

The remedy is a free powertrain control module software update at Ford dealerships, intended to prevent deposit buildup. Ford also began producing a redesigned pump with larger internal clearances in August 2021.⁹ Two things to keep in mind. The recall covers only three model years, not the full 2011-and-later range at issue in the lawsuits. And when NHTSA asked Ford in December 2021 about competitor recalls involving the same Bosch pump, Ford responded that it had not identified an “unreasonable risk to motor vehicle safety.”¹⁰

The GM Settlement Does Not Cover Ford Owners

A separate class action against General Motors over the same Bosch CP4 pump reached a $50 million settlement in May 2025. In Chapman v. General Motors LLC (Case No. 2:19-cv-12333), U.S. District Judge Terrence G. Berg granted final approval on May 6, 2025.² Of that fund, $30 million reimbursed class members who paid out of pocket for CP4 repairs, with estimated payments of $6,356 to $12,712; another $5 million went to former owners who never paid for a repair, with estimated payments of $400 to $800. The settlement also created a one-year program covering 50% of future CP4 repair costs at GM-authorized dealerships.¹¹ Initial distribution payments went out on March 23, 2026.¹²

The GM settlement is entirely separate from the Ford litigation. It covers only 2011–2016 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra diesel trucks with 6.6-liter Duramax engines purchased in seven states. Ford owners are not eligible for any part of it.² The same three plaintiffs’ firms — Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Hilliard Martinez Gonzales LLP, and The Miller Law Firm — represent owners in both actions, and the underlying defect theory is the same, but a Ford resolution has not followed.

1
CourtListener. Droesser v. Ford Motor Company
2
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP. CP4 Fuel Pump Defect: GM and Ford
3
ClassAction.org. Ford Diesel Fuel Pump Problem Lawsuits
4
Pure Diesel Power. CP4 Failure Cost Breakdown
5
PR Newswire. Federal Judge Rejects Ford Motor Company’s Arguments to Dismiss CP4 Fuel Pump Defect Class Action
6
CourtListener. Stevens v. Ford Motor Company
7
CourtListener. Clark v. Ford Motor Company
8
U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation. MDL No. 2919 Order Denying Transfer
9
Wards Auto. Ford Recalls 295K Super Duty Trucks for High-Pressure Fuel Pump Failures
10
NHTSA. Ford Recall 24S78 Safety Report
11
GM Fuel Pump Litigation Settlement Website. Frequently Asked Questions
12
GM Fuel Pump Litigation Settlement Website. Chapman v. General Motors LLC Settlement