There are 3 owner-reported engine complaints for the 2020 Lincoln Navigatorin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
Regularly maintained 2020 Lincoln Navigator at 78,000 miles experienced engine failure with no warning. No check engine light until we experienced power issues and engine shuttering. We took the vehicle directly to the mechanic within an hour of check engine light. They changed the oil and said to go to the dealer. Dealer assessed the vehicle as follows: Bottom end failure of the short block which caused a knocking noise. Confirmed metal debris in the engine oil. Seals failed and leakage occurred. Recommend complete engine replacement. This is the same issue occurring in newer models. Recalls and class action lawsuits filed due to this exact issue. This is premature engine failure requiring complete engine replacement on a 5-year-old vehicle. Major safety concern since the engine can seize up at any time. Imagine going 70 miles per hour down the highway and your engine seizes up with semi trucks around you, and your entire family is in the vehicle. This is beyond unacceptable. Now Lincoln expects us to pay $15,000+ for a new engine. Federal and state oversight organizations are created and funded by our taxpayer dollars to stop these problems and hold these manufacturers accountable. Please do something about this failure.
Catastrophic engine failure on 2020 Lincoln Navigator at 93,000 miles. Oil contamination in cylinder 6 caused complete compression loss due to piston ring failure. The engine suffers from failed cam phases and excessive carbon build up which are known failure points of this engine. Ford Technical Service Bulletins 20-2423 and 23-2143 document this as a known manufacturing defect for vehicles in my build timeframe, proving Ford was aware of this problem before production. This is premature engine failure requiring complete engine replacement on a 5-year-old vehicle. The failure pattern matches ongoing class-action lawsuits against Ford for EcoBoost engine defects. Safety concern: Catastrophic engine failure without warning while driving creates risk of sudden loss of power and potential accidents. Lincoln customer service has admitted these vehicles have this issue but refused escalation despite documented manufacturing defect and broken multiple callback promises. Request NHTSA investigation into 2020 Lincoln Navigator 3.5L EcoBoost engines for premature piston ring/compression failures related to carbon buildup and failed cam phasers as documented in Ford's own service bulletins.
Vehicle will abruptly lose power when accelerating to pass. Typically when travelling between 40 and 60 miles an hour and while accelerating to merge or pass. Vehicle basically stalls. Creates extremely dangerous situation.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026