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Ford Recalls Nearly 300,000 Vehicles For Five Separate Issues, Including Suspension, Transmission

By Andrew Galbreath
Published on: 08:37 PST, Apr 28, 2016

Ford Motor Co. said on Wednesday that it will issue five separate safety recalls covering approximately 285,000 vehicles.

Ford is recalling 81,000 sport-utility vehicles to fix a suspension defect and another 201,900 pickup trucks, SUVs, and cars because of a transmission problem linked to at least three accidents as well as three other issues with vehicles sold in North America.

The automaker said in a statement posted on their website that Ford will compensate dealers to inspect the vehicles and give repairs at no cost to the owners affected by the recall. All five recalls were issued in the single press release.

The first recall is the largest, covering approximately 202,000 units of the 2011-2012 Ford F-150 and the 2012 Ford Expedition as well as Ford Mustangs built in Michigan from August 19, 2011, through February 21, 2012, and Lincoln Navigator vehicles built in Kentucky from August 19, 2011, through December 17, 2011. The mostly pickup truck-based recall is due to an issue with the output speed sensor in the transmission’s lead frame that can cause a sudden downshift to first gear, resulting in a drop in speed at the wrong time.

Depending on the speed of the vehicle, this could also cause the rear tires to lock up. The issue affects 6R80 transmission models, and Ford is offering a one-time free replacement of the transmission’s frame to solve the problem. Three accidents have been reported to Ford related to this issue, but no injuries have been reported so far.

The second recall involves 81,000 Ford SUVs from the 2014 and 2015 model years of the Ford Explorer and Ford Police Interceptor Utility. Reports indicate that 75,364 of these are in the United States, and the rest or in Mexico and Canada. The vehicles affected were built at the Chicago Assembly Plant between January 17, 2014, and May 31, 2014. The problem comes from poor welding in their SUV suspension components, as Road Show reports.

“Here, the problem relates to the vehicles’ suspension components. Poor-quality welds can lead to rear suspension toe links that may fracture. Best-case scenario, the broken toe links make some annoying noises. Worst-case scenario, the driver can lose control of the vehicle. The fix involves replacing both right- and left-rear toe links, as well as realigning the rear suspension.”

The suspension issue has caused one reported accident and no injuries, according to Ford.

The Dearborn, Michigan-based multinational automaker also issued three minor recalls on Wednesday, including 2,600 Ford F-Series Super Duty pickup trucks from the 2016 model year — 2,288 are in the U.S. and the rest in Canada and Mexico. The recall was issued due to the tires potentially having incurred sidewall damage from a conveyor belt during the assembly process. This compromises the tire’s integrity and could lead to rapid deflation and potential loss of vehicle control. Dealers will inspect and replace the tires if need be. Ford is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this issue.

Ford’s fourth recall involves 199 units of the 2007 through 2012 Ford Flex, Ford Taurus, Lincoln MKS, and Mercury Sable vehicles to replace the driver-side air bag modules, which may lack an essential chemical for second-stage deployment and could cause the airbag to fail. The company was quick to note this is unrelated to the infamous Takata airbag recall, and will not affect first-stage deployment. These cars were ones built at the Chicago Assembly Plant and Oakville Assembly between December 13, 2007, and October 6, 2011. No accidents or injuries were reported due to this issue. Dealers will simply replace the airbag module to solve it.

For the fifth and final round, Ford will recall about 40 Ford Fusion cars from the 2016 model year to fix an issue with the driver-side seat mountain bracket welding. These were all built in Ford’s Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico from March 10, 2016, to March 16, 2016. Some of them might have a seat track with poor welding, which could possibly lead to the seat becoming detached in the event of a collision. There were no accidents or injuries associated with this issue, and dealers will replace the track seat for free.

Luckily, it seems these problems were caught before anyone was killed; across all five recalls, Ford is aware of only four accidents and a single injury.

[Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images]

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