Today Ford announced that it was starting a round of four separate recalls across its various products. The recalls together total nearly 600,000 different vehicles. The first recall covers the 2015 Lincoln MKZ, whose parking lights are apparently brighter than US regulations allow. Not a major issue, and no crashes have been reported.
The second recall covers Ford’s new aluminum F-150 pickup truck. It appears that a few trucks managed to get off the assembly line with their underbody heat shields missing or not properly installed. This creates a potential hazard for fire, but thankfully less than 100 trucks are affected by this issue.
Number three for Ford is a fuel pump problem that affects the Focus, Edge, Escape and Transit models from 2014 and the Fiesta from 2014 and 2015. The problem lies in the internal coating of some parts in the pump. They are coated in a nickel to prevent corrosion, but it seems the coating was not applied correctly and it can come off in the pump causing damage internally. This recall covers nearly 50,000 cars.
The final piece of this recall puzzle is the big one. Ford is recalling 518,313 Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ and Ford Edge models. The Fusion and MKZ recall covers cars from 2013 to 2015, while the Edge is for 2015 only. Ford is reporting that cars in the snow belt are experiencing corrosion to steering gear motor attachment bolts. A failure here would cause the power steering system to cease functioning. The car will still be drivable, but all the power assist would be gone.
In the end Ford is only claiming one accident and zero injuries have been reported due to these defects. If you are concerned your car may have been recalled, feel free to give your local dealer a quick ring.
