Ford announces bevy of recalls, 2 of which are recalls on recalls

Tue, 04 Nov 2014

Ford has announced five separate recalls, affecting 202,000 vehicles built between 2005 and 2014.

It's not been a great couple of weeks for Ford. On October 30, the company announced a 205,000-unit recall, and yesterday, it was revealed that the Ford brand's year-over-year sales were down over 5,000 units while the company itself was down 3,000 units over through October. Now, the company has announced five separate recalls affecting 202,000 vehicles built between 2005 and 2014.

The biggest recall covers 135,000 Flex crossovers and F-150 pickups. In these vehicles, an issue with the passenger seat sensor could prevent the airbag from deploying in the event of an accident. The affected Flex CUVs are from model year 2014, and were built from March 1, 2014 to May 31, 2014 at Ford's Oakville Assembly plant. The pickup trucks, meanwhile, were built over the same period at both Ford's Dearborn and Kansas City facilities. Interestingly, in addition to the 2014 pickups, Ford is also recalling certain 2009 to 2014 F-150s that had a seat track assembly repaired between February 17, 2014 and October 31, 2014.

Next on the docket are the 38,600 Panther-platformed vehicles. Those include the 2005 to 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car. Like the F-150, a potentially flawed previous recall repair has precipitated this latest action, which covers a bad repair on the lower intermediate steering shaft. This problem could lead to a sudden loss of steering.

Of all of these recalled vehicles, Ford is only aware of one incident, involving the driver of a Panther-platform sedan.

The Crown Vic and Grand Marquis were built between March 23, 2004 and August 30, 2011, while the Town Cars are split between 2005 to 2007 and 2008 to 2011. The older Lincolns were built at Ford's Wixom, MI factory between March 8, 2004 and June 5, 2007 while the newer Town Cars were screwed together at the same St. Thomas factory as the Ford and Mercury sedans. These cars were built between August 28, 2007 and August 30, 2011.

Ford is also recalling 27,600 Transit Connect vans, built for model year 2014 between August 1, 2013 and July 10, 2014. These vas, fitted with a 2.5-liter engine, are being recalled due to a potentially bad routing for the fuel and vapor lines. The two lines could rub together if they're improperly set up, which in turn could cause a leak, increasing the likelihood of a fire.

Ford's next two recalls are comparatively small. First, we have 960 F-150 pickups from 2014. The trucks are being recalled because their brake lights might not illuminate immediately, and Ford is also warning drivers to avoid using the cruise control, as additional brake pressure might be needed to deactivate it. Blame is being placed on a brake pedal position switch. Trucks built between March 1, 2014 and March 13, 2014 in Dearborn and March 3, 2014 and March 13, 2014 in Kansas City are potentially affected.

The next recall includes 92 Transit vans from model year 2015, all of which are fitted with Ford's 3.2-liter engine and built at Ford's Kansas City facility. In these vehicles, the bracket that holds the fuel filter in place may detach over time, causing a knocking sound or making the van stall. Affected vans were built between July 28, 2014 and August 7, 2014.

Of all of these recalled vehicles, Ford is only aware of one accident, a crash that involved the driver of a Panther-platform sedan. There have been no reports of injuries. Scroll down for the full press release from Ford.

FORD ISSUES FIVE SAFETY RECALLS IN NORTH AMERICA
Ford is issuing five safety recalls in North America. In one instance, there is one accident attributed to a condition. No injuries are attributed in any of these conditions. Details are as follows:

Ford issues safety recall for certain 2014 Transit Connect vehicles in North America for fuel and vapor line routing issue
Ford is issuing a safety recall for approximately 27,600 2014 Ford Transit Connect vehicles in North America (actual 27,597) for potentially incorrect fuel and vapor line routing. If the lines are routed incorrectly, they may rub together, possibly causing a leak in the fuel line over time. A fuel leak in the presence of an ignition source may result in a fire.

Ford is not aware of any accidents, injuries or fires related to this condition.

Affected vehicles include certain 2014 Transit Connect vehicles with a 2.5-liter engine built at Valencia Assembly, Aug. 1, 2013 to July 10, 2014. Ford is aware of 25,238 vehicles in the United States and federalized territories, and approximately 2,359 in Canada.

Dealers will inspect the lines, and reroute and replace the fuel line if necessary. This will be done at no cost to the customer.

Ford issues safety recall for certain 2015 Transit vehicles in North America for potential fuel filter issue
Ford is issuing a safety recall for approximately 90 2015 Ford Transit vehicles in North America (actual 92) for an issue with the bracket that holds the fuel filter to the frame. It may become detached over time, resulting in a knocking sound or an engine stall due to fuel starvation. An unexpected engine stall while driving, with the inability to restart the engine, may lead to an increased risk of a crash.

Ford is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition.

Affected vehicles include certain 2015 Transit vehicles with a 3.2-liter diesel engine built at Kansas City Assembly, July 28, 2014 to Aug. 7, 2014. Ford is aware of 89 vehicles in the United States and three in Canada.

Dealers will inspect the vehicles and reinforce the underbody structure, if necessary. This will be done at no cost to the customer.

Ford issues safety recall for certain 2005-2011 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car vehicles in North America for potentially improper repair in previous recall
Ford is issuing a safety recall for approximately 38,600 2005-2011 Ford Crown Victoria, Mercury Grand Marquis and Lincoln Town Car vehicles in North America (actual 38,645) because they may have been improperly repaired during a previous safety recall for an issue with the lower intermediate steering shaft. This improper repair could potentially result in a loss of steering.

Ford is aware of one accident and no injuries attributed to this condition.

The vehicles being recalled include certain 2005-2011 Ford Crown Victoria vehicles built at St. Thomas Assembly, March 23, 2004 to Aug. 30, 2011; certain 2005-2011 Mercury Grand Marquis vehicles built at St. Thomas Assembly, March 23, 2004 to Aug. 30, 2011; certain 2005-2007 Lincoln Town Car vehicles built at Wixom Assembly, March 8, 2004 to June 5, 2007 and certain 2008-2011 Lincoln Town Car vehicles built at St. Thomas Assembly, Aug. 28, 2007 to Aug. 30, 2011.

Ford is aware of 36,888 vehicles in the United States and federalized territories, and 1,757 in Canada.

Dealers will inspect and replace the upper intermediate steering shaft if necessary. They will also inspect the steering column lower bearing and install a bearing retainer kit if necessary.

Ford issues safety compliance recall for certain 2014 F-150 vehicles in North America for brake pedal position switch issue
Ford is issuing a safety compliance recall for approximately 950 2014 Ford F-150 vehicles in North America (actual 960) for a brake pedal position switch that may be incorrectly adjusted, possibly resulting in a delay or a non-illumination of the brake lights when the brake pedal is depressed. This is a noncompliance issue with FMVSS 108, which relates to lamps.

Drivers may need to use additional brake pressure to disengage the cruise control system, so Ford is advising customers not to use cruise control until the vehicle has been repaired. The cruise control system off switch on the steering wheel will continue to disengage the system.

Ford is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition.

Affected vehicles include certain F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Truck, March 1, 2014 to March 13, 2014 and certain F-150 vehicles built at Kansas City Assembly, March 3, 2014 to March 13, 2014.

Ford is aware of 618 vehicles in the United States and federalized territories, 338 in Canada and four in Mexico.

Dealers will remove and reinstall the brake pedal position switch at no cost to the customer.

Ford issues safety compliance recall for certain 2014 Flex and F-150 vehicles in North America for passenger seat occupant classification sensing issue
Ford is issuing a safety compliance recall for approximately 135,000 2014 Ford Flex and F-150 vehicles in North America (actual 134,947) for a passenger seat sensing issue that could result in non-deployment of the passenger airbag in certain frontal crashes, if an adult is in the passenger seat. This may increase the risk of injury in certain frontal crashes.

Ford is not aware of any accidents or injuries related to this condition.

Affected vehicles include certain 2014 Flex vehicles built at Oakville Assembly, March 1, 2014 to May 31, 2014; certain 2014 F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Truck, March 1, 2014 to May 31, 2014; certain 2014 F-150 vehicles built at Kansas City Assembly, March 1, 2014 to May 31, 2014 and certain 2009-2014 F-150 vehicles serviced with a suspect seat track assembly repaired Feb. 17, 2014 through Oct. 31, 2014.

Ford is aware of 113,418 vehicles in the United States and federalized territories, 19,975 in Canada and 1,554 in Mexico.

Dealers will widen the gap between the manual seat frame and seat track assembly, then calibrate the seat occupant classification system at no cost to the customer.

By Brandon Turkus