In the midst of Might, Ford introduced a recall of round 39,000 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigators from the 2021 mannequin yr on account of fires beginning underneath the hoods of the SUVs. On the time, Ford had acquired 16 incident experiences, 14 of them occurring with rental autos. The automaker cautioned house owners to park their autos exterior and away from constructions whereas engineers discovered what was occurring and methods to repair the issue. Since that Might announcement, 5 extra fires have been reported, 4 of them rental autos, and there is been one burn harm. The corporate introduced it understands the issue and has a repair, on the similar time widening the scope of probably affected autos. As a substitute of recalling 39,013 items constructed between December 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021, the recall now consists of 66,221 autos assembled from July 27, 2020, to Aug. 31, 2021.
The suspected perpetrator is a circuit board supplied by a provider that modified manufacturing location throughout the pandemic. Ford’s press launch on the matter acknowledged that “circuit boards produced at this facility are uniquely vulnerable to a high-current quick.”
The affected autos are fitted with both an 800-watt or 700-watt cooling fan system. A few third of the recalled inhabitants are fitted with the previous, and may get a fast repair on the seller. On these SUVs, techs will examine the battery junction field. In the event that they discover proof of melting, they will exchange the entire field. If not, they will merely take away the engine fan floor wire that runs to the battery junction field; since this floor relay is redundant, the change would not alter operation of the followers.
House owners with the 700-watt system would possibly want to attend till September for a repair. These autos want an auxiliary relay field with a wire jumper, however the elements aren’t out there now.
Ford’s notifying all house owners through the FordPass app, and can observe up with house owners of the 700-watt cooling system as soon as the elements are in inventory. Till their autos are mounted, Ford says the SUVs are secure to drive however that they need to nonetheless be parked exterior and away from constructions. The considerably blended messaging — ‘Sure, your vehicles are secure to drive, however they might catch fireplace so do not park them close to something flammable’ — inspired a gaggle of homeowners to file swimsuit in opposition to Ford.
House owners with questions can contact Ford customer support at 866-436-7332 and reference recall No. 22S36. Or they’ll get in contact with the Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration Automobile Security Hotline at 888-327-4236 (TTY 800-424-9153) and cite marketing campaign quantity 22V346000.
