A bad day for Ford: Four recalls and two investigations

Automakers have issued recalls related to fuel and oil leaks and random airbag deployments, and are under investigation for seat belt and battery failures

When you sell nearly 2 million cars, trucks and SUVs each year, it’s inevitable that some reliability issues will arise. But now we’re barely halfway through November, and Ford has already issued four recalls, and NHTSA has announced it’s investigating two more issues at the automaker.

All four recalls were issued on the same day, although they involve different issues and affect different vehicles. The first is to check the fuel line, which may not have enough clearance from the bracket holding the fuel line, which could cause the line to break, leak fuel and create a fire risk. Ford’s high-tech solution for the 65 affected 2024 Ranger trucks is to have dealers secure the lines with ties.

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Another fire risk comes from misaligned engine cup plugs, which can cause oil leaks in 2,418 2024-2025 F-150, 2024 Expedition and 2024 Lincoln Navigator vehicles. This time the dealer will check the plug for alignment but only replace it if necessary.

The largest recall is far more serious in terms of the number of cars affected (27,678), although the fault poses a much smaller threat to occupant safety as it only involves a missing dashboard airbag warning label. But by law, the label must be present, so Ford is bringing various 2020-2025 Explorer, Lincoln Aviator, 2020-2024 Escape, Lincoln Corsair and 2018-2024 F-150, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models back to dealers for the application.

Also related to airbags, but of greater concern is the fact that 15 units of the 2024-25 Ford Escape had the instrument panel (pictured below) that may not have been manufactured correctly, preventing the passenger airbag from deploying. These crossovers will come with a new dashboard cover.

That’s it for now with Ford’s recalls, but don’t be surprised if more come up soon. A week after Ford issued four recalls, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed it is launching two investigations into Blue Oval vehicles. One involves unexpected deployment of seatbelt pretensioners, an issue Ford has previously issued a recall for, but NHTSA believes it could also affect the 2019-20 Expedition, which was not included for the first time.

The second investigation also addresses issues for which Ford has issued a recall, specifically the degradation of the 12-volt battery. While this doesn’t sound too dangerous, it can happen suddenly while driving, causing a loss of engine power in addition to the lights disappearing. Earlier this year, Ford recalled 456,565 2021-2024 Bronco Sport and 2022-2023 Mavericks, but now some Bronco Sport owners who did receive a Ford software update fix say they are still experiencing battery issues.