In one fell swoop, Ford has announced four recalls which impact over 1.3 million vehicles in North America.
The biggest involves 2011-17 Ford Explorers built at the Chicago Assembly Plant between May 17th, 2010 and January 25th, 2017.
According to the automaker, vehicles “exposed to frequent full rear suspension articulation (jounce and rebound) may experience a fractured rear suspension toe link.” This could cause the vehicle to suffer diminished steering control which increases the risk of an accident.
The recall affects approximately 1.2 million Explorers in the United States as well as one in Mexico and nearly 28,000 in Canada. Ford isn’t aware of any injuries related to the recall, but dealers will replace both rear suspension toe links and then align the rear suspension.
The second recall impacts 2013 Ford F-150s equipped with 5.0- and 6.2-liter V8 engines. These models were previously recalled to have their powertrain control module reprogrammed, but Ford says the software used in the previous recall was incomplete. The company says it didn’t provide the necessary changes to “prevent a potential unintended downshift into first gear” or “ensure illumination of the malfunction indicator light in the event of an intermittent transmission output speed sensor signal.”
This recall impacts approximately 107,850 trucks in the United States and roughly 15,200 in Canada.
The third recall targets 2009-2016 Ford Econoline vans equipped with a 5.4-liter engine, a 5R110W transmission and a school bus or ambulance prep package. These models have a “capacitive discharge weld within a coast clutch component in the transmission.” The weld could fail and result in a loss of power.
The recall is relatively small as it impacts 3,868 Econolines in the United States and 445 in Canada.
Last but not least, the company is recalling a number of different models in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Among them are the 2010-2017 Ford Taurus, 2009-2017 Ford Flex, 2009-2015 Lincoln MKS and 2010-2017 Lincoln MKT.
Ford says these models could have a fractured rear suspension toe link like the Explorer. The recall affects approximately 12,000 vehicles and Ford is aware of one crash related to the issue.