- Ford Super Duty trucks powered by the 6.7-liter diesel V8 may be affected by a fuel leak near the engine.
- NHTSA has received 27 complaints from customers, 12 of whom reported fires which led to four injuries.
- The safety regulator believes that a crack in the vehicles’ secondary fuel filters may be to blame for this issue.
Federal regulators in the U.S. are looking into complaints that Ford Super Duty trucks powered by the 6.7-liter diesel V8 engine could suffer a fuel leak. What is particularly concerning is that the seepage may occur close to hot components, increasing the odds of a fire.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that a total of 210,960 Ford F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 Super Duty trucks may be at risk of experiencing this fuel leak. So far, the organization has received 27 complaints from customers alleging that they experienced this issue, 12 of whom claimed that a fire occurred because of it, which led to four injuries.
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The consumers say that the fire started in the engine compartment, and the NHTSA says that the problem may be related to a fracture in the secondary fuel filter housing in vehicles from the 2015 to 2021 model years.
The regulator reached out to Ford’s filter manufacturer, Allevard Sogefi USA, and was told that the low pressure fuel system is capable of running at a maximum of 8.5 Bar (123 PSI), while the secondary fuel filter had only been tested to 7 Bar (101.5 PSI) during the manufacturing process.
Fortunately, a change in the manufacturing process means that model year 2022 trucks shouldn’t be affected by this leak and, indeed, NHTSA reports a lack of complaints for later model vehicles.
The regulatory agency has opened a Preliminary Evaluation to determine how severe this problem is, and to fully assess its impact on the safety of road users. Earlier this week, NHTSA also raised “significant safety concerns” over the efficacy of a recall Ford implemented to solve a fuel leak in the Bronco Sport and Escape. Again, a risk of fire has the regulator worried about driver safety.
