Ford Recalls F-250s Over Roll-away Issue and Just About Everything With a 1.6-liter Ecoboost for Fires
Ford Motor Company is recalling F-250 pickup trucks sold in North America due to the potential for roll-aways after the vehicle’s automatic transmission is placed in park. This is the third major recall announced by Ford in the last few days. The other two were due to engine fires in 1.6-liter Ecoboost models and faulty door latches on Fiestas, Fusions, and Lincoln MKZs.
The at-risk trucks include 52,600 2017 model year F-250 trucks equipped with 6.2-liter gasoline engines produced at its Louisville, Kentucky assembly plant. So far, Ford has said it is unaware of any injuries or accidents caused by the roll-away issue, though it urges owners to visit their dealer at the earliest opportunity.
It’s important to note this isn’t a matter of driver error, like FCA’s massive recall of confusing electronic gear selectors in 2016. Instead, the F-Series Super Duty has a plain-Jane column-mounted shifter suffering from a mechanical issue.
Last Wednesday, Ford recalled 231,000 vehicles due to a potential fire hazard. The affected models all possess the company’s turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four engine. Recalled models include the 2013-2014 Fusion, 2014-2015 Fiesta ST, 2013-2015 Transit Connect, and 2014 Escape.
The fire risk comes as a result of poor coolant circulation. Overheating could lead to a cracked block and subsequent oil leak that could ignite. Ford has received reports of 29 fires in North America thus far, but none have resulted in injuries or death.
While no specific reason was given as to why coolant might not be circulating, it might be because you don’t have any. A notification sent out to owners mentioned a replacement coolant level sensor and urged customers to check fluid levels and refill if necessary. Once the replacement part is widely available, Ford says it will notify owners to bring in their vehicles.
[Source: Reuters] [Image: Ford Motor Co.]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Haven't these already been recalled for this before? I remember when the then-new 2013 Escape was under a stop-sale for fire risks when we were CUV shopping in late 2012. I was wanting to look at the CX-5, and the salesman of the Ford-Mazda dealer kept showing us an Escape. I finally said "No, these like to catch on fire, or so I've read." He looked at me wide-eyed as if to say "How did you know that?" Thankfully, the next time we returned, we had a different salesman which was happy to show us the CX-5. Which we bought.
Well, since the the fix seems to involve a replacement coolant level sensor, it may just be that the faulty one used on turbo engines is different than the ones used on non-turbo engines (which seems like that might be the case, since the non-turbo version of this engine used in the mainstream Fiesta is not mentioned in the recall), and that if the NA versions of the engine (or any NA engine) would crack their blocks also if run with no coolant. Maybe - ? No. Because turbocharger = bad. Apparently reading comprehension = bad also.