Ford is recalling about 1.25 million vehicles in four recalls to address a number of issues with a variety of models.
Hitting close to home, the company is recalling 12,000 vehicles in the prairie provinces to address a rear suspension problem. The recall affects 2010-17 Ford Taurus, 2009-17 Ford Flex, 2009-15 Lincoln MKS and 2010-17 Lincoln MKT vehicles for a rear suspension toe link fracture that could loss of vehicle control. The recall is limited to vehicles in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Ford is aware of one report involving minor injuries related to the issue, and is asking owners to return to dealerships where both rear toe links will be replaced with new forged parts.
The problem also affects about 1.23 million Explorers throughout North America, though Ford seems to be separating the two into separate recalls. On Explorer, Ford says that the toe-links are prone to fracture on vehicles encountering full rear suspension articulation (jounce and rebound).
The recall affects 2011-17 Explorers, and Ford is aware of one incident of loss of vehicle control resulting in a minor impact against a curb, not resulting in any injuries.
Of the recalled vehicles, 1.2 million are in the US and federalized territories, 28,000 are in Canada and one is in Mexico.
Dealers will replace both rear toe links with new forged toe links and realign the rear suspension.
Ford is also issuing a couple recalls to deal with powertrain issues. One potentially affects 122,000 2013 Ford F-150s that may need recalibration of their 6-speed automatics. Apparently, an earlier recall meant to reprogram the powertrain control module didn’t have the latest updates to prevent an unintended downshift into first nor the one ensure the necessary warning lights lit up.
Dealerships will take one of two courses of action, either install the updated software on vehicles that had not answered the previous recall, or reprogram the powertrain control module with all the latest software if the vehicles had been affected by the earlier recall.
The recall affects 107,850 in the US and federalized territories and 15,200 in Canada.
The final recall affects 2009-16 Ford Econolines with the 5.4-litre V-8, specifically those prepped with the school bus or ambulance packages. Those vehicles reportedly have a capacitive discharge weld in the coast clutch component. Failure of the weld will cause the transmission to seize and the vehicle to stop abruptly. It appears the issue manifests itself under high torque conditions, such as under acceleration.
Dealers will replace the coast clutch cylinder and the single-engaging coast one-way clutch with a dual-engaging one-way clutch.
The recall affects 3,868 in the US and federalized territories and 445 in Canada.