May 23, 2022—The latest recall announcement from Ford comes with a caveat: owners are being advised to park their vehicles outside and away from structures in case an under-the-hood fire occurs.
According to a press release from Ford, this recall affects some 2021 Ford Expeditions and Lincoln Navigator SUVs that were built over a fourth-month period in late 2020 to early 2021.
There have been 16 reported incidents of under-the-hood fires. As a result, Ford is recalling 39,013 Expeditions and Navigator SUVs. Ford has stated that these fires can occur even when the vehicle is in park and turned off. In fact, 12 of the reported incidents occurred while the vehicle was in that exact position.
Other reports detail that one vehicle was parked and on when the incident occurred and three happened while the vehicle was in motion.
The investigation into these fires started on March 24, 2022. While no cause has been completely determined, Ford does believe that the origin source is in the rear of the engine compartment, located by the vehicle's passenger side.
“We are working around-the-clock to determine the root cause of this issue and subsequent remedy so that customers can continue to enjoy using their vehicles” said Jeffrey Marentic, General Manager, Ford Passenger Vehicles in the press release. “We recognize the importance of staying in touch with our customers until we resolve this matter.”
Ford has not issued any notice to completely stop driving the vehicles under this recall. Ford has not been made aware of any accidents related to these fires, but there has been one reported injury.
The vehicles under the recall were built between December 1, 2020 and April 30, 2021. According to Ford's filings with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there have been no incidents reported with vehicles outside of these manufacture dates.
Affected vehicle owners will be notified soon, as Ford continues to finalize owner names and addresses.
