The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in the United States said it is worried about the safety of Ford Motor’s recall of more than 42,000 SUVs. There’s a fear that fuel leaks could cause a fire in the engine.
The NHTSA started investigating last month. They want to know if Ford’s plan to fix the problem is good enough. The SUVs affected are the 2022-2023 Bronco Sport and the 2022 Ford Escape with 1.5L engines.
Ford said that a part called a fuel injector might crack and leak fuel. This leak could start a fire under the hood of the car.
Ford wants to fix the issue by updating the engine’s control software and adding a drain. But they don’t plan to replace the fuel injectors that could crack.
The NHTSA wrote a letter to Ford saying that their plan doesn’t solve the main problem. They are worried about the safety of the solution.
They have asked Ford many questions about their plan to fix the issue. Ford has to answer these questions by June 21.
Ford said they are working with the NHTSA to help with the investigation. They have found five fires in the engines of the affected SUVs. However, there have been no reports of accidents or injuries.
The software update Ford plans to do will help the driver know if there’s a problem with the fuel. It will also reduce engine power and lower the chance of a fire starting.
This is not the first time Ford has had to recall cars for this issue. In 2022, they recalled over 522,000 Ford Escape and Bronco Sport vehicles from 2020-2023 for the same reason. They used the same solution to fix the problem.
Ford told the NHTSA in late 2022 that they had received 54 reports of fires in these SUVs. There were also reports of four injuries in two incidents.
