Due to the possibility of a rear axle bolt failure, Ford is issuing a recall for over 238,000 Explorers in the United States. This defect has the potential to result in a loss of drive power or even allow the SUVs to roll away unexpectedly while parked.
The recall was initiated in response to an investigation by U.S. safety regulators, prompted by two complaints indicating that repairs from previous recalls in both the current year and 2022 were ineffective.
Affected are certain Explorers from the 2020 through 2022 model years.
According to documents released on Friday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there is a potential risk of a crash due to the fracture of the rear axle horizontal mounting bolt, which can subsequently lead to the disconnection of the driveshaft.
Starting November 6th, owners will receive a letter notifying them that dealers will be replacing a rubber or rubber-like cushion called a bushing, as well as the rear axle bolt. Additionally, the rear axle cover will be inspected for any damage near the bolt hole, and if any damage is found, the cover will be replaced.
According to Ford’s documents, there have been a total of 396 reported instances of rear axle bolt failures. Out of these cases, less than 5% resulted in power loss or caused the vehicles to roll while parked. Ford has stated that no accidents or injuries related to these issues have been reported to the company.
NHTSA opened its investigation in June after getting complaints alleging loss of power due to failure of rear axle bolts even though the Explorers had received repairs under the previous recalls.
Ford’s solution involved updating the software to activate the parking brake and prevent the vehicles from rolling. However, the agency noted that there was no solution provided for the faulty axle bolt in the documents.
On Friday, Ford announced that it would be conducting service campaigns to replace axle bolts prior to the most recent recall.
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Previous Ford recall over parking brake issues
Ford Motor recalled about 870,000 F-150 pickup trucks in July because of a faulty parking brake that could turn on by itself, causing the driver to lose control. The Michigan automaker fixed the issue on affected trucks brought in to Ford and Lincoln dealerships by consumers, by installing a protective tie strap and tape wrap on the brake wiring as well as replacing the rear axle wiring harness which could be susceptible to chafing resulting in the grounding of circuits.
According to the company records, Ford had a total of 918 warranty claims and three field reports of wire chafing in North America. Among these, 299 cases reported an unforeseen activation of the parking brake, with 19 occurrences happening while the trucks were in motion.
At the time of the recall, Ford announced that there were no reports of crashes or injuries resulting from the issue.
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