NHTSA Raises Safety Concerns over Ford Fuel Leak Recall for Bronco Sport and Escape SUVs

According to recent developments, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has expressed significant safety concerns regarding Ford Motor’s recall of almost 43,000 Bronco Sport SUVs and Escape SUVs from the 2022 and 2023 model years, as well as those from 2022 with 1.5-liter engines. The recall stems from the discovery that fuel injectors may crack, causing gas or vapor to leak near hot engine components that might ignite fires, produce fuel odors, and raise the likelihood of injuries. In an April 25 correspondence with Ford, which NHTSA disclosed on Thursday, the organization stated that the remedy programme proposed by Ford did not address the root cause of the issue and failed to recommend the proactive replacement of defective fuel injectors before they failed. NHTSA indicated that the remedy programme suggested by Ford during the earlier recall of around 522,000 Bronco Sports and Escapes in 2022 was identical. Ford, however, claimed that it wasn’t proposing that the SUVs be left unattended outside because there wasn’t any evidence that fires occurred while the cars were stationary and the motors were switched off. By June 21st, Ford must submit all necessary data to NHTSA. Depending on the findings of the investigation, NHTSA has the authority to demand further corrective action to rectify the fuel leak issue. Ford has reported five incidents of under-hood fires and 14 instances of fuel injector replacements under warranty, but no reports of accidents or injuries, according to previous correspondence. The issue appears only in roughly 1% of the affected vehicles, according to Ford.