The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is investigating Ford Motor Co. following allegedly faulty repairs the company made during a 2022 recall.
In 2022, Ford recalled more than a quarter-million SUVs in the United States over issues with rear axle mounting bolts being susceptible to fracturing. In certain circumstances, these fractured bolts led to dislodged drive shafts, resulting in erratic vehicle behavior and vehicles rolling away while parked.
To address the issue, Ford implemented a software update meant to trigger the electronic parking brake if drive shafts became disconnected from fractured mounting bolts.
While Ford’s software update was intended to solve the problem, complaints from two 2021 Explorer owners claim the software update actually caused unexpected and unprompted behavior from the vehicle, such as slamming to a complete stop while in motion at speeds of 30 to 40 mph, or lurching forward while parked when the driver disengaged the electronic brake, Fox 4 reported.
Ford said that no major injuries have been reported from fracturing in the rear axle mounting bolts and that the company was working closely with NHTSA on the matter.
However, one of the vehicle owners who submitted a complaint to the NHTSA reportedly struck a utility pole after their SUV’s drivetrain became disengaged.
Ford SUVs affected by the original recall included certain 2020-2022 Explorers with 2.3-liter engines and hybrids with 3-liter and 3.3-liter gas engines. Other Ford-branded SUVs recalled, according to NHTSA, included the 2020-2021 Explorer Police hybrids.
As reported previously by The Dallas Express, Ford Motor Co. has also recalled nearly 1 million trucks due to an omission in the owner’s manual, as well as 125,000 Escape, Corsair, and Maverick trucks in the United States, following 23 incidents of smoke or fire.
Besides the numerous vehicle recalls plaguing the legacy automotive manufacturer, Ford also announced Tuesday that it would begin laying off engineers and other salaried employees in the United States and Canada to trim costs.
