Ford Motors is recalling more than 600,000 F-150 trucks due to a major safety concern, Reuters reported Tuesday morning.
The company informed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that in spite of the vehicle’s speed, a signal loss could cause a transmission downshift, the outlet reported. The recall covers 2014 F-150s, and this downshift to the first gear can result in a rear-wheel lockup or potential loss of driver control.
“Before customers experience a downshift to first gear, the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) may illuminate. In some cases, the output shaft signal could recover while driving and the vehicle will resume normal function; in other cases, the vehicle may need to be stopped and restarted to regain normal transmission operation,” a Ford spokesperson told the Daily Caller.
Participating Ford dealerships will provide updates to the vehicles’ “powertrain control module software” that will be available in Q3 of 2024, the spokesperson said. Ford expects that the number of vehicles affected will be less than one percent of the recall population.
Ford is recalling more than 550,000 pickup trucks in the U.S. because the transmissions can unexpectedly downshift to first gear no matter how fast the trucks are going. https://t.co/6D4hNSWVea pic.twitter.com/SOO3E0rsZm
— WCNC Charlotte (@wcnc) June 25, 2024
Ford cited 96 field reports, 124 customer complaints, 300 warranty reports and two injury claims related to 482 different 2014 F-150s. Each complaint involved an unexpected transmission downshifting, according to Reuters.
Ford has recalled other F-150 models for similar issues in the past. In 2016, 153,000 2011-2012 F-150s were recalled because of a similar issue, Reuters reported. The recall developed into a 2017 NHTSA probe that led to Ford expanding their recall in 2019 to nearly 1.5 million trucks, including many 2013 F-150 models.
Yet another recall was issued later in 2019 that included 107,000 more 2013 F-150s, the outlet reported.
Ford and the NHTSA have been meeting regarding this continued issue since March and agreed to issue this new recall. Despite this, Ford claims that the rate of complaints regarding the 2014 model is lower than the three previously recalled ones.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include additional information about the recall a Ford spokesperson provided to the Caller.
