Last June, a lawsuit was filed by a handful of 2021 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator owners after those vehicles were recalled for underhood fires, and later amended after those owners found Ford’s fix for that issue to be inadequate. Then, this past November, The Blue Oval issued recalls for 2021-2023 Ford Bronco Sport and 2020-2022 Ford Escape models equipped with the turbocharged Ford 1.5L I-3 EcoBoost engine after it found that a fuel injector may crack and leak fuel inside the engine compartment, which could cause a fire as well. To fix the problem, Ford instructed dealers to update the engine control software to include fuel injector leak detection and install a drain tube. However, that didn’t go over well with some, and now, a lawsuit has been filed over this issue, too.
The lawsuit – filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan – claims that FoMoCo violated consumer protection laws by selling vehicles equipped with faulty fuel injectors that can cause spontaneous fires and subsequently neglected to implement an appropriate fix. Thus far, 54 fires have been reported in affected Ford Escape and Bronco Sport models, with 17 of those incidents confirmed to have been caused by a cracked fuel injector.
Plaintiffs in the case allege that Ford knew or should have known about this defect before the vehicles ever went to market, and that it took steps to deliberately conceal the defect. Once Ford did issue a recall, the lawsuit claims that the automaker failed to provide its customers with any sort of meaningful solution, leaving them with vehicles that pose serious environmental and safety hazards.
“An automaker’s number one priority should always be safety,” said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman. “A defect that results in fire is intolerable and once Ford became aware of fires, Ford should have made full disclosure of the fire risk before selling any more cars or just stopped selling. Ford’s response to the fallout of this dangerous defect is inadequate. Ford can’t just add a hose to divert fuel out to the ground and call that a fix for a faulty fuel injector. It had a responsibility to respond immediately and be transparent with consumers as soon as it became aware of reports of fires. Instead, it chose to hide the truth from its customers and flout the terms of its own warranty.”
We’ll have more on this and all pending Ford lawsuits soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for the latest Ford lawsuit news and ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
Once again, Americans are still stuck on stupid. Ford is the dumbest auto maker selling automobiles today. How can they live with themselves knowing that they are putting peoples lives and homes at risk but rather be quite. If I was the court system, I would force Ford to offer a buy back program and stop selling vehicles period. They need to give up. Since the beginning of them making vehicles they have always made poor quality vichles.
While we do have an issue that seriously needs to be resolved, you’re clearly here as a troll. Yup, come on a Ford-oriented page to suggest Ford should just close its doors and quit. Such a well thought-out solution clearly comes from a fanboy of another manufacturer.
Clearly you are bias and sleep. If you used your common sense at all, you would clearly see a company such as Ford that does not care about their customers at all. How could a company create faulty products for decades and still tries to sweep it under the rug. American companies are well known for caring about profit first before quality, for is well known for it. All foreign vehicle are built so much better than Ford. Leap and bounds beyond Ford. Look at Kia Motors, they use to be the worst in the industry. Look at that company today. They are number two as the most reliable brand second Lexus. So, while you think calling me a troll is necessary, you obviously are not wise nor aware which does not look good at all. You and all of the other people who are sadly trying to get attention based off my comment.
Whatever you feel the desire to say, my proof is in alignment to the reality of Fords constant recalls and awareness that they are suffering from quality issues. They even hired someone from JD.Powers to try and address there disaster of quality concerns. If you clearly understood that, it says a lot, meaning Ford themselves could not get it right. Who cares to purchase a vehicle just for it to continuously be recalled or even burn to ashes? Dude, wake up or stay sleep.
Clearly nothing.
We send our greetings to you in Korea.
I own a 2014 KIA Forte. Are you aware of the numerous recalls for fires and the sheer number of fires? Are you aware they covered it up for over a decade and are still having these fires occur today after their so called recall fix? Are you aware of all the Nissan Coverups? To completely ignore Asian brand recalls and coverups is for you to be “asleep” All manufactures prioritize money and do cheap fixes. And yes, Foreign parts do break, Something you claim doesnt happen. Do we need to get into the whole Airbag issues? OR Nissan CVTS?
Wow! You use Kia as a example of a well built quality vehicle? That’s funny!
Oh,ok. You did not prove not one thing other than how bias you are. You people are just bias but think it is being intelligent once again keep sleeping. It is humanly impossible for you to think you make any sense at all when Ford themselves finally came to a conclusion that they had to hire a quality expert to get in control of their quality issues. If you were aware and honest, you would not want to purchase a vehicle just to have it to be of poor quality and constantly being recalled. I like Ford and because they keep hiding issues and producing poor quality vehicles, year after year is just sad. I want to see this company soar but I will not allow myself to be stupid. My comments are true whether if you can understand them or not. Wake up sir. I come here with hope that good things are coming just to see bad things, over and over.
Alexander..have you considered that maybe the problem is foreign made products?.. Maybe poorly made steel, plastics and any other ingredients in a Ford vehicle may be the real issue here.
R.H. As much as I like to brush back the bad faith trolls, I don’t think foreign source materials are the most likely root cause. That may play a part but I think we will see that something shifted due to pandemic era constraints (either with or without Ford’s SREA approval and the hardware design wasn’t robust enough to tolerate it.). I’m going to have to go back to the 573 to see what happened.
But in any case, it still is the responsibility of Ford to vet its supply base.
But I have confidence Ford will get a handle on these things.
Not to be rude at all, but that is impossible to say foreign when there are so many other brands who use foreign suppliers to produce their parts, etc and yet they are of quality. What it is, Ford designed their vehicles to continue to keep them in the service departments for profit. Ford need to hire better engineers, and be honest when they catch major flaws and correct them before mass production.
That’s nonsense that they are designed to need more service; especially in the case of injectors causing underwood fires.
You are clearly trolling from some foreign location given your stilted English grammar. (Good but clearly not native.)
PS, for A.O. Below:
I’m awake enough to know this:
consumerreports.
org/cars/car-recalls-defects/why-so-many-hyundai-kia-vehicles-get-recalled-for-fire-risk-a1169940635/
Lol, oh, ok. Your opinion will always be overthrown by the facts and customer’s satisfaction, better yet, Ford themselves. I don’t have to say anything else. If you wake up, you would be living in the real word. 😀😀😀
funny how some people think fords are bad but Toyota hides recalls and defects but that’s ok
Obviously you are just a biased Ford hater, troll somewhere else, I own three Fords including the Bronco Sport, only had it a little over a year and I love it, good performance, very good gas mileage, I can live with the recall
Every automaker has problems, but Fords solution to this one was ubsurd. How the EPA would even allow a solution of draining gas onto the ground is beyond me. In the long run, it would have been cheaper to simply install re-engineered fuel injectors, and better yet discontinue the crap 3 cylinder and move toward more 4 cylinder/hybrid powertrains.
Bad injectors don’t care how many cylinders are in an engine.
As for the hose, there could be so little gas blow-by that only dilute vapor (below the threshold for combustion) escapes once the software update is in place.
But to be honest, the whole thing is strange, because why would the injectors be pressurized to any pressure greater than that needed to do their job. I’m going to go read the 573 and report back.
From the 573: <1% of vehicles have this problem. The injectors come from an Italian supplier. The software fix doesn't lower the system pressure, it just makes the system capable of recognizing a pressure drop if an injector crack happens, so that the high-pressure fuel pump is cut off, and the driver is alerted to seek service. The hose is to route any leak away from surfaces hot enough to flash liquid fuel into flame. The system gets a 15-year extended warranty.
What I would like to see is Ford's 8D, that explains what is wrong with 1% of the injectors, and what they looked into and what was found. That piece of the puzzle we don't get.
What I see as extremely odd, is that Ford has filed 3 573 reports with NHTSA (most recent from 12/4/2022) which all say the root cause is unknown.
But in the FAQ submitted to NHTSA dated 12/1/22, says that there are no ongoing investigations into the issue.
The fact that the newest 573 doesn't say that it was not possible to determine the root cause is at best, poor follow up by the Safety Office.
But in any case, I do find it strange that it is not possible to find the RC of the problem.
A drain tube….stupidity at its finest, hope that drain tube is run to the back of the vehicle lots of hot spots under a vehicle.
RW what do you think of this fix, talk to Farley and get back to us.
Oh glum Tim why are you so dim?
I agree.
Tim, you can clearly see bias or stupidity of RWF at its finest. That man is just pathetically sad to believe he makes any sense at all. It is not alarming though. There are many people today who tries to make a point but to go into reverse of making a real point.
Greetings to Seoul.
Maybe this accounts for your appearance and comments here:
consumerreports.
org/cars/car-recalls-defects/why-so-many-hyundai-kia-vehicles-get-recalled-for-fire-risk-a1169940635/
How do I join the lawsuit? My dealership told me the fix for the problem is to reprogram the pcm which is absurd. The computer isn’t going to fix bad fuel injectors, and neither is a hose to the ground causing me to leak fuel and damage the environment.
The name of the law firm and one of its principals is literally in the article.
Google much?
Ps how do you know that the pcm wasn’t incorrectly programmed resulting in a condition which could cause fuel leakage?
Steve Berman is going to chew Ford up and spit them out. Multiple times.
He kinda throws in the kitchen sink and his claims of concealment and inappropriate fix are going to have to do some heavy lifting to find a cause of action.
The time that it takes engineering to determine whether there is an issue, and then to do the RCA is not the same as covering up.
That said, if Ford did engage in a coverup, then it deserves hefty damage awards, fines and criminal prosecution.
But then again it may be a suit in search of a winning legal argument.
It will be interesting to see where this goes.
I hope so because peoples hard earn money is going to waste. It is not fair at all for people to purchase vehicles with so many issues.
In case you missed it, I posted the following to one of your comments above:
consumerreports.
org/cars/car-recalls-defects/why-so-many-hyundai-kia-vehicles-get-recalled-for-fire-risk-a1169940635/
Like me, i have a 22 escape and now the suspension feels like a f250 + the steering makes a whistle and at highway speeds i smell some kind a vapor (like a mix of oil and coolant). I went to the dealership only to make an appointment as they are 2 weeks out. Funny, most of the vehicles in there are Bronco sports, F150 and escape. I recently hired an attorney mainly due to the recall but now and unfortunately for Ford the vehicle has more involved than a ridicules fuel injector fix.
Question, why on earth would Ford but $1100 aside for recalls?
Ive been doing my research and it seems to be the entire lineup with exception of the mustang. Also the new ceo says his only concern now is quality. He has been position for 2 years and just realizes the brand is pathetic. Im buying a Toyota
The whistle is clearly a feature and not a bug.
Just wait till Ford starts using Chinese batteries, then will see some real fires!
Once again the K-street troll tag team member Shlock-And-Blah is dumping more bad faith FUDster manure here.
Lol, it’s never too late to find common sense. You are so bias. It is ruining any intelligence you might have. Ford is damn near at the bottom of the entire automobile industry in quality. Have you not been keeping up with the stats? I will answer that for you, nope 👎🏽.
Me so bias, me bias long time.
I bought my Bronco Sport brand new in 2021. I already took it to the dealer several times. Recalls after recalls, there’s a weird moaning noise for the past months in that vehicle when you back it. There no parts to fix the fuel injector crack and the rear brakes that make the moaning sound. They won’t let stay in a loaner while waiting for the parts. Driving the vehicle gets me very worry every day.
Perfect example of the anxiety and stress that I have been referencing. This owner should NOT have to be facing this issue with a brand new vehicle. A vehicle said to be of quality, yeah right. My heart goes out to you because it is not fair at all that you are paying for a lemon. If Ford cared at all about their customers and their safety, a loaner would be a standard until their vehicle issues are addressed and fixed.
It’s a good thing Farley and the marketing team named it B R O N C O sport instead of Escape. The likely sold 10 million of these since it beared the Bronco name!! Now they can pay this lawsuit and still pocket millions!!
What is up with all the sock puppets here that can’t properly conjugate English grammar?
PS. I just love that this comment is living in double down on stupid Joe’s mind a week later. Hahahaha. What an ultra maroon.
Mr. Bias. Why don’t you hire yourself a person to help you understand how to use your brain? You have yet to say anything that makes sense. Where are you getting YOUR silly information from, it can’t be your brain?
I get all my information by listening to K-pop or just hanging out at the bar in Gangnam, oh wait, that’s you!
I think it’s time for Ford to file a patent for an automatic fire extinguishing system. After all, that would be easier than to actually fix the problem.
But they were just listening to all your previous entreaties to stop filing so many patents. Now you reverse course. You need to make up your mind.
Now your highness RW the stupid thing about all this is the fix itself. Next Ford will fix the bronco cracked roofs with duct tape it is just that ridiculous.
The fix maybe a temporary measure at its best certainly not permanent….we hope.
Oh Dim, the hose isn’t really a fix, it’s a measure designed to prevent fire in the event of an injector failure.
With such a small failure rate, it would seem that without being able to identify exactly which injectors are affected, it doesn’t make sense to replace all injectors, especially if the pressure drop of a failed injector can be detected by OBD, the high pressure pump disabled, and the driver flagged to seek immediate service.
So the solution is to mitigate risk of an underhood fire if there ever is a failure, and to offer a 15 year warranty coverage on the injectors in case there is a sub class with a greater MTBF.
If the situation develops to failure rates significantly in excess of the currently understood 1%, then a wider recall might be necessary. (If such a recall becomes necessary 10 or 15 years out, Ford will be ordering fuel injectors in quantities not seen since the time of leaving the ICE business.)
While reading this banter is somewhat surprising, I just need to know what I’m supposed to do with my 2022 Escape? I’m not a mechanic, (I’m a nurse), but am I to understand from the letter I received from Ford that I’m to do nothing until I hear from the dealer that parts are in to fix this? And how long should that take? Thanks for your help!
My Dad had a Short bed Chevy pick up with Camper .Drop a tank at Shelton Service station on the Lift going up. Year 1982. Then in 1980 a 4X4 1976 Sierra GMC 3 / 4 ton truck . Had a Tank drop off in the yard. That 350 CID Excellent though the Short bed 73 not so much. That was a 2 Wheel Truck. The 76 GMC was after Shrimping the Hoods Canal. Washington State. Now a Family Member had a 2015 Ford Escape. Bought only 500 Miles on it. Full Warranty. Had a Main seal leak was 3700plus $. They got stuck with a 2300$ Bill. Same thing in 2006 a Chevy 454 or 496 CID. Had Strut Rotor Caliper A Arm Assembly had full Warranty no 2600$ out of pocket . Love Excellent Running Chevys Fords Chrysler s Dodge s. Like that 2015 Full Warranty Escape Bought at Horizon Ford Tukwilla. Junky WARRANTY. Hope they make it right. Incidentally the Chevy Truck Tank drops were worse then Ford pintos Chevy Truck issues 1973 thru 1987. Had a FREIND Family had a New at Time 1971 Early Ford Pinto . Problem s . Ford Mechanic s came out too their House Circa 1971 trying too solve problem. Ford has the Most recalls. Ford can FIX THIS PROBLEM. FORD RACING AND CARROLL SHELBY DID CIRCA 1962 THROUGH COSWORTH F 1 FORD YEARS .RACING PARTS AND RACING COST$. ALSO NEW ELECTRIC VEHICLE S. WE HAD CHEVYS GROWING UP EXCELLENT VEHICLES .SAME FREINDS HAD WITH FIRDS EXCELLENT VEHICLES. ALSO A LOT IF CHRYSLER S. THAT HEAVY DUTY 727 A Automatic Transmission. With a Good Cooler Excellent. But all in Shift points ECT take more Gas. Hope HORIZON TUKWILLA FORD DOES RIGHT ON THAT 2015 MAIN SEAL 41000 MILES WENT OUT. THEIR WARRANTY S ????
You all need to be completely honest.
We have a 16 Escape 7 years old 65,000 miles and the Radio stopped working. Ford here in Sevierville, TN. don’t work on stereos. Can Ford not make a Radio that works, Or fix it when it has a defect in workmanship and quality.
I have owned 8 Fords, 3 New from the dealer. The Escape will be the last one we ever buy. Because they can’t stand by there product, Looks like we may give someone else a try.
Gosh, if I had a 7 year old car, I think I would buy a radio from a salvage yard as opposed to expecting the OEM to warranty it for me.