Back in November 2022, The Blue Oval issued recalls for select 2020-2022 Ford Escape and 2021-2023 Ford Bronco Sport models equipped with the turbocharged Ford 1.5L I-3 EcoBoost engine over a fuel injector issue after it discovered that those parts could potentially crack and leak fuel inside the engine compartment, which can increase the risk of a fire. To rectify that issue, Ford instructed dealers to update the engine control software to include fuel injector leak detection and install a drain tube, but some owners didn’t find that fix to be adequate and proceeded to file a class action lawsuit early last year that FoMoCo argued should be dismissed. Now, that’s precisely what has happened, according to Car Complaints.
The lawsuit – Letson, et al., v. Ford Motor Company – was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan by plaintiffs represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, and The Miller Law Firm PC. However, Ford argued that the case should be dismissed on the grounds that it was filed following an official recall overseen by federal regulators, adding that the automaker disclosed the risk of fire to owners, and notes that only a “small number of underhood fires” have occurred as a result of the defect – around one percent, in fact.
Ultimately, Judge Shalina D. Kumar agreed, noting that the plaintiffs “provided no details about the cause of that fire,” adding “plaintiffs do not allege that a cracked fuel injector caused this fire, and without more, the Court cannot properly make such an inference where the complaint shows that very few fuel injectors ever crack and other parts may cause fires in the class vehicles.”
Kumar agreed with Ford’s assessment that this problem is currently being overseen by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) as well, noting that the agency has the authority to impose “stiff fines if [Ford] fails to carry out the recall” in an effective manner.
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