Just last month, a court dismissed a lawsuit filed against Ford after it issued recalls for select 2020-2022 Ford Escape and 2021-2023 Ford Bronco Sport models equipped with the turbocharged 1.5L I-3 EcoBoost engine over a fuel injector issue when 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 that class action lawsuit early last year. However, The Blue Oval just issued two new recalls that expand upon the original filings – this time, for select 2022 Escape and 2022-2023 Bronco Sport models – which has prompted an investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
These new recalls are instructing dealers to perform the exact same remedy as the previous recalls, though they’ve been expanded to include additional models built at different dates. As such, the NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) has opened an investigation into the proposed fix in order “to evaluate the adequacy and safety consequences of the remedy described in recall 24V-187.”
Rather than replace the faulty fuel injectors, Ford is instructing dealers to update the engine control software in affected models and install a drain tube. The purpose of these updates is to enable the vehicle to detect any potential pressure drop in the fuel rail, after which it will display a “seek service” message in the instrument cluster. Additionally, the system would be able to disable the file pump, decrease engine power, and reduce the temperatures of possible ignition sources to help prevent a fire.
As for the drain tube, its purpose is to allow fuel to drain from the cylinder head hole to the ground, and away from hot surfaces that could cause it to ignite.
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Comments
I was dumbfounded by this so called “Fix” when it first came out, not surprised that it’s been expanded to other vehicles equipped with a similar engine and thoroughly disappointed yet again with NHTSA taking this long to begin an investigation on what was from the get go, a totally inappropriate repair. Why does Ford think that fixing a leaking fuel injector is okay by putting in a drain tube instead of replacing the injector? How are they being damaged? Is it an error in the engine assembly process? An error in how the engine is handled at the vehicle assembly plant? C’mon people injectors don’t just crack and split for no reason! Is it a manufacturing defect? Is the fuel injector supplier a Ford vendor or an outside vendor? Way too many unanswered questions here.
It could be a very low occurrence supplier quality run issue that injectors can’t be traced directly to VINS, and not easy for a dealer to pull 100% of injectors to inspect for (say micro cracks), so the ‘fix’ is a safeguard to ‘weed out’ the suspect parts in a more cost effective and assured manner.