Ford Expedition, Lincoln Navigator Seatbelt Investigation Closed

July 31, 2024 11:37 am

Last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into select Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models after receiving 10 complaints from owners pertaining to the seatbelts used in the pair of large SUVs. Those customers claimed that they had experienced “an inadvertent pretensioner deployment,” with some even experiencing a “loud, explosion-like sound immediately followed by the seatbelt tightening around the occupant’s torso area.” Now, however, the NHTSA has closed that investigation.

In total, the NHTSA received 25 customer complaints pertaining to this issue, and during the course of its investigation, it found that “certain seatbelt pretensioners may develop corroded squib pins where the bridge wire (heating element of pyro-technic device) is welded.” Trouble is, this corrosion and a subsequent partial separation of the weld can cause a high resistance of open circuit condition to occur, which is what causes the seatbelt pretensions to deploy inadvertently.

When this problem happens in affected Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs, it locks the seatbelt in position, and ultimately resulted in 11 minor injuries, mostly limited to things like bruising in the torso area of those impacted by the issue. Ford issued a recall for impacted models this past February, instructing dealers to replace both front seatbelt retractors. That recall covered select 2018-2020 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models built at the Kentucky Truck plant between October 1^st, 2018, and June 30^th, 2019.

That action ultimately proved satisfactory in the mind of the NHTSA, which chose to close its investigation as a result. However, as always, the agency reserves the right to take addition action if this resolution fails, or if the problem resurfaces at some point in the future.

We’ll have more on this investigation soon, so be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for more Ford Expedition news, Lincoln news, Lincoln Navigator news, and comprehensive Ford news coverage.

By Brett Foote

Brett's lost track of all the Fords he's owned over the years and how much he's spent modifying them, but his current money pits include an S550 Mustang and 13th gen F-150.