NHTSA Opens Investigation Into Ford Expedition Seat Belt Issue

Earlier this year, Ford Motor Company issued a recall encompassing select 2018 through 2020 model year Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs due to an issue with the vehicles’ seat belts. Vehicle owners alleged that their seatbelts rapidly tightened without a crash or other event that would trigger the pretensioner system under normal operation. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recently launched an investigation into the effectiveness of the recall concerning impacted Ford Expedition models.

The organization’s Recall Query states that complaints from Ford Expedition owners indicate that the driver and front passenger reported hearing a loud sound immediately followed by the tightening of the seatbelt, and, as previously stated, that this could occur without being preceded by a crash or impact. The seat belt then remains in a locked position after the deployment event.

FoMoCo traced the issue to retractor pretensioners that were built between October 1^st, 2018 and June 30^th, 2019, prompting the original recall. The assemblies could have developed corroded squib pins, which resulted in high resistance or an open circuit and the potential for loss of pretensioner protection and a seatbelt that was locked into position.

Some Ford Expedition owners allege that their vehicles presented with the aforementioned seatbelt issues, but they were not included in the scope of the recall. The NHSTA says that the Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) is aware of several reports of seat belt tensioner malfunction occurring in units of the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator that were built outside of the dates defined in the recall, although it did not disclose the number of reports it received.

This latest investigation comes hot on the heels of another one from the NHTSA that seeks to examine the efficacy of a recall involving the 12V battery in select Ford Bronco Sport and Ford Maverick models. The agency also recently obtained a $165 million consent order against Ford regarding several rearview camera recalls.