Last year, Ford issued a recall for select 2018-2020 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs due to an issue with the vehicles’ seat belts where those units were allegedly tightening rapidly without warning, or in instances when they should do so, such as hard braking or a crash. A few months later, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into this matter after receiving a number of customer complaints – including some that owned vehicles not included in the initial recall – but now, that investigation has been closed.
The NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened its investigation after receiving complaints of inadvertent seat belt pretensioner deployment, during which some customers alleged hearing a loud “explosion-like” sound before that occurred. In its original recall, Ford noted that the problem stemmed from corroded squib pins that were resulting in high resistance or an open circuit, ultimately opting to recall 77,574 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator models.
ODI received three complaints from customers that owned vehicles not included in that scope who allegedly experienced the same sort of issue. Ultimately, shortly thereafter, Ford issued a second recall that expanded the scope to include additional models – 105,322 total vehicles – and this past May, added an amendment that further expands the recall population’s scope to include 7,627 more SUVs.
Ultimately, these actions were enough to satisfy ODI, and it opted to close its investigation as a result. Ford wasn’t able to determine the root cause of the failure, or at least, what’s causing the pins to corrode, but vehicles produced after 2020 haven’t exhibited this failure yet. Regardless, ODI will continue to monitor the situation, looking for additional squib pin failures that may occur outside of the current recalled population of vehicles, and as always, reserves the right to reopen its investigation if it deems such a move necessary.
No Comments yet