Sometimes automotive recalls have a tendency to snowball. That’s the case for Ford, which just recalled a batch of vehicles that were just recalled last year to fix a problem that occurred during the previous recall.
Last summer, Ford recalled more than 30,000 2022-2023 Mustangs due to a calibration issue with the secondary steering torque sensor. Left unchecked, the problem could cause the steering wheel to start turning on its own, which is definitely something you don’t want.
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Now, the automaker has filed a secondary recall with the NHTSA for about 300 Mustang vehicles that did not have the update installed correctly, but were recorded as having received the repair successfully completed in Ford’s records. That means those vehicles are still in danger of having the steering wheel begin oscillating without warning due to the electronic power steering gear providing unintended and unwanted steering assist.
It’s obviously not an ideal situation for Ford and any Mustang owners who don’t like it when their car tries to steer itself. But it’s kind of incredible that the secondary issue was caught at all. It started in November 2024 when an audit was requested for software part numbers applied to vehicles remedied under a sample of field service actions. When that data came back insufficient, the audit was expanded and it discovered that about 2% of the vehicles originally recalled didn’t match up between the software state on the service tool and new software release.
Fortunately, no injuries or accidents were reported due to the recall so the potential phantom steering problem never got out of hand.
Ford sold nearly 2.1 million vehicles in 2024. The traditional Mustang and Mach-E accounted for nearly 100,000 of that total. So, the automaker’s business is still overwhelmingly trucks and SUVs but the Mustang is still a significant part of the equation.
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Sometimes automotive recalls have a tendency to
snowball.
00:04.039 --> 00:08.850
That's the case for Ford, which just recalled a
batch of vehicles that were just recalled last
00:08.850 --> 00:12.350
year to fix a problem that occurred during the
previous recall.
00:12.590 --> 00:19.280
Last summer, Ford recalled more than 30,000
2022 and 2023 Mustangs due to a
00:19.280 --> 00:23.870
calibration issue with the secondary steering.
Torque sensor left unchecked,
00:24.000 --> 00:27.010
the problem could cause the steering wheel to
start turning on its own,
00:27.280 --> 00:29.110
which is definitely something you don't want.
00:29.360 --> 00:35.759
Now the automaker has filed a secondary recall
with the NHTSA for about 300 Mustang vehicles
00:35.759 --> 00:40.279
that did not have the update installed
correctly, but were recorded as having received
00:40.279 --> 00:43.240
the repairs successfully completed in Ford's
records.
00:43.799 --> 00:48.000
That means those vehicles are still in danger
of having the steering wheel begin oscillating
00:48.000 --> 00:51.349
without warning due to the electronic powered
steering gear,
00:51.639 --> 00:54.599
providing unintended and unwanted steering
assist.
00:55.029 --> 01:00.099
It's obviously not an ideal situation for Ford
and any Mustang owners who don't like it when
01:00.099 --> 01:04.860
their car tries to steer itself, but it's kind
of incredible that the secondary issue was
01:04.860 --> 01:09.540
caught at all.
It started in November 2024 when an audit was
01:09.540 --> 01:14.500
requested for software part numbers applied to
vehicles remedied under a sample of field
01:14.500 --> 01:17.690
service actions.
When that data came back insufficient,
01:17.940 --> 01:22.989
the audit was expanded and it discovered that
about 2% of the vehicles originally recalled
01:23.300 --> 01:24.660
didn't match up between the soft.
01:25.010 --> 01:28.000
State on the service tool and the new software
release.
01:28.290 --> 01:32.160
Fortunately, no injuries or accidents were
reported due to the recall,
01:32.370 --> 01:36.080
so the potential phantom steering problem never
got out of hand.
01:36.739 --> 01:41.160
Ah, Ford sold nearly 2.1 million vehicles in
2024.
01:41.410 --> 01:46.440
The traditional Mustang and the Mach E
accounted for nearly 100,000 of that total.
01:46.769 --> 01:51.089
So the automaker's business is still
overwhelmingly trucks and SUVs,
01:51.180 --> 01:54.489
but the Mustang is still a significant part of
the equation.
01:54.839 --> 01:57.059
I'm Ben Munson and this is manufacturing now.
