Photo: Ford
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation on the 2013 Ford Police Interceptor Utility due to almost a dozen vehicles being affected by a brake hose failure. NHTSA has only received one complaint about this problem, but that complaint comes from a police department that experienced 13 front brake hose failures on 11 different vehicles.
NHTSA posted the complaint earlier this month, but at this point the investigation is only a preliminary evaluation. The problem is that “small splits” are occurring in the brake line, and if the hoses fail, it would greatly reduce the vehicle’s stopping performance. If the problem does turn out to be a manufacturing defect the report estimates that 20,000 vehicles could be affected. Fortunately, no crashes, injuries or deaths have been reported so far.
All of the hose failures took place between December 2013 and July 2014, and the affected vehicles varied in age with odometer readings ranging from 16,000 miles up to 46,000 miles. Two of the vehicles experienced hose failures on both sides less than a month apart and the incidents separated by about 1,000 miles.
Even though the Police Interceptor Utility is obviously based on the Ford Explorer, the investigation is limited only to the police vehicles, which received an enhanced brake system compared to the civilian models. The investigation report did not specify where this particular police department was located, but it did say that it was a “metropolitan police fleet” with at least 45 of the 2013 Police Interceptor Utility at its disposal (not to mention any other police vehicles) indicating that it must be fairly substantial in size.
This investigation comes less than three months after NHTSA wrapped-up a two-year investigation on the 2011-13 Explorer models for power steering failures that eventually led to the recall of about 180,000 units.
All of the hose failures took place between December 2013 and July 2014, and the affected vehicles varied in age with odometer readings ranging from 16,000 miles up to 46,000 miles. Two of the vehicles experienced hose failures on both sides less than a month apart and the incidents separated by about 1,000 miles.
Even though the Police Interceptor Utility is obviously based on the Ford Explorer, the investigation is limited only to the police vehicles, which received an enhanced brake system compared to the civilian models. The investigation report did not specify where this particular police department was located, but it did say that it was a “metropolitan police fleet” with at least 45 of the 2013 Police Interceptor Utility at its disposal (not to mention any other police vehicles) indicating that it must be fairly substantial in size.
This investigation comes less than three months after NHTSA wrapped-up a two-year investigation on the 2011-13 Explorer models for power steering failures that eventually led to the recall of about 180,000 units.
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