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Feds Investigate Ford Over Brake Hose Ruptures, 1.7 Million Vehicles May Be Recalled

Two years ago, the Ford Motor Company issued safety recall 20V-469 for the MY 2015 to 2018 Ford Edge and 2016 to 2018 Lincoln MKX. This campaign addressed the front brake houses rupturing prematurely, caused by localized failures of the internal reinforcement braid, in turn caused by cyclic fatigue during suspension and steering articulations.
Ford Fusion 11 photos
Photo: Ford
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A grand total of 488,594 vehicles were called back, of which one percent were believed to exhibit this condition. Documents published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failed to mention the supplier of the front brake hose. Also worthy of mention, back in January 2018, the Ford Motor Company approved safety recalls for a specific population of Edge sport utility vehicles delivered to Chinese and South American customers.

In all cases, the remedy came in the guise of redesigned hoses with a more robust braid material. The remedy parts carry part numbers J2GC-2078-AA for the front right and J2GC-2B557-AA for the front left. Suspect hoses are identified under part numbers F2GC-2078-AD and F2GC-2078-AE for the front right and F2GC-2B557-AD and F2GC-2B557-AE for the front left.

That said, let's take a guess at what happened next. Both affected nameplates are based on the CD4 platform, which is also used by the Fusion, Lincoln MKZ, S-Max, Galaxy, Taurus, and Lincoln Continental. The Office of Defects Investigation received no fewer than 50 complaints alleging front brake hose failures on the model year 2013 to 2018 Fusion and MKZ.

Additionally, the ODI is aware of an alleged crash caused by a failed brake hose. Fortunately, the ODI states that nobody was injured. The Office of Defects Investigation couldn’t ignore this mountain of reports, which is why the federal watchdog has opened a recall query into these vehicles.

A recall query stands for an investigation opened on a recall because the remedy appears inadequate or the scope of the recall appears to be insufficient. The Ford Motor Company appears to have downplayed the scope of the recall, limiting it to the aforementioned SUVs. But as you’re well aware, the Edge and MKX aren’t the only cars based on the CD4 platform.

If the recall query converts to a recall, then America’s second-largest automaker may be forced to call back 1,729,319 cars in the U.S. alone.
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 Download: ODI investigation RQ 22-004 into Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ (PDF)

About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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