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Ford Recalls 277k Pickup Trucks and Luxury Sedans Over Rearview Camera Issue

In addition to quality issues, the Ford Motor Company also has a habit of picking questionable suppliers. In this case, Magna Electronics from Holly, Michigan is responsible for a 277,040-vehicle recall caused by a lens coating that may lead to a foggy rearview camera image.
Ford Super Duty 24 photos
Photo: Ford
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The second-largest automaker in the United States of America is aware of this problem since August 2021, when the Ford Motor Company’s Critical Concern Review Group initiated an investigation into an increasing number of warranty reports for diminished rearview camera image quality. Owners of Super Duty pickup trucks and Continental luxury sedans equipped with the 360-degree camera system allege foggy or cloudy images, and the condition didn’t improve after cleaning the rearview camera’s outer lens.

From September 2021 through October 2021, the investigation determined that “an internal lens on the Magna Zurich Lite digital rear cameras has an anti-reflective coating that is susceptible to damage from exposure to ultraviolet radiation over time.” These camera lenses are exposed to ultraviolet radiation every single day, which makes Magna’s blunder is all the more severe given that Manga knows what these cameras are meant for.

Ford says the condition is progressive in nature, increasing with time in service. From November 2021 through January 2022, the Dearborn-based automaker conducted weathering investigations in accordance with ASTM D7869, the Standard Practice for Xenon Arc Exposure Test with Enhanced Light and Water Exposure for Transportation Coatings. Lo and behold, the subject cameras experienced cracking of the subject coating on the third inner lens “to a degree that would be expected to impact image quality.”

Worse still for Magna, “this evaluation had not been conducted or completed by the supplier during camera development prior to Job #1 of the subject vehicles.” The question is if Ford knew that these cameras haven’t been tested in accordance with ASTM D7869, why did it purchase them in the first place? The answer to that question is pretty simple: because they were cheaper than what competing suppliers had to offer, a typical mistake for the Ford Motor Company, which is known to cut costs where it shouldn’t.

2020 Ford F\-Series Super Duty
Photo: Ford
Last month, when FoMoCo knew that it had to recall hundreds of thousands of vehicles over this problem, the Ford Motor Company was aware of 7,625 warranty reports for the Super Duty and 1,236 warranty reports for the Continental in the United States. The Dearborn-based automaker further identified 11 vehicle owner’s questionnaires in the NHTSA’s database.

The Super Duty-specific rearview camera is listed in the attached report under part number HC3T-19G490-DH, whereas the Continental’s rearview camera is referred to as GD9T-19G490-BH. The affected population of F-250, F-350, and F-450 Super Duty pickup trucks was produced between November 2015 and March 2020 for the 2017 through 2020 model year.

As for the Continental, which never sold as expected following its revival on the Fusion’s front-drive platform, the affected population comprises 13,119 vehicles produced in the same period. The recalled cameras will be replaced – at no cost to the owners – with HC3T-19G490-DK and GD9T-19G490-BJ that feature a coating that won’t degrade from UV radiation.

The attached report further notes that “rearview cameras with an inner lens coating that will not degrade with UV exposure were introduced into production on March 10th, 2020,” which doesn’t help Ford’s case either.

Owners will be notified by mail between September 12th to the 16th.
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 Download: Ford rearview camera recall (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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