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Ford Recalls 300,000 Pickups to Fix Damage Caused by 2018’s Heater Cable Fix

Back in December 2018, American manufacturer Ford announced it had decided to recall 874,000 F-150 and Super Duty pickup trucks due to an issue with the block heater cable. Fixing that issue led apparently to another problem, and now the Blue Oval is forced to issue another recall.
Ford recalls pickups again to fix a new issue with the block heater cable 1 photo
Photo: Ford
According to the carmaker, during the operations to fix the initial problem the “engine block heater cable splice connectors may have inadvertently become damaged” and could lead to a series of cascading problems that eventually could cause a fire.

Which is, in fact, the same effect that prompted the initial recall in the first place.

Ford says the trucks in question are at risk only when “the vehicle is parked and the block heater cable is plugged into an electrical outlet.” To avoid any possible fire hazard, the company advises pickup truck owners not to use the engine block heater cable until they are fixed.

The carmaker has been notified about one of its trucks catching fire in the U.S. and another one in Canada, although it states that the two incidents could not be specifically tied to the new issue.

“Vehicle inspection after the fire was unable to determine whether that incident was related to this subject. Ford is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this issue,” the carmaker says in a statement.

Of the initial batch of pickups recalled in December only 327,000 are now once again being sent back to the shops, 131,068 in the United States 196,269 in Canada. The cars affected by this new recall are 2015-19 Ford F-150 built at Dearborn Truck Plant and 2017-19 Ford F-Series Super Duty built at Ohio Assembly Plant.

The fix will require mechanics to disable “the vehicle’s engine block heater cable by cutting off the plug end prongs and sealing the end cap with silicone sealant.” The operation will be conducted free of charge.

More details can be found in the document attached below.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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