Photo: Ford
In July last year, American carmaker Ford announced a massive recall involving 550,000 Fusion and Escape vehicles. The cause of the recall was a shifter cable bushing that could have caused the cars to roll away. Nearly a year later, the problem is back.
In 2018, Ford recalled Fusion and Escape cars that had been built between 2013 to 2016. This week’s recall notice refers to Fusion cars manufactured in the same period that were not included in the initial safety procedure.
The shifter cable bushing fitted into the cars may degrade in time and detach from the transmission. This in turn can cause the transmission to “be in a gear state different from the gearshift position selected by the driver.”
Basically, that means a driver can put the car in park and leave, only to see it roll away because no warning message or audible chime were issued informing him the car was in fact not in park. Ford says it is aware of four reports related to this problem, three of which resulted in property damage and the fourth with an injury.
The 270,000 cars now being recalled are Fusion models built at Flat Rock Assembly Plant and Hermosillo Assembly Plant from 2013 to 2016. They are all equipped with 2.5-liter engines.
Separately, another transmission problem is affecting 2,500 Ranger vehicles built in March this year at the Michigan Assembly Plant. In this case, the issue is pretty much the same – the car in a gear state different from the gearshift position selected by the driver – but this time caused by “two fasteners that secure the transmission shift cable bracket to the transmission housing.”
Repairs on all the cars recalled by Ford are to be made free of charge. It will however take some time before owners are notified, because the root cause of the problems and their fix are yet to be identified.
The shifter cable bushing fitted into the cars may degrade in time and detach from the transmission. This in turn can cause the transmission to “be in a gear state different from the gearshift position selected by the driver.”
Basically, that means a driver can put the car in park and leave, only to see it roll away because no warning message or audible chime were issued informing him the car was in fact not in park. Ford says it is aware of four reports related to this problem, three of which resulted in property damage and the fourth with an injury.
The 270,000 cars now being recalled are Fusion models built at Flat Rock Assembly Plant and Hermosillo Assembly Plant from 2013 to 2016. They are all equipped with 2.5-liter engines.
Separately, another transmission problem is affecting 2,500 Ranger vehicles built in March this year at the Michigan Assembly Plant. In this case, the issue is pretty much the same – the car in a gear state different from the gearshift position selected by the driver – but this time caused by “two fasteners that secure the transmission shift cable bracket to the transmission housing.”
Repairs on all the cars recalled by Ford are to be made free of charge. It will however take some time before owners are notified, because the root cause of the problems and their fix are yet to be identified.
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