New Recall for 2014-15 Explorers

[SickSix]

Sorry if it's a repost, but I didn't see it anywhere on here.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2016/04/27/ford-transmission-recall/83590726/

Ford Motor said Wednesday that it would recall about 81,000 sport-utility vehicles to fix a suspension defect and another 201,900 pickup trucks, SUVs and cars to repair a transmission flaw.

The suspension defect, which affects certain 2014-15 Ford Explorer and Ford Police Interceptor SUVs, has been connected to at least one crash and injury. The vehicles' rear suspension toe links were poorly welded and could fracture, resulting in loss of steering.

 

[jmr061]

Nothing official has been released to dealers from Ford yet. First I have heard of it.

 

[rmcalis]

Well at least the '16s are not affected. I traded a '14 Jeep Grand Cherokee for my Explorer partly because it had six recalls in the two years I owned it. Most of the time repair parts were not available for 6-10 months.

 

[bruinsfan]

RE: Rear Suspension Recall


"Affected vehicles include certain 2014-2015 Ford Explorer vehicles built at Chicago Assembly Plant, Jan. 17, 2014 through May 31, 2014 and Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles built at Chicago Assembly Plant, Jan. 21, 2014 through May 13, 2014. There are 81,036 vehicles affected by the issue, including 75,364 in the United States and federalized territories, 4,615 in Canada and 1,057 in Mexico.

Dealers will replace the left and right rear suspension toe links and align the rear suspension at no cost to the customer."


https://media.ford.com/content/ford...s-three-safety-recalls-and-two-safety-co.html

 

[La-rue]

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/ford-recalls-ford-f-150-150500589.html

 

[Odrapnew]

Are the dates listed the build completion dates?

For me, I guess it doesn’t matter much since I think mine started sometime in middle of January 2014 and finished before end of February 2014.

 

[Lewisra]

Are the dates listed the build completion dates?

For me, I guess it doesn’t matter much since I think mine started sometime in middle of January 2014 and finished before end of February 2014.

Was yours built in somebody's garage?

 

[Odrapnew]

Was yours built in somebody's garage?

I suppose that’s a shot at my memory because it doesn’t take that long to build.

All I know is that I placed the order before end of December, 2013 and took delivery March 8, 2014. I do remember it sitting in Chicago for some time, but again, I don’t remember the details.

 

[Lewisra]

A poke, not a shot.

 

[Gregr6]

Just checked my VIN number at safecar.gov and it shows no recalls. Sync shows no recalls too.
Anyone know if there's normally a delay between the announcement of the recall and the recall actually showing up in Sync or on that government website?

 

[Backup63]

How do we check build dates?

I looked up my VIN and i see the city of origin was Chicago, but it doesn't list assembly date.

 

[WJGreer]

The vehicles' rear suspension toe links were poorly welded and could fracture, resulting in loss of steering.[/I]

Interesting. Poorly welded rear suspension toe links sound like a sort of thing that should be fixed - but I'm struggling to figure how you'd lose your steering if one of them gave.

 

[MikB]

Here's a pic of the problem area. How it may affect steering if the toe rod broke is it loosen the 'wheel knuckle' into a wobble and throw the rear end out in one direction or another and may even put the half shaft into a bind. That's just a guess as there could be any number of situations that could occur.

I'll be very interested when this recall is finally 'posted' with Ford. I may call my dealer to find out if they have a heads up and also see if I may be able to get in 'line' for the service.

Edited to add: Had I not skipped over the post that had the dates of these vehicles that are affected, I would have noticed that mine is not since the build date on mine is December of '14. That would not have stopped me in providing the info I had though.

 

[WJGreer]

Here's a pic of the problem area. How it may affect steering if the toe rod broke is it loosen the 'wheel knuckle' into a wobble and throw the rear end out in one direction or another and may even put the half shaft into a bind. That's just a guess as there could be any number of situations that could occur.

Ah, I see. It may have been more accurate had they said "it could cause the driver to lose control of the vehicle" since it doesn't seem like the steering system itself would be compromised. But who am I to say...

 

[Gregr6]

Bottom line is it could cause an accident. If it happened while driving the speed limit on a crowded freeway it could be very serious. If it happened on a mountain road it could be fatal. I drive on mountain roads a lot- losing the rear end at the peak of a turn with a 500 foot drop off a few feet away... scary!

 

[Gregr6]

Just got off the phone with a service guy at my dealership. He said the VIN numbers haven't been released to the dealerships yet so nothing to do but wait.

 

[bruinsfan]

Try this site to look up all info on your Ford vehicle:

https://www.etis.ford.com/vehicleRegSelector.do


It'll tell you every "option" your vehicle has and also the date it was built...

 

[Gregr6]

Thank you!!! Mine was built before the defective VINs. Phew.

 

[TBill]

2014 Explorer Limited recall

Just check the owners web site for my 2014 Explorer, yup its there,

FSA Title: REAR SUSPENSION TOE LINK REPLACEMENT
Field Service Action Number: 16S18

TBill

 

[jmr061]

There was a "pre-notice" issued to dealers but still no info on the repair procedure, etc.