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Ford is recalling 338,332 Ford Explorers across North America for an improperly formed seat frame edge. The recall covers certain 2017 model year Explorers. The seat frame edge is sharp and could cause injury if driver or passenger reaches between the center console and the seat. Ford is aware of 31 reports of hand injuries related to this recall. Dealers will install a flocked tape and a tab on the inside edge of the power seat frame. View full article

General Motors announced a recall Wednesday of 3.46 million GM trucks and SUVs for a braking issue that has been linked to 113 accidents and 13 injuries. The problem arises from a vacuum pump issue where the pump make less vacuum over time, thereby increasing the braking effort. The pump is lubricated by engine oil and can accumulate debris and oil sludge lessening the pump's effectiveness. The recall covered model years 2014 - 2018 of Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado, Suburban, and Tahoe, and GMC Sierra and Yukon. GM told the NHTSA that the pump design was only used during those years of manufacture. In a smaller recall, GM is recalling 177,000 2018 Chevrolet Malibus with the 1.5-liter Turbo engine where an error in the engine control computer could disable the fuel injectors. View full article

Fiat Chrysler has issued a stop-sale and recall of 3,427 Jeep Gladiators for the potential of the rear drive shaft fracturing. The cause is a rear drive shaft that was assembled without grease on the monoblock joint portion of the drive shaft. The lack of grease could cause the joint to overheat and seize which may result in a fractured rear driveshaft. The vehicles were manufactured between December 15th 2018 and June 25th of 2019. If the driveshaft fails, the driver could experience a total loss of power and potentially cause dangerous road debris if the driveshaft separates from the vehicle completely. Jeep said they noticed the grease error when four Gladiators came in for warranty repairs and the driveshafts were sent for analysis. FCA will replace the driveshaft for free as part of the recall and anyone who paid to have the shaft replaced will be reimbursed with proper documentation. Postcards to affected owners will go out October 18th. No accidents or injuries have been reported from the issue. View full article

The EPA has announced that FCA will be issuing a voluntary recall of 862,520 gasoline vehicles in the United States that do not meet emissions standards. The vehicles covered are the 2011-2016 Dodge Journey, 2011-2014 Chrysler 200 and Dodge Avenger, 2011-2016 Jeep Patriot and Compass (with CVT and FWD), and 2011-2012 Dodge Caliber. Due to the scope of the recall, the fixes will be issued in stages starting with the oldest vehicles. The fix involves replacing the catalytic converter. FCA has stated there are no safety concerns and no fines will be issued by the EPA. The issue was discovered during routing in-use emissions testing by FCA and subsequently reported to the EPA. FCA just settled a claim by the EPA that FCA used a cheat device in its diesel trucks and SUVS. View full article

The Ford Ranger is beginning to hit dealers, but it has already been hit with a recall. Ford announced today that 3,500 Rangers in North America (3,000 in the U.S. and 500 in Canada) have an issue with the PRNDL bezel wiring, The problem deals with the wiring interfering with the shifter interlock override, preventing the transmission from locking when put into park. This means you can shift it out of park when the vehicle is off and without a foot on the brake. Ford says that it is unaware of any accidents or injuries arising from this issue. The trucks involved were built between June 4, 2018 and Jan. 9, 2019. Dealers will investigate whether or not the truck does shift out of park when it is turned off, and without a foot on the brake. If it does, then dealers will relocate the harness and perform the test. Source: Ford Ford Motor Company Issues Recall For Select 2019 Ranger Vehicles To Verify Shifter Interlock Functionality DEARBORN, Mich., Feb. 6, 2019 – Ford is issuing a safety compliance recall on certain 2019 Ford Ranger vehicles to verify shifter interlock functionality. In the affected vehicles, the PRNDL bezel wiring may interfere with the shifter interlock override, preventing the shifter from locking in the park position and allowing the driver to shift the transmission out of park with the vehicle off and without a foot on the brake pedal. Ford is not aware of any accidents or injuries resulting from this condition. This action affects approximately 3,500 Ranger vehicles in North America, including approximately 3,000 in the United States and 500 in Canada. Affected 2019 Ranger vehicles were built at Michigan Assembly Plant, June 4, 2018 to Jan. 9, 2019. Dealers will verify shifter interlock functionality by attempting to move the transmission shifter out of park with the vehicle off and without a foot on the brake pedal. If the shifter moves out of park, dealers will look for wiring interference, relocate the wiring and retest. The Ford reference number for this recall is 19C02. View full article

Ford announced a sizeable recall of 1.5 million Focuses from the 2012-2018 model year equipped with the naturally-aspirated and turbocharged variants of the 2.0L engine. The issue deals with the engine's fuel system, specifically the canister purge valve. This valve allows fuel vapor to circulate but may become stuck open. Plus, the powertrain control module which monitors the valve may malfunction. The end result is a malformed gas tank due to excessive vacuum, which in turn will cause the check engine to come on; the fuel gauge will start acting weird; and may cause the car to stall - the latter being a safety issue. The recall is the result of a number of complaints filed to NHTSA on the loss of power in 2012-2014 Focus models. After sharing data, both NHTSA and Ford decided a recall was a smart idea. The good news is that no accidents or injuries related to this problem have been reported. The total amount of vehicles involved breaks down like this, U.S.: 1,282,596 Canada: 136,272 Mexico: 44,521 What's the fix? Dealers will reprogram the powertrain control module that will allow for better detection if the valve does become stuck. The fuel system will be inspected and parts will be replaced if necessary. For the time being, Ford is asking owners to keep their Focus' gas tank half-filled until they can get their vehicle in for repair. The recall notice is expected to be sent in the mail beginning in December. Source: Ford Ford Motor Company Issues Recall In North America For Select 2012-18 Ford Focus Vehicles For Malfunctioning Canister Purge Valve DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 25, 2018 – Ford is issuing a recall for approximately 1.5 million select 2012-18 Ford Focus vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter GDI and 2.0-liter GTDI engines for a malfunctioning canister purge valve. Affected vehicles are equipped with a canister purge valve that may become stuck in an open position. If this occurs, an excessive vacuum in the fuel system could cause deformation of the vehicle’s plastic fuel tank. As a result, the customer could observe a malfunction indicator light or a fuel gauge with fluctuating or inaccurate fuel levels. This could lead to a stall while driving and/or an inability to restart the vehicle, which can increase the risk of a crash. Ford is not aware of any accidents, injuries or fires as a result of this condition. Affected vehicles include 2012-18 Ford Focus 2.0-liter GDI vehicles built at Michigan Assembly Plant prior to April 13, 2017 and 2.0-liter GTDI vehicles built prior to Feb. 2, 2018. There are approximately 1,463,389 vehicles in North America relating to this concern, with 1,282,596 in the United States and federalized territories, 136,272 in Canada and 44,521 in Mexico. The Ford reference number for this recall is 18S32. Dealers will reprogram the powertrain control module with new software that will detect a malfunctioning canister purge valve and prevent a potential excessive fuel vapor system vacuum condition from occurring. Dealers will inspect and replace the canister purge valve, carbon canister, fuel tank and fuel delivery module, as necessary. There will be no charge for these services. Customers should maintain at least a half tank of fuel until the recall is completed. View full article

General Motors is recalling 1,015,918 pickup trucks from the 2015 model year due to a problem with the electric power steering (EPS) system. In a letter published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration yesterday, the EPS may momentarily lose assist before regaining it. "If EPS assist is lost and then suddenly returns, the driver may have difficulty steering the vehicle, especially at low speeds, increasing the risk of a crash," wrote NHTSA. The models affected include, Cadillac Escalade Chevrolet Silverado Chevrolet Suburban Chevrolet Tahoe GMC Sierra GMC Yukon The fix is simple as dealers will update the EPS software. No word on when GM will begin the recall. GM issued a similar recall for about 700,000 Chevrolet and GMC trucks in the US last year. Source: NHTSA (PDF) Pic Credit: William Maley for Cheers & Gears View full article

Toyota has announced that it will be recalling 1.03 million vehicles worldwide to fix an issue that could start a fire. According to Reuters, the problem deals with a wiring harness that connects to the hybrid system's power control unit. Vibrations and accumulating dirt can wear down the wire insulation at the connection point. This will expose the bare wires and possibly cause an electric short - increasing the chances of a fire. Toyota has told the news service they have one report of a vehicle in Japan that went up in smoke. The majority of vehicles involved in the recall are located in Japan. In the U.S., around 192,000 examples of the 2016-2018 Toyota Prius are involved. Owners of the affected models will be notified later this month by Toyota. Dealers will inspect the harness in question and, if any wires are exposed, replace it with an updated harness with a protective sleeve, If none of the wires are exposed, dealer technicians will apply a protective coating to the harness. Source: Reuters View full article

A new audit released by the U.S. Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General rips the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) over its handling of the Takata airbag recall. In the report, the Inspector General says NHTSA's recall monitoring process "does not ensure that remedies are reported completely and in a timely manner," nor does it "verify recall completion rates, although it has the authority to do so." Other issues the audit found included the long time it took the agency to determine the scope of the Takata recall and missing documents due to limited monitoring and inadequate procedures. "In June 2014, RMD [NHTSA's Recall Management Division] received a recall notification for Takata airbag inflators in over 140,000 vehicles. The notification stated that the manufacturer planned to tell owners to take their vehicles to dealerships for repairs in February 2015. However, as of February 2018, RMD had not received the manufacturer's remedy documents, and [the Office of Defects Investigation's] recall recordkeeping system does not indicate that RMD staff requested those documents," the report said. The Inspector General makes six recommendations including better training for staff, creating a system to handle missing documents and communications, and documenting various lessons from the Takata recall. NHTSA in a letter said it "did not endorse all of the report’s findings," but did agree to some of the recommendations. The agency has come under fire for a number of years due to its poor handling of various auto safety issues, including Toyota's unattended acceleration crisis and GM's ignition switch mess. This latest audit is fourth since 2011 by the inspector general. The last audit done in 2015 said NTHSA failed to investigate safety issues carefully, hold automakers accountable, and adequately train their staff which resulted in “significant safety concerns being overlooked.” Source: Reuters View full article

Audi finds itself in hot water once again with Germany's federal transport authority over illegal emission software fitted to TDI vehicles. According to Reuters, the KBA has found illegal emission-control software in Audi’s latest Euro-6 diesel engines. The authority has ordered Audi to recall 127,000 vehicles fitted with these engines (the majority in Germany) or face punishment which may include the withdrawal of an approval for the new A8. In a statement sent to Reuters, Audi said the vehicles were part of "a voluntary recall of 850,000 diesel vehicles with V6 and V8 TDI engines" back in July. “The engine control software for the vehicles in question will be completely revised, tested and submitted to the KBA for approval,” the company said in the statement. Audi did not comment further on the KBA's request. Source: Motor1, Reuters View full article

Ford has issued a recall 1.3 million 2014-2018 Fusion and Lincoln MKZ sedans that can have their steering wheels come off. The problem is a faulty bolt that attaches the wheel to the steering column. The bolt may not provide enough torque, which results in the bolt loosening and causing the wheel to fall off. Ford reports that two accidents and one injury are attributed to this issue. The models affected by this were built between July of 2013 and March of 2018 at Ford's Flat Rock, MI and Hermosillo, Mexico plants. The fix involves a dealer replacing the current bolt with one a larger one featuring more threads along with a larger nylon patch to keep the steering wheel where it should be. Source: Ford Press Release is on Page 2 Select 2014-18 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles for loose steering wheel bolts that could lead to a steering wheel detaching from steering column Ford is issuing a safety recall in North America for approximately 1.3 million 2014-18 Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles for potentially loose steering wheel bolts that could result in a steering wheel detaching from the steering column. In affected vehicles, the steering wheel bolt may not maintain torque, allowing the bolt to loosen over time, and if not serviced, a steering wheel could potentially detach and lead to a loss of steering control and increased risk of a crash. Ford is aware of two accidents with one injury allegedly related to this condition. Affected vehicles include: 2014-17 Ford Fusion vehicles built at Flat Rock Assembly Plant, Aug. 6, 2013 to Feb. 29, 2016 2014-18 Ford Fusion vehicles built at Hermosillo Assembly Plant, July 25, 2013 to March 5, 2018 2014-18 Lincoln MKZ vehicles built at Hermosillo Assembly Plant, July 25, 2013 to March 5, 2018 The recall involves approximately 1,378,637 vehicles in North America with 1,301,986 in the United States and federalized territories, 62,479 in Canada and 14,172 in Mexico. The Ford reference number for this recall is 18S08. Dealers will replace the steering wheel bolt on the vehicle with a longer bolt with more robust thread engagement and larger nylon patch placed properly for proper torque retention— at no cost to customers. View full article

October has not been the best of months for Nissan. Earlier this month, Japan’s transport ministry revealed that at five of the company's six plants in the country had quality checks being certified by unauthorized workers. According to Reuters, vehicles destined for the domestic market have to go under a final check by certified technicians. “It’s extremely regrettable, causing anxiety for users and shaking the foundation of the certification system,” said Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Keiichi Ishii at a press conference earlier this month. Nissan announced that it would be recalling 1.2 million vehicles built within the past three years due to this issue. The news has only gotten worse as the Japanese automaker announced today that it would be suspending production at all of their Japan plants for at least two weeks to investigate and address this issue. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa revealed at a briefing that this unauthorized approval continued a month after Nissan was told about this issue and said it strengthened the control of its inspection processes. “Our emergency measures were not enough. We were unable to change our bad habits,” said Saikawa There are numerous factors as to how this debacle developed including increasing the efficiency of the inspection process and plants transferring the checks to other lines. Nissan is planning on recalling an additional 34,000 vehicles for re-inspection. Production of export vehicles will continue as this issue is specific to Japanese-market models. Source: Reuters, 2, Bloomberg, Nissan Press Release is on Page 2 Regarding recurrence of final vehicle inspection issue at Nissan’s vehicle plants in Japan YOKOHAMA, Japan – As previously announced, on September 18 the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation (MLIT) notified Nissan that in the final vehicle inspection process, certain checks were carried out by technicians not properly registered to perform those duties under Nissan’s own processes. Nissan took corrective measures at Japanese production plants by September 20 to address the issue. By October 18, the investigation team (led by a third party) discovered that at its Oppama, Tochigi and the Nissan Kyushu plants, certain parts of the final inspection process were still being carried out by technicians not properly registered to perform those duties for vehicles for the Japan market. Nissan decided today to suspend vehicle production for the Japan market at all Nissan and Nissan Shatai plants in Japan. Nissan regrets any inconvenience and concern this has caused to its valued customers and other stakeholders in Japan. Findings The plants transferred final vehicle inspection check items from the final vehicle inspection line to other lines, such as the “marketability inspection” and the “offline inspection”. As a result, employees who were not internally registered as final vehicle inspectors performed final vehicle inspections. Measures planned Nissan will take the following actions with regard to the production line and vehicles that did not meet Japanese market requirements for final inspection: Production line in the plants The final vehicle inspection line will be configured as originally submitted to MLIT, consolidating all final inspection processes. Final inspection process will be separated from other processes and only internally registered final vehicle inspectors will have access to the final inspection line. Unregistered and registered vehicles Nissan is considering re-inspecting the unregistered vehicles at certified Nissan dealership facilities throughout Japan. Nissan is considering submitting a noncompliance recall report for registered vehicles. Approximately 34,000 vehicles produced between September 20 – October 18, 2017 including those produced for other makers will be subject to re-inspection. Nissan regards the recurrence of this issue at domestic plants — despite the corrective measures taken — as critical. The investigation team will continue to thoroughly investigate the issue and determine measures to prevent recurrence. Details of the above will be included in the final report to be published on a later date. View full article

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced today that it would be recalling a million Ram Trucks for a computer glitch that could prevent the airbags and seat-belt tensioners from engaging in the event of a crash. The issue comes from the software used in a module that controls the deployment of restraint systems in rollover situations. Underbody impacts could cause the module to think a sensor has failed and will disable the side airbags and seat-belt tensioners for that ignition cycle. This means in the event of a rollover, the key safety systems will not go into action. The good news is that if you turn the truck off and then on, the system should revert back to normal. You can tell this if the airbag warning light goes off when you restart the truck. FCA says it is aware of a fatality, two injuries, and two accidents possibly related to this problem. The models involved in this recall include, 2013-2016 Ram 1500 2013-2016 Ram 2500 2014-2016 Ram 3500 FCA says they will begin notifying owners about this issue next month along with they schedule to bring their truck to get repaired. Dealers will reprogram the occupant restraint control modules used throughout the truck. Source: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Press Release is on Page 2 Statement: Software update May 12, 2017 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - FCA US LLC is voluntarily recalling an estimated 1 million trucks in the U.S. to reprogram computer modules that help control restraint-system deployment in rollover situations. An FCA US investigation identified a population of vehicles equipped with modules featuring certain types of sensors. If such a vehicle were subjected to a significant underbody impact, its module may erroneously conclude the sensor has failed and then activate an instrument-cluster warning light. The error code associated with the warning may temporarily disable side air bag and seat belt pretensioner** deployment for that ignition cycle, which would then be unavailable in the event of a vehicle rollover. (Deployment suppression is a feature of restraint systems. It serves as a potential safeguard against inadvertent system activation, should a sensor failure actually occur.) If the warning light is illuminated, normal restraint-system function may be restored by turning the vehicle’s ignition to “off,” and then to “on/run.” Function restoration may be verified by the absence of a warning light. However, FCA US urges affected customers to follow the instructions on their recall notices. The Company is aware of one fatality, two injuries and two accidents that may be related. Affected vehicles are certain 2013-16 Ram 1500 and 2500 pickups, and 2014-2016 Ram 3500 pickups. Their occupant restraint control modules will be reprogramed with software that affords more robust sensor performance. The recall also affects an estimated 216,007 vehicles in Canada; 21,668 in Mexico; and 21,530 outside the NAFTA region. Affected customers will be advised when they may schedule service. As always, the Company urges all customers to use seat belts when operating or riding in any motor vehicle. Customers with questions may call the FCA US Customer Care Center at (800) 853-1403. View full article