A failure to design and manufacture high-quality door latches has triggered another major recall at Ford, this time involving the most popular vehicle in the U.S.
The Dearborn, Mich.-based automaker said Wednesday that it would recall about 1.34 million pickup trucks in North America to fix a defect that could cause doors to swing open while driving.
The recall affects certain 2015 through 2017 model-year F-150 trucks — the nation’s best seller — and certain 2017 Super-Duty F-series trucks.
It’s the latest in a series of recalls over problematic door latches at Ford, now approaching nearly 4 million vehicles in total and costing several hundred million dollars.
The latest recall comes after Ford realized that door latches could freeze or actuation cables could become bent, preventing the door from closing or opening.
“Should a customer be able to open and close the door with these conditions, the door may appear closed, but the latch may not fully engage the door striker with the potential that the door could open while driving, increasing the risk of injury,” Ford said in a statement.
The automaker said it had not identified any accidents or injuries connected to the issue.
The company will pay for dealers to install water shields over door latches and fix any actuation cables that are broken.
Owners will be notified directly. Affected models are the F-150s made at the company’s Dearborn plant from March 12, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2016; the F-150s made at the manufacturer’s Kansas City factory from Aug. 11, 2014, through Dec. 30, 2016; and the Super Duty assembled at Ford’s Kentucky plant from Oct. 8, 2015, through Sept. 1, 2016.
The recall covers about 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S., 222,000 in Canada and 21,000 in Mexico.
