Ford Recalls Nearly Half a Million Models for Safety Flaw

The current Ford recall involving backup cameras expands and replaces a 2021 recall of 228,000 vehicles.

Ford  (F) - Get Free Report is recalling nearly half a million SUVs worldwide due to a problem with their backup cameras. 

The recall covers 462,000 vehicles around the world, according to Reuters, including 382,759 in the U.S. 

The action applies to the 2020-2023 Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator, and the 2020-2022 Lincoln Corsair.

The video information from one or more of the 360-cameras, which includes the rear view camera, may fail to feed to the SYNC display screen during some key cycles, a filing with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said.

The issue is intermittent and may recover during subsequent ignition cycles, the filing said. Once it occurs, the problem will likely happen again on the same camera or cameras intermittently.

Loss of rear camera of image while reversing increases the risk of a crash, NHTSA said. If a loss of video frames is detected by the image processing module, the module's response is to display a blue image instead of a re-initialized video pipeline.

Ford said it has reports of 17 minor accidents relating to the recall issue and about 2,115 warranty reports but no reports of injuries. 

The recall expands and replaces a 2021 recall of 228,000 vehicles. Dealers will update the image processing module software and vehicles previously updated under the old recall will need the new update.

NHTSA contacted Ford in October 2021 about vehicle owner questionnaires related to allegations of a blue image in the rear camera display after the first recall was completed. 

Ford Has Issued Other Rear-Camera Recalls

In January 2022, NHTSA provided five more vehicle owner questionnaires related to allegations of a blue image in the rear camera display.

From March through June 2022, Ford continued to work with suppliers to analyze claims relating to blue screens. 

It analyzed over 100 cameras replaced in the field for blue screen symptoms, and analyzed returned Image Processing B Modules (IPMB) eliminating potential root causes.

Dealers are expected to be notified on January 31, while mailing of owner notification letters is scheduled to begin on February 20 and completed by February 24.

NHTSA in August 2021 opened an investigation after Ford recalled 620,246 vehicles the prior year for another rear camera issue. 

The investigation is reviewing if Ford recalled the vehicles in a timely fashion and if it recalled enough vehicles.

Ford has issued other rear camera related recalls in recent years, including recalling 47,000 U.S. 2021-2022 Broncos because the rearview camera image may still be displayed after a backing event has ended, which could distract the driver. 

Ford has had some challenges involving recalls recently. The company was named the most-recalled automaker of the year in 2022, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The company issued a total of 67 recalls in the year, well ahead of Volkswagen  (VLKAF) , which filed for 45 recalls.