Ford Recalls Over 85,000 Police-Version Explorer Models Due to Engine Fire Risk
TapTechNews August 25th news, the US Ford Motor Company announced the recall of more than 85,000 police-version Explorer models, because these vehicles have a risk of engine fire under high-intensity use such as high-speed pursuits. (Pursuit here refers to chasing in a high-speed situation.)
This recall involves Explorer models equipped with the police interceptor utility kit from 2020 to 2022, a total of 85,238 vehicles. However, the probability of fire is very low, so that Ford has not yet notified the police to stop using these vehicles.
According to TapTechNews' understanding, all affected models are equipped with Ford's 3.3-liter fuel and hybrid V6 engines. Ford found that these engines may prematurely fail, and once a failure occurs, a large amount of engine oil and fuel vapor may leak into the engine compartment and come into contact with high-temperature exhaust and cause a fire.
Ford began to investigate this problem in July 2023. At that time, it received three reports of engine compartment fires in police Explorers. After more than a year of investigation, 13 engine compartment fire events have been recorded currently, all of which are related to the engine block rupture caused by the connecting rod fracture.
It is worth noting that as early as June 2022, Ford took measures to improve the connecting rod material to reduce the engine replacement rate. In addition, although the consumer version of the Explorer is also equipped with the same power system, it has not been recalled.
Ford said that it has not received any reports of engine failure-caused fires in the ordinary consumer version of the Explorer, because ordinary drivers will not drive at full throttle and high rpm as often as police cars do.
Police drivers are required to pay attention to signs such as abnormal engine noise, power loss, and smoke. Ford dealers will update the software of the powertrain control module (PCM) to better remind drivers of potential engine failures. Service technicians will also check whether there is a connecting rod bearing failure in the engine, and if necessary, the entire engine long block assembly will be replaced.