Ford will ask owners of 33,576 SUVs to return to the dealership for another repair over a recall first issued in 2022.
That year, the company recalled more than a million Bronco Sport SUVs from model years 2021-2023 and Escape compact SUVs from model years 2020-2023, all equipped with 1.5-liter 3-cylinder engines. Their fuel injectors could crack, which can lead to an engine fire, the company said.
Dealers installed a software update meant to detect and warn of leaks, and a drain tube meant to keep gas and vapor from pooling near hot engine parts.
Ford later expanded the recall to about 42,000 more vehicles.
Now, the company needs to repair some vehicles a second time. Ford recently learned that the tool dealers used to update software could sometimes fail, but report a successful upload. It has developed a new installation process that lets dealers verify a successful installation.
The company is repeating dozens of software-related recalls in which a small number of repairs may not have been successful. That now includes the cracked fuel injector recall.
Dealers need to repeat the software installation a second time for these 33,576 owners. They will not need to install new drain tubes.
Recall repairs are always free.
Automakers recall many cars to fix safety defects, sometimes more than once. While automakers try to reach every owner to ask them to bring the vehicle in for repair, they rarely reach them all. Millions of vehicles on American roads need free recall repairs. Check the easy VIN tool at our recall center to find out if your car is one of them.