Over A Million Ford Customers Need To Look Over Their Shoulders

The bad news continues, unfortunately, with another announced massive recall impacting nearly 1.1 million vehicles on the road, this time not due to bad brakes, but again associated with the vehicle camera systems. Luckily, the fix for software should be easier than a fix for hardware, if you can be a little patient.

Ford's Infotainment System Seems To Be The Cause
Back in January, Ford was approached by NHTSA with dozens of written owner complaints about Ford and Lincoln vehicles having issues with their rearview backup camera system. By April, Ford was reportedly able to find and repeat the issue itself and identified the software at fault, which would apparently be part of the Ford SYNC system, versions 1.7 through 1.9. Now, the notices for the recall should go out to owners of the impacted vehicles by mid-June, with a second letter to follow later this year once the software remedy has been properly developed by Ford.

According to the recall notice on NHTSA's website, the issue is described as follows: "The center infotainment screen may freeze, followed by a black screen and a system reboot. If this occurs during a backing event, the rearview image may be frozen, missing, or delayed." It further elaborates on the associated risk involved: "A frozen rearview camera display image while in reverse can create a false representation of where the vehicle is relative to its surroundings, increasing the risk of a crash."

SYNC Isn't Syncing
You still have the full suite of high-tech glass windows to look out of for locating and navigating, of course, but apparently that's not enough anymore. It's reported that the SYNC system may be resetting itself during these instances: "Improper operational sequencing within the wireless communication subsystem of the SYNC software may lead to unexpected system resets." Either way, the "accessory protocol interface module (APIM) software will be updated by a dealer or through an over-the-air update, free of charge" sometime later this year.

Specifically, the automaker has been forced to send out recall notices to owners of 104,394 2020 to 2024 model year Bronco SUVs, 157,506 of the 2020 to 2024 Edge SUVs, 17,909 Escape SUVs from 2022 to 2024, 18,124 Expedition SUVs from 2021 to 2024, 136,968 Transit vans from 2021 to 2025, 8,949 examples of the 2020 to 2023 Mustang Mach-E EVs, 3,907 of the 2023 to 2024 Ranger pickups, 4,988 copies of the 2022 to 2024 Mustang muscle car, 65,385 Super Duty trucks from 2022 to 2024, and a missive heap of 527,371 F-150 trucks from 2020 to 2024. For Lincoln, the new recall impacts 2,718 Corsair SUVs from 2022 to 2024, 23,468 MKX SUVs from 2020 to 2023, and 3,612 Navigator SUVs from the 2021 to 2024 model years. That's 1,075,299 vehicles to flash with an update.