The child safety lock in Broncos might not work, the rearview cameras in some Explorers might not either, and some replacement F-Series headlights might be too bright
The drivers of Ford trucks and SUVs may want to keep a close eye on their mailboxes, because the automaker has launched a trio of recalls that could affect their vehicles. The automaker is recalling certain Broncos over an issue with the child lock, certain Explorers due to a problem with the backup camera, and some F-Series Super Duty pickups due to a problem with replacement headlights.
2023-2024 Ford Bronco
The biggest recall by far is the one that affects the 2023-2024 Bronco four-door. Ford is recalling 9,847 examples of the SUV built between November 28 and December 17, 2023. In some of these vehicles, the rear left door’s child lock may not work.
The good news is that Ford’s factory quality team caught this issue, not a customer. An investigation determined that the cause of the issue was an adjusted process on the line that was aimed at improving door flushness. It had the unintended consequence of shifting the location of rear door latch reinforcement bracket, particularly on the left side. Ultimately, that means that in about 2 percent of rear left doors, the release lever could come in contact with the child lock coupling, allowing the door to open, despite the lock supposedly being on.
More: Ford Recalls 2024 Maverick Trucks Over Faulty Gas Tanks That May Leak
Ford said it is not aware of any injuries or accidents that have come as a result of this production error. It plans to start reaching out to owners on April 16, and will ask them to return their Bronco to a nearby dealer, where the rear left door will be examined, and the door latch will be replaced where necessary.
2020 Ford Explorer
The second recall is much smaller, and affects 1,988 Explorers from the 2020 model year. These vehicles were equipped with back up cameras whose circuit boards might not have enough electrical conductivity. That can result in the rearview camera feed showing a distorted or blank image.
Ford says the fault can increase the risk of a crash when the vehicle is backing up, so it will start reaching out to owners on April 8 to alert them to the recall. They will be asked to return their Explorer to a nearby dealer, where the camera will be replaced.
Ford Super Duty High Series Headlamp
Finally, Ford believes that the third recall affects just 73 vehicles in the U.S. However, it also affects a total of 1,505 Ford Super Duty High Series replacement headlights that were built in 2021, and sold by dealers as service parts for model year 2017–2019 vehicles.
These headlights were built with low beam moldings that deviated from the design. That could cause the lights to shine too bright, and could affect oncoming drivers’ visibility. Ford has told its dealers to destroy any units they have in stock, and to get in touch with any owners who have had their headlights replaced while the bad batch was in circulation. The date codes on their headlights will be inspected, and the lights will be replaced where necessary.
