Ford Recalls Fusion and Ranger Trucks for Potential Rollaway Risks

Ford Motor Co. has announced a massive recall of the Ford Fusion and Ranger units in an attempt to address potential “rollaway” risks on Wednesday, May 15.

Nearly 273,000 pickup trucks from both lines are set to be recalled in North America after reports of the vehicles rolling away when the gear is not in “park” mode.

This covers Fusion cars from model years 2013 to 2016 which come with shifter cables that are detachable from the transmission and which allow drivers to remove the ignition key when the vehicle is not parked. About 2,800 Ford Ranger units from 2019 are also affected.

According to Ford, it is aware of the three incidents of property damage and another injury report that could be related to the Fusion models. However, the company maintained that it is not aware of any accidents or incidents related to the Ranger line.

Owners of the vehicles in question are advised to use the parking brake of their vehicles in the meantime and will be notified as soon as a fix becomes available with regard to the Fusion recall.

For the Ranger recall, on the other hand, Ford said there is a possibility that the two fasteners that were supposed to secure the transmission shift cable bracket to the transmission housing might not have been tightened according to industry specifications.

Ranger dealers are instructed to tighten the fasteners and verify that the transmission selector assembly is operating properly, Ford said.

The affected vehicles recalled on Wednesday were built at the automaker’s Flat Rock Assembly Plant between April 12, 2013 and February 29, 2016, as well as at the Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico between February 9, 2012 and April 4, 2016.

The latest recall from the second largest automaker in the U.S. is an expansion of a previous batch of recalls on 550,000 Fusions and 2013 to 2014 Escapes due to defective shifter cable bushings.