Ford Mustang steering recall expanded to F-150, Expedition

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• Ford is recalling some 2022 and ’23 Mustangs because they may steer left and right on their own
  
• The issue can be caused by a wonky torque sensor, but fixed with a software update
• A week later, Ford’s expanded the recall to cover more Mustangs, plus older F-150s, Expeditions, and Lincoln Navigators

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Owners of certain 2022 and 2023 copies of the Ford Mustang should expect a recall notice to land in their inbox very soon. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says approximately 30,735 of these models in America may exhibit wonky steering behaviour thanks to a digital torque sensor in the steering gear, produced with inverted polarity. Canadian databases do not yet reflect this recall, but we will note Mustangs sold in this country are hammered together with the same parts as ones in the States. We’ll keep our ear to the ground for details specific to Canucks.

According to the recall document, the fault lies in the secondary or backup torque sensor. If the car’s primary steering torque sensor has a problem and the secondary digital torque sensor was built with inverted polarity, the steering wheel may begin oscillating without warning when the driver attempts to steer—unintended steering assist occurs thanks to that polarity problem. A fix for this includes loading updated software to the power steering control module.

UPDATE July 10, 2024: Less than a week after announcing the Mustang recall, Ford’s expanded it to include more years of that model, dating back to 2018; as well as to 2018 to 2020 Ford F-150 pickups, and 2018 to 2021 Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator SUVs, which may have had the problematic Electronic Power Assist Steering gears installed during servicing. The automaker figures 7,442 examples of the trucks and SUVs may be affected. Still no word on number of affected vehicles in Canada. —Ed.

Clearly, unwanted steering input can lead to a crash, hence the recall. Ford has reported it is aware of two warranty claims relating to this issue, but no crashes. The issue apparently stems from inverted wires during machine maintenance at the supplier of this part; Dearborn was made aware of the snafu after that supplier tapped Ford on the shoulder and ‘fessed to the mix-up. Production dates of affected models ran from the middle of September 2022 to the beginning of April the next year.

Building cars is hard, a statement which should be blindingly obvious, but a fact often taken for granted by customers and doughheads in the media. Still, it is reported this makes for the 32nd recall so far this year at Ford, meaning the Blue Oval is averaging a new campaign every 5.8 days since the beginning of January. Ford was the most-recalled brand in America for the third straight year in 2023, with 56 recalls. If the year-to-date pace continues, this year will see over 60 recalls.

Overall, the NHTSA lists a total of 5,508 open recalls for Ford products in America, some of which concern vehicles going back over a decade. In comparison, a cursory search of the NHTSA database shows 4,483 open recalls at Chevy and just 1,911 open recalls at Honda.

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