Warning after 13,490 Ford 4WDs recalled over risk of 'injury or death'
'Due to a manufacturing defect, the left-hand engine camshaft sprocket may fracture. As a result, the engine could stall leading to a sudden loss of motive power whilst driving,' the manufacturer said in its recall notice, which applies to 13,490 cars built between 2022 and 2025.
'A sudden loss of motive power whilst driving increases the risk of an accident, which may result in serious injury or death to vehicle occupants and other road users.'
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Paul Maric, founder of CarExpert, said he was 'surprised' it's taken this long for Ford to pick up on the issue, and that it wasn't detected 'during the initial engineering process for the vehicle'.
'This is a vehicle that's been designed and engineered here in Australia, and Ford claims that this is an issue with a third party supplier that has supplied a camshaft sprocket to this engine that's causing these failures,' he said.
Every vehicle on the recall list will need to be inspected, but they may not necessarily all need new parts. Although the repairs will be 'free of charge' for customers, Maric said the engine issue is 'disappointing given the amount of money that's been invested in this product' and that 'something as big as this could have been missed from the outset'.
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The Ford Ranger is Australia's best selling car and 'a large chunk of those sales are the V6 model', Maric explained. They are primarily purchased to tow heavy items such as caravans, trailers and boats.
'There are only a small number of vehicles that have had failures, but in saying that, if a vehicle does lose power while it's driving, particularly while it's towing, you all of a sudden potentially lose power assistance to things like steering and brakes,' Maric told Yahoo, adding that while Ford hasn't confirmed 'whether that's the case', it likely would be in a 'worst case scenario'.
'I couldn't think of a worse situation to be in if you are driving 100km/h with a three-and-a-half ton caravan on the back of your vehicle, and then all of a sudden you have this loss of power.
'So if it does happen to anyone that is driving one of these vehicles, I highly recommend putting it in neutral and making your way off the motorway as safely and as soon as practical.'
A spokesperson for Ford said the engine failure may occur 'with no prior warning to the driver', but despite this risk, they should 'continue to drive their vehicles as normal'.
'Dealers have been instructed to visually inspect the left-hand camshaft sprocket to identify the build date and replace the sprockets and associated parts if required,' the spokesperson told News.com.au. 'This service will be performed on all affected vehicles at no charge to the vehicle owner.'
The recall applies to 13,490 vehicles in Australia and another 647 in New Zealand, he added. Ford will contact owners of the affected vehicles to request they visit an Authorised Ford Dealer.
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