Will Sabel Courtney
Ford dropped another cache of recalls on April 11 — two of them brand-new, and the third yet another re-recall of vehicles that were improperly fixed the first time around.
Let’s start with the fresh ones. 123,611 vehicles are being recalled because they’re at risk of a brake fluid leak, according to filings made with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. Models involved in the action include the 2017–2018 Ford F-150, Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator.
The brake master cylinder in these trucks found that contamination of the brake fluid could “interfere with rear cup seal function or, to a lesser extent, rolling of the rearmost cup seal in the master cylinder.” Should this happen, Ford says fluid could leak from the master cylinder front wheel circuit into the brake booster. The risk is obvious, as a loss of brake fluid would result in a depletion of brake performance, and if left long enough, potentially total brake failure.
Ford says that a chime and message in the cluster will warn drivers when the fluid in the reservoir is depleted to a predetermined level, so there is plenty of warning that you’re losing brake fluid. The fix is to install a new-and-improved brake master cylinder, and owners will also get a new brake booster if the master cylinder is found to already be leaking.
The second new recall includes 24,655 2025 Ford Explorers. Ford says the powertrain control module could reset while driving, which could cause a couple of bad things to happen. For one, the reset could result in the park pawl ratcheting while in motion, which could then damage the pawl and other park system components “if the vehicle is traveling at speeds greater than 10 mph.” Secondly, Ford says you could experience a temporary loss of vehicle acceleration or a loss of motive power if the car experiences “8 consecutive resets in the span of 18 seconds.”
Ford’s fix is to update the car’s PCM software at the dealer to a new version. The dealer will also inspect the transmission for any damage done as a result of a reset occurring while moving.
The re-recall — something Ford’s done a lot this year — consists of 1168 vehicles, those models including the 2024 Ford Ranger and Lincoln Nautilus. These two vehicles have a problem with the global closing feature of the windows that would cause the pinch control to not function. Ford says that these vehicles did not have the recall fix installed correctly before, but were still recorded as having the repair done successfully. Owners will need to take their vehicle back to the dealer to have the update installed properly and then validated.
Associate editor
A Michigan-born car nut and racing enthusiast, Zac Palmer is talking about or thinking about cars somewhere. He bought his first when he was still 15, a 2001 Acura Integra GS-R that still resides in the garage today. It’s now joined by a 2004 Porsche Boxster S, and there will be even less practical additions to follow. Palmer worked at both Autoweek and Autoblog before joining R&T.
