According to foreign media reports, Ford announced a recall of approximately 327,000 pickup trucks equipped with engine block heaters because the cable connector was unintentionally damaged during a previous recall service and could pose a fire hazard.
The F-150 and SuperDuty trucks involved are part of the 874,000 vehicles recalled in December 2018 for wiring issues. As of now, repairs have not been made immediately.
In a statement, Ford said that following the successful completion of the recall in 2018, the same defect has caused two more fires in the United States and Canada, possibly related to the use of the cylinder block heater. Ford is also aware of another fire in Canada, which may be related to the defect that triggered the initial recall last year. The second recall currently affects 131,068 vehicles in the United States and its federal territories, and 196,269 vehicles in Canada.
The affected vehicles include:
2015-19 Ford F-150s manufactured at the Dearborn, Michigan plant between March 18, 2014 and November 17, 2018, and at the Kansas City assembly plant between August 21, 2014 and November 17, 2018.
2017-19 Ford F-series SuperDuty vehicles manufactured at the Ohio assembly plant between February 5, 2016 and November 17, 2018, and at the Kentucky truck plant between October 8, 2015 and November 17, 2018.
Ford warns that damaged cylinder block heater cables could cause a range of problems for vehicle owners. These problems include engine cylinder block heater failure, detachment of the household circuit breaker or socket equipped with a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), and resistive short circuits. When the vehicle is parked and the cylinder block heater is powered on, this issue increases the risk of the cable overheating, melting, or catching fire.
Dealers will scrap the engine block heater cables for these vehicles by cutting off the forked end of the connector and sealing the port cap with silicone sealant. Consumers will be notified when replacement cables for the engine block heaters arrive.
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