A Ford F-150 recall has been issued over a fire risk, affecting nearly two million trucks in North America.
The front seatbelt pretensioners can generate “excessive sparks” when they deploy. Those sparks are enough to ignite gases that are exhausted by the pretensioners in the lower section of the b-pillar.
Ford says it is aware of 17 cases of smoke or fire in the United States and six in Canada. The company is not aware of any injuries or crashes due to the condition.
Affected vehicles are the following Regular Cab and SuperCrew F-150s:
- 2015-18 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Assembly Plant, March 12, 2014 through Aug. 23, 2018
- 2015-18 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Kansas City Assembly Plant, Aug. 20, 2014 through Aug. 23, 2018
The totals come in at 1,995,776 vehicles recalled in North America, with the split being 1,619,112 in the US, 339,884 in Canada and 36,780 in Mexico.
To fix the issue, Ford dealers will remove insulation from the b-pillar, remove remnants of wiring harness tape that might have been left behind and apply new heat-resistant tape to the carpet and its insulation. In regular cab trucks, the dealers will also modify the back interior panels.
