Ford is recalling more than 400,000 Transit vans across North America to deal with defective drive shafts. The repairs will be made at no cost to the owners.
Officially, the Dearborn, Michigan-based automaker is recalling 402,462 Transits, including 370,630 in the U.S. The action covers 2015 through 2017 model-year Transits from the company’s plant in Kansas City built between Jan. 17, 2014 and June 15, 2017.
A defective flexible coupling could cause separation of the drive shaft, cutting off motive power, causing the vehicle to move while parked or damaging surrounding parts. Ford said it had not identified any crashes or injuries connected to the defect.
The recall will cost Ford $142 million, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The automaker has been dealing with a string of quality issues in recent weeks, including a recall of 2.4 million vehicles for faulty door latches.
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The doors could fly open while the vehicle is in motion. The problem cost Ford $640 million.
As for the current problem, the automaker is searching for a permanent fix to the problem. However, the current problem doesn’t surface until the van has been driven 30,000 miles.
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So for now, the automaker plans to replace the flexible coupling every 30,000 miles “until the final repair is available and completed,” the company said in a statement.
Owners will be notified by mail and will get another letter once the permanent repair is available, according to a Ford statement.
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In addition to the Transit recall, Ford also recalled four Ford Police Interceptor Utility vehicles to repair second row seat attachment studs, and three Ford Escape vehicles to fix knee airbag modules. Dealers are contacting those drivers to schedule service appointments.
