Ford recalls another half-million vehicles

Two days after we told you about a Ford recall to fix faulty door latches in the Fusion, Fiesta, and Lincoln MKZ, the automaker is contacting owners of more than a half-million more vehicles across North America to address a variety of other quality-related problems.

Once again, the Fusion and MKZ built from 2013 through 2015, as well as the 2015 Ford Edge crossover, are being recalled, this time to head off the possibility of corrosion on the bolts that secure the electric power steering motor; the rust could cause the steering motor to detach from the steering rack, leading to a sudden loss of assist. The nature of the problem means that in Canada, the recall is only being applied in Ontario and points east, and certain areas of of the U.S., that see heavy road salt use in winter months. This affects more than 31,000 examples of the Fusion and MKZ in Canada; neither Transport Canada nor the U.S. NHTSA say how many Edge owners will have to take their cars in for this repair.

Ford is also recalling 4,600 cars from the 2014 model year, including the Edge, Escape, Fiesta, Focus and Transit Connect, to replace faulty Bosch fuel pumps. Just like in other recent recall notices issued by BMW, Nissan and Volkswagen, the problem is nickel plating that could flake off and clog the pump mechanism and cause the engine to stall or fail to start.

Nearly 1,100 MKZ sedans have been recalled separately to reprogram daytime running lights that don’t dim to parking light intensity when the headlights are switched on.

Finally, Ford is asking 18 owners of the 2015 F-150 to bring their trucks back, as a few vehicles left the factory either without exhaust heat shields, or shields that were improperly fastened. Without the shield, hot exhaust piping could melt or damage fuel lines.