Ford Air Bags

Ford is recalling about 746,842 vehicles over a problem with the air bags. The short circuits could cause the frontal air bags, side curtain air bags and the seat belt pretensioners to not function as intended when needed, increasing the risk of occupant injury in the event of a crash.

Campaign
14V597000
Manufacturer
Ford Motor Company
Reported
26 September 2014
Vehicles
746,842
Built between
Oct 2011 – Nov 2013
Models
4
Recall type
Vehicle
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
26 May 2015
Repaired
54%
Unrepaired
317,958

Does this affect my vehicle?

This recall covers vehicles built between October 2011 and November 2013. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.

  • 2013-2014 Ford C-MAXBuilt January 2012 to November 2013
  • 2013-2014 Ford EscapeBuilt October 2011 to November 2013
  • 2013-2014 Ford FusionBuilt February 2012 to August 2013
  • 2013-2014 Lincoln MKZBuilt April 2012 to September 2013

Repair progress

317,958 of 746,842 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q4 2015.

54% repaired — 403,913 of 746,842 reported

Owners not reachable
22,338
Scrapped or exported
2,633

Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.

What the defect is

Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Ford C-Max vehicles manufactured January 19, 2012, to November 21, 2013; Ford Fusion vehicles manufactured February 3, 2012, to August 24, 2013; Ford Escape vehicles manufactured October 5, 2011, to November 1, 2013; and Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured April 25, 2012, to September 30, 2013. The coating on portions of the Restraint Control Module (RCM) may crack, and when exposed to humidity, circuits on the printed circuit board may short.

What could happen

The short circuits could cause the frontal air bags, side curtain air bags and the seat belt pretensioners to not function as intended when needed, increasing the risk of occupant injury in the event of a crash.

What gets fixed

Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the RCM, free of charge. Parts are not currently available. The recall began on May 26,2015.

Timeline

  1. Vehicles builtOctober 2011 to November 2013
  2. Recall reported to NHTSA26 September 2014
  3. Owners notified26 May 2015
  4. Latest repair reportQ4 2015 — 54% repaired

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 26 September 2014.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 14S21.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
14S21
Recalling manufacturer
Ford Motor Company
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), or go to www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand