- Ford issues two new recalls for E-Transit, Escape, and Corsair.
- E-Transit vans risk power loss and rollaway while in park.
- Escape and Corsair may have loose rear seatbelt retractors.
The year is coming to a close, but Ford could hit 150 recalls before 2025 is out. That’s a sad statistic, but the automaker currently sits at 143 and that number doesn’t appear to include two new campaigns.
The first involves 32,160 E-Transits from the 2022-2025 model years. They have a powertrain problem that causes a rollaway risk and a possible loss of drive power.
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According to the government, the electric vans may have left rear half shafts that aren’t fully inserted into the primary drive unit. This can cause premature wear on the splines, which can eventually result in insufficient spline engagement. If this occurs, the vehicle can lose motive power while driving and can rollaway, even when in park.
Ford became aware of the issue in May following a “durability teardown” on a 2025 E-Transit, which found a leak at the rear left-hand axle shaft seal. This sparked an investigation, which eventually determined the “insertion force and retention check force specifications provided for the assembly process were insufficient to fully insert the half shaft into the primary drive unit.”
Ford is aware of four warranty claims potentially related to the issue, but no accidents. Overall, the automaker believes 5 percent of the recalled vehicles suffer from the problem.
Unfortunately for owners, there’s no fix at the moment. As a result, they’ll be notified about the problem and informed when a remedy is available. That’s expected to be sometime in March of 2026, but that’s just an estimate.
Seat Belt Retractor Recall
The second recall involves 780 Ford Escapes and Lincoln Corsairs from the 2025 and 2026 model years. They have rear seat belt retractors that may not have been securely fastened.
Documents didn’t reveal much about the issue, but the safety recall report says the “retractor bolts may not have been properly secured due to an incomplete/improper repair at off-line repair stations in the vehicle assembly plant.” In effect, it sounds like a screw up of a screw up.
Regardless, workers at the Louisville Assembly Plant tipped off the automaker about five warranty claims involving right rear seatbelt retractors binding and/or making noise during extraction and retraction. These incidents all occurred in Escapes and a review determined this was from a seatbelt retractor that wasn’t properly secured to the D-pillar.
The fix is easy as dealers will inspect the seat belt retractor bolts. They’ll then secure or replace them, as necessary. Owner notifications are scheduled to go out later this week.
