Ford Recalling F-150 And Super Duty Pickups (Again) For Fire Risk

Ford Motor Company is issuing a safety recall for select 2015-19 F-150 and 2017-19 Super Duty vehicles equipped with engine block heaters that had been inspected in accordance with recall 18S45. In inspected vehicles, the engine block heater cable splice connectors may have inadvertently become damaged during that service procedure. A damaged block heater cable can cause an inoperative engine block heater and/or tripping of household breakers or GFCI-equipped outlets or a resistive short, which can increase the risk of overheated or melted wiring and fire while the vehicle is parked and the block heater is plugged in.

A safety risk only exists while the vehicle is parked and the block heater cable is plugged into an electrical outlet. Customers are advised to not use the engine block heater cable.

The affected vehicles are a subset of the 874,000 vehicles previously recalled in 18S45 and include approximately 327,000 vehicles in North America, with approximately 131,068 in the United States and federalized territories and approximately 196,269 in Canada.

Ford is aware of one fire in the United States and one in Canada that may relate to block heater usage following successful completion of recall 18S45. Ford is also aware of one report of fire in Canada in which the vehicle failed the 18S45 inspection procedure. Vehicle inspection after the fire was unable to determine whether that incident was related to this subject. Ford is not aware of any reports of accident or injury related to this issue.

Affected vehicles include:

– 2015-19 Ford F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Truck Plant, March 18, 2014 to Nov. 17, 2018 and at Kansas City Assembly Plant, Aug. 21, 2014 to Nov. 17, 2018
– 2017-19 Ford F-Series Super Duty vehicles built at Ohio Assembly Plant, Feb. 5, 2016 to Nov. 17, 2018 and at Kentucky Truck Plant, Oct. 8, 2015 to Nov. 17, 2018

Dealers will disable the vehicle’s engine block heater cable by cutting off the plug end prongs and sealing the end cap with silicone sealant. Customers will be notified when an engine block replacement cable is available. The Ford reference number for this recall is 19S11.