A new major recall impacts more than 1 million Fords and Lincolns between 2021 and 2024.
Ford Motor Company launched a new recall campaign, according to documents published through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)’s website, covering some 1,075,299 total vehicles. The central problem concerns the center infotainment screen, and potentially the rear view camera image projected on the same screen when backing up. Ford says the screen could freeze up, followed by a black screen and system reboot. If that happens while a vehicle is backing up, the image could be frozen, delayed or missing entirely, which puts vehicles in the population out of compliance with U.S. safety standards.
Ford told safety regulators that the problem came about due to “improper operational sequencing within the wireless communication subsystem of the SYNC software that may lead to unexpected system resets.” The NHTSA first contacted Ford on January 17 about complaints of these exact issues on 2021-2023 F-150 trucks. On April 2, the engineering team for the automaker’s SYNC infotainment system was able to reproduce the problem on SYNC 4-equipped vehicles running software variants 1.7 to 1.9. Ultimately, Ford decided to launch a full-scale recall on May 2.
This issue affects vehicles under the Ford and Lincoln brands, including SUVs and trucks:
Ford models:
| Vehicle | Model Years | # of Affected Units | Production Dates |
| Bronco | 2021 – 2024 | 104,394 | Sep 30, 2020 – May 10, 2024 |
| Edge | 2021 – 2024 | 157,506 | Aug 19, 2020 – May 3, 2024 |
| Escape | 2023 – 2024 | 17,909 | Jul 12, 2022 – May 16, 2024 |
| Expedition | 2022 – 2024 | 18,124 | Jun 23, 2021 – May 17, 2024 |
| F-150 | 2021 – 2024 | 527,371 | Jan 8, 2020 – Apr 16, 2024 |
| F-250 – F-600 (Super Duty) | 2023 – 2024 | 65,385 | Mar 10, 2022 – Nov 6, 2024 |
| Mustang | 2024 | 4,988 | Oct 4, 2022 – Feb 15, 2024 |
| Mustang Mach-E | 2021 – 2023 | 8,949 | Mar 17, 2020 – Dec 15, 2023 |
| Ranger | 2024 | 3,907 | Jan 13, 2023 – Jul 25, 2024 |
| Transit | 2022 – 2025 | 136,968 | Jun 4, 2021 – Mar 13, 2025 |
Lincoln models:
| Vehicle | Model Years | # of Affected Units | Production Dates |
| Corsair | 2023 – 2024 | 2,718 | Jun 24, 2022 – Apr 30, 2024 |
| Nautilus | 2021 – 2023 | 23,468 | Sep 17, 2020 – Dec 6, 2023 |
| Navigator | 2022 – 2024 | 3,612 | Apr 22, 2021 – Aug 22, 2024 |
Ford says it is aware of one minor crash resulting in property damage, but no injuries related to the issue. Nevertheless, there is also no warning before this happens, so owners should be vigilant just in case it does crop up with their vehicle. And depending on what you drive (like the F-150, for example), it’s likely you are one of tens or even hundreds of thousands that may be impacted by this recall.
The automaker will notify owners of the issue by mail between May 19 and May 23. Dealers were made aware of the problem on May 12. Ford and Lincoln dealers will install updated software to the accessory protocol interface module/APIM (at version 2.0 or above, depending on the vehicle) that will properly handle operational sequencing and, as such, not be susceptible to freezing up from an issue with the wireless communication subsystem.
That actual remedy will come a bit later, with Ford planning to send another notification around June 16 that they can take their vehicle to their local Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the update done, if their car is not capable of over-the-air updates (OTA). If the vehicle does support OTA updates, then you will be able to get this update when the car is connected to Wi-Fi, without having to make a trip to the dealer.
If you are an impacted owner, you can check whether your vehicle is part of the recall campaign through Ford’s recall website or Lincoln’s support page.
