This new recall aims to tackle an electrical short that could potentially start an engine fire.
In 2025, Ford had a rocky year for recalls, and things don’t seem too much better in 2026. As we cover this latest campaign, we’re looking at the Blue Oval’s 60th recall for this calendar year. It’s certainly not a small recall, either, impacting 2021-2026 Ford Bronco SUVs. Now, the Bronco is the only player here, but this campaign (NHTSA recall number 26V-468; Ford recall 26S55) covers a whopping 565,691 examples built between September 23, 2020 and June 28, 2026. In other words, that more or less covers all current-gen Broncos built before the last couple months.
Ford is specifically recalling an engine compartment wiring harness. The automaker tells the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its report that the wiring harness can potentially rub against surrounding components. That movement, and what the automaker deems “insufficient abrasion protection on the wiring harness” can lead to exposure of the actual wiring. If the internal harness electrical circuits are exposed, intermittent shorts can cause arcing, which could cause smoke or, in a worst case scenario, trigger a fire.
To date, Ford says it is aware of 15 incidents on Model Year 2021-2026 Bronco vehicles which may have suffered this type of fire. The company at least says it has evidence a fire may have originated from the engine wiring harness, while it further cites 2 warranty reports, 3 field reports, a single customer service report, 4 Vehicle Owner Questionnaires (VOQs) and 10 legal claims. No injuries were reported.
During the company’s own internal investigation over the past month, it inspected 80 Bronco SUVs and found evidence of rubbing or chafing on the engine wiring harness in “a small number of the inspected vehicles”. The report does not elaborate further, but Ford submitted to the NHTSA that this issue should be fairly rare, impacting about 1% of the recall population. Even so, that still concerns more than 5,600 Broncos that could suffer a serious fire risk if the issue is not remedied through the recall campaign.
What are the symptoms and the fix?
For Broncos built later than June 2026, Ford says it has already introduced enhanced protective coverings for the engine compartment wiring harness. That should prevent the chafing that could expose the harness’ internal wires and lead to arcing — and that will essentially be the automaker’s fix for older Bronco owners, too.
Letters should go out to impacted owners starting August 24, 2026. From that point, Bronco owners should be able to schedule a repair with their local Ford or Lincoln dealer. Technicians will add convolute sheathing with abrasion tape to the engine compartment wiring harness, free of charge.
While Ford stopped short of issuing a “Do Not Drive” instruction, it is still important to keep alert for a potential problem. Following a short circuit, drivers may smell smoke through their air vents, or a cluster warning message may pop up. The wiring harness in question is on the passenger side of the engine compartment, so that’s where any smoke or fire would originate.
