How Ford Dealers Plan To Fix 1.3 Million F-150 Trucks Involved in a Dangerous Door Latch Recall

Ford Motor is recalling its top-selling vehicles because of dangerous door latches. Ford is recalling 1.3 million 2015-2017 F-150 and 2017 Super Duty trucks. Service technicians will be adding water shields to side door latches. Ford has found that the latches can potentially freeze up and allow the doors to open while the vehicles are moving.

It has been an expensive month for the automaker. Ford recently announced that it would voluntarily provide service to 2011-2017 Ford Explorers to correct potential problems with carbon monoxide seeping into the passenger compartment.

The Door Latch Problem

Ford F-150's door latch problem was reported as early as 2015. Water is able to get into the latch and potentially freeze. According to Ford, a frozen door latch or a bent or kinked actuation cable may result in a door that will not open or will not close. If a customer closed the door with these conditions, the door may appear closed, but the latch may not fully engage. Ford admits that there is “the potential that the door could open while driving, increasing the risk of injury.” In other words, the doors could fall open while the vehicle is moving.

Ford says it is not aware of any accidents or injuries associated with this issue.

The Fix of Ford F-150's Door Latch Problem

At this point, Ford is not saying when the repairs will be available. Ford dealers will install water shields over the door latches and inspect and repair the door latch actuation cables if needed at no cost to the customer. According to Ford, the affected vehicles involved in the door latch recall include.

• 2015-17 F-150 vehicles built at Dearborn Assembly Plant, March 12, 2014 to Dec. 31, 2016
• 2015-17 F-150 vehicles built at Kansas City Assembly Plant, Aug. 11, 2014 to Dec. 30, 2016
• 2017 Super Duty vehicles built at Kentucky Assembly Plant, Oct. 8, 2015 to Sept. 1, 2016

The Ford F-150 recall involves approximately 1,344,605 vehicles in North America, including 1,101,107 in the United States and federalized territories, 222,408 in Canada and 21,090 in Mexico. According to Bloomberg, Ford will take $267 million hit from this recall. The Ford reference number for this recall is 17S33.

For well over 30 years, the F-Series of trucks have been the best-selling vehicles in the United States. The F-150 has been the best-selling pickup for more than 40 years. Sales of the popular truck have kept Ford viable during even the leanest years. It is remarkable that with so many of the trucks on the road that no one has been injured because of the potentially dangerous door latches.

Mary Conway covered the Detroit Three for more than twenty years for the ABC affiliate, in Detroit. Her affection for the Motor City comes naturally. Her father ran a gas station while Mary was growing up, in Wisconsin. Follow Mary on Twitter at @maryconwaymedia.