Ford To Recall 157K 2021 F-150 Pickups To Repair Faulty Front Wiper Motor

Although this may seem like a flippant question, it really is not. It is simply this: what happens if the wiper motors on a vehicle fail? I'll let you have a multiple choice answer:

A. Nothing
B. Nothing
C. Nothing
D. Nothing
E. All of the Above

I am sure you answered E and then muttered something of an expletive. You are right because the question is pretty evident.

Wiper Motor Failures Keep Device Off

If the wiper motor on any vehicle fails – and you switch them on – nothing happens. Or, a lot may happen, depending on whether you are driving in heavy traffic. Even if your vehicle is the only one on the road, if it is precipitating in some way or another, your windshield can become unusable as it quickly becomes covered with streaks of water, ice, or snow combination of the above. Though you seldom think about your wipers because they work correctly, they are as necessary to your safety as working headlights (another item you often take for granted) or working brake signal lights (another of those little-noticed items).

If your vehicle is surrounded by many other vehicles heading in the same direction, imagine what the situation would be like if the wiper motor failed while trying to change lanes. If you were to make it in one piece, the chances are good that aside from babbling to yourself about your good luck, your nerves would be shot, as well.

Indeed, the windshield wipers are so crucial that a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) regarding visibility. Ford will also soon notify the owners of 157,306 2021 F-150 pickups of a potential issue with the windshield wiper motors on the trucks. Ford built the pickups between January 8, 2020, and March 22, 2021.

According to a notice filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the automaker will soon recall the popular pickups to repair or replace the front windshield wiper motor. In a masterful piece of understatement, the notice mentions that "inoperative windshield wipers can reduce visibility in certain conditions, increasing the risk" of crashes.

The filing also stated that the "factors that led to inoperative or poorly performing wipers were poor quality motor brush plate spot welding, insufficient motor magnet adhesive being applied, an insufficient motor nut assembly torque."

Ford To Notify Owners Next Month

Ford will begin notifying owners of the affected pickups in the middle of next month. The fix is simple: technicians will inspect and replace the front windshield wiper motor – the motor drives both left and right front wipers – for free.

For more information, owners can contact Ford customer service at 866-436-7332. The Ford recall identification number is 22S12.

Or, customers can contact the NHTSA Motor Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236. Alternatively, owners can contact the agency's website at www.nhtsa.gov The NHTSA identification number is 22V142.

Marc Stern has been an automotive writer since 1971 when an otherwise normal news editor said, "You're our new car editor," and dumped about 27 pounds of auto stuff on my desk. I was in heaven as I have been a gearhead from my early days. As a teen, I spent the usual number of misspent hours hanging out at gas stations Shell and Texaco (a big thing in my youth) and working on cars. From there on, it was a straight line to my first column for the paper, "You Auto Know," an enterprise that I handled faithfully for 32 years. Not many people know that I also handled computer documentation for a good part of my living while writing YAN. My best writing, though, was always in cars. My work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Mechanix Illustrated, AutoWeek, SuperStock, Trailer Life, Old Cars Weekly, Special Interest Autos, etc. You can follow me on: Twitter or Facebook.