Ford Escape, C-Max Recall Issued Due to Air Bag Problems

Ford Motor Company is recalling nearly 700,000 Escape SUVs and C-MAX hybrid vehicles due to software problems, which may cause a delay in the deployment of frontal and side air bags.  

The Ford Escape and C-MAX recall was announced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) on May 9, indicating that an engineering error in the software may prevent the front and side curtain roll-over air bags from deploying in a crash, which could increase the risk of serious injury for passengers in the event of a crash.

The vehicles are equipped with a restraint control module, which is an electronic software in vehicles with the Safety Canopy System air bag technology. Ford’s engineering team determined the restraint control module has a reversed polarity in the low-g, Z-axis sensing configuration file, potentially delaying the deployment of the air bags.

The recall includes 627,275 model year 2013-2014 Ford Escapes and 65,192 model year 2013-2014 C-MAX vehicles sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The vehicles were manufactured at the Louisville Assembly Plant from October 5, 2011 through February 14, 2014, and at the Michigan Assembly Plant from January 19, 2012 through February 24, 2014. The defective restraint control modules were supplied to Ford for assembly by Robert Bosch, LLC of Plymouth Michigan.

Usually, defects only occur in a small percentage of models of vehicles affected by a recall. However, in this case, Ford indicates that 100% of the recalled vehicles are expected to have the software engineering errors. An estimated 594,785 of those vehicles were sold in the U.S.

Ford Motor Company plans to notify owners and dealers by mail with instructions to take their vehicles to a Ford or Lincoln dealer to reprogram the restraint control module free of charge. Ford recommends because the vehicles were not produced in VIN order that customers contact Ford’s toll-free line at 1-866-436-7332 or a Ford or Lincoln dealer to verify if their vehicle is included in the recall by using the For Online-Automotive Service Information System (OASIS).

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