Seatbelts in Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ 2015 Vehicles May Fail in Crash: Recall

Ford Motor Company is recalling more than 100,000 Fusion and Lincoln MKZ sedans from the 2015 model year, due to a manufacturing defect which may cause the seat belts to fail in an accident, increased the risk of a serious injury.

The Ford Fusion and Lincoln MKZ recall was announced on August 14, due to problems with the seat belt pretensioner anchor cable, which could break during deployment. To date, Ford is aware of one reported injury related to the seatbelt failure.

Seat belt pretensioners are a component of vehicle’s Supplemental Restraint Systems (SRS) which are designed with sensors to detect impact and lock the seatbelt in place during a crash. When a crash event is detected, the seat belt pretensioners use an explosive charge to drive a concealed piston to lock the belt in place.

The pretensioners help optimize the performance of the airbag systems by maintaining the proper occupant position for air bag deployment, ultimately increasing the overall safety provided by the SRS.

According to the seatbelt recall announcement, certain Fusion and Lincoln MKZ vehicles were equipped with front-passenger seat belt anchor pretensioners which may break and fail to restrain an occupant during a crash due to the increased temperatures generated during deployment.

Ford is warning customers the occupants will not be adequately restrained in a crash if the  seatbelt pretensioners fail.

The recall involves approximately 103,374 model year 2015 Fusion vehicles manufactured from August 1, 2014 through January 30, 2015 and model year 2015 Lincoln MKZ vehicles manufactured from August 1, 2014 through November 21, 2014.

The vehicles were manufactured by Ford Motor Company and distributed for sale throughout the U.S. to licensed dealers. An estimated 4,002 recalled vehicles were shipped to Canada and another 1,023 were shipped to Mexico.

Ford indicates the company will begin notifying customers of the recall and will provide instructions on how to schedule a free repair at their local dealer, who will be instructed to apply a coating to protect the cable during pretensioner deployment.

Customers with additional questions or concerns regarding the recall may contact Ford Customer Service at 1-800-392-3673 and reference the recall campaign number 19S25.