Ford, Lincoln recall about 170,000 cars over rear-view camera issue

Ford and Lincoln have jointly issued a safety recall that includes nearly 170,000 vans and SUVs built between the 2018 and 2023 model years. The vehicles included in the campaign are equipped with a rear-view camera whose image can cut out while the driver is backing up.

Assigned recall number 23V-598 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the campaign includes the following cars:

• 7,649 units of the 2020-2023 Aviator fitted with the standard rear-view camera and built from October 19, 2019, to August 17, 2023.
• 70,600 units of the 2018-2021 Navigator fitted with the 360-degree camera and built from March 16, 2017, to December 23, 2021.
• 66,740 units of the 2022-2023 Transit fitted with either camera system and built from February 26, 2021, to August 17, 2023.
• 24,468 units of the 2021 Bronco fitted with the 360-degree camera and built from September 23, 2020, to December 22, 2021.

Ford explains that the defect is present in all of the 169,277 vehicles included in the campaign. While these are different cars equipped with different technology, they all suffer from the same problem. The company explains that “customers may intermittently experience either a rear camera blue image or a full blue or black image on the SYNC [infotainment system] screen when the vehicle is placed in reverse, or when the 360-degree view is selected and available.” It adds that losing the camera’s image while backing up increases the risk of the crash.

The cause of the problem varies from model to model. Ford has narrowed it down to the camera hardware, the wiring retention, and the Image Processing Module – V (IPMB) software. It adds that “fretting corrosion causes tin oxide formation on the internal camera connector due to [a] thermally-induced micro-movement between the tin-plated contact surfaces,” and that the rate of tin oxide accumulation depends on factors such as the temperature and the humidity. It has also traced some of these issues to a problem during the manufacturing process.

Ford will begin notifying owners of affected vehicles by mail on October 2. When parts are available, owners will be asked to bring their van or SUV to an authorized dealer so that a technician can replace the rear-view camera. Transit models included in the campaign will also receive a software update. Owners who have already paid to fix the problem can claim a reimbursement until June 30, 2024.

This isn’t Ford’s first rear-view camera-related recall. The brand recalled some variants of the Bronco in November 2022 and around 462,000 units of the Explorer, the Aviator, and the Corsair in January 2023 for a similar problem. The brand expanded the recall four months later. Over 330,000 examples of the Mustang were recalled in February 2022, about 35,000 units of the Aviator were recalled in April 2021, and close to 700,000 cars, trucks, and SUVs (including popular models like the F-150) were recalled across North America in September 2020.