Seatbelts, they can save lives in the event of a crash. However, in order for that to be a possibility, the devices have to actually work, and that apparently isn’t a certainty in more than 680,000 vehicles being recalled by Ford.
The carmaker announced Friday that it would recall 680,872 vehicles — of which 602,729 are located in the U.S. — after determining that the front driver and passenger seatbelts may not function properly.
The recalled vehicles — which include model year 2013 to 2016 Fusion, 2015 to 2016 Mondeo, and 2013 to 2015 Lincoln MXZ vehicles — may be equipped with a seatbelt anchor that could prevent the occupant from being restrained in the event of a crash.
Typically, a pretensioner tightens the seatbelt in the event of a crash, securing the passenger or driver from moving forward in their seats. Ford says this isn’t occurring in some of the recalled vehicles.
Instead, according to Ford, increased temperatures generated during deployment of the seatbelt anchor pretensioner could cause the device cables to separate. If this occurs during a crash, passengers and drivers may not be properly restrained, increasing the risk of injury.
So far, the carmaker says it is aware of two incidents and two injuries associated with the issue.
Ford says that to fix the issue, it will instruct dealers to inject a conformal coating into the front driver and passenger seatbelt anchor pretensioner to protect the cables from increased temperatures generated during deployment at no cost to the customer.
In a separate campaign on Friday, Ford said it would recall 27 model year 2017 Ford Fusion vehicles to replace the second-row left-rear seat back frame, which may have been built with improperly welded pivot pins.
In the affected vehicles, the seat backs with pivot pins that were improperly welded may not adequately retain cargo in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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