Dearborn, MI – January 2, 2022 – Ford (NYSE:F) has announced a recall for 4,548 2020 Ford Transit vans due to a defect that could cause the vehicle to roll away when parked or to stall while in motion. Either situation augments the risk of a crash or injury to the occupants of the van as well as other motorists.
The recall is limited to models equipped with all-wheel drive (AWD).
Recall summary
The drivetrains of these vehicles have transfer cases whose role is to “transfer power from the transmission to the front and rear axles” of the car using driveshafts. The axles are shafts that deliver power to the wheels and the whole system enables the car to move, as reported.
The driveshaft is connected with the transfer case using bolts. The bolts in the recalled cars may come “loose or become damaged,” which could cause the driveshaft to separate from the case. This would result in the car stalling in traffic or rolling away when parked if the parking brake is not engaged.
Lastly, the separation could “damage…surrounding components, such as brake lines.”
Recall risks
A vehicle that rolls away when parked may hit pedestrians or surrounding structures, putting everyone at risk. For more information on the risks of stalling while driving, please visit this article on a Nissan recall for stalling.
If there is any damage to the brake lines, this can affect brake performance, which increases the risk of injury to the car occupants and people around them.
Warning signs
In the event that the driveshaft becomes separated, car occupants will hear “driveline noise” and will feel vibration coming from the underside of the vehicle.
More background information
The cause of this recall is still under investigation.
There are two components involved in this recall: “Bolt and washer assembly” with part number LK41-4B496-CA and the “driveshaft assembly” with multiple part numbers, including LK41-4K145-DAE and LK41-4K145-FAE.
Other Ford recalls
There was a Ford Transit recall involving model years – including the 2021 Ford Transit van – in May of last year due to the risk of rollaway when parked, as reported. Aside from Ford van recalls, there have been at least a couple of recalls related to driveshaft issues. – One was issued just last month for close to 200,000 2020-2021 F-150 pickup trucks and another one came out in September of last year for roughly 27,000 Super Duty F-350 pickups, also as reported.
The repair
Dealers will conduct an inspection of the driveshaft and will replace the driveshaft, the bolts and the relevant surrounding components, if necessary. All repairs will be conducted free of charge.
Owners of affected units will be notified by mail between January 31 and February 4, 2022.
Is your vehicle part of this recall?
More than 4,500 vehicles are included in this Ford Transit recall. To do a Ford recall check, use MotorSafety’s free vehicle lookup tool.
