Ford F-150 Recall Affects 900K Trucks For Sudden Electric Parking Brake Activation

Ford has issued a recall for nearly 900,000 2021-2023 F-150 pickup trucks. Models equipped with the single exhaust system may experience an inadvertent application of the electric parking brake. An issue with the rear wiring harness chafing against the rear axle housing could lead to a short that causes the parking brake to engage.

Ford began its investigation into reports of unintended parking brake applications in February. The company discovered that the truck’s rear axle housing and rear axle wiring harness could make contact, causing the wiring harness to chafe in certain circumstances. The Blue Oval also learned that rear axle housing corrosion could expedite the damage. Over time, the chafing can wear through the protective tape and circuit insulation, exposing the wiring that can cause the short.

Ford learned that the damaged circuits could unintentionally activate the truck’s electric parking brake if the wires shorted to a ground. The automaker says it’s aware of 921 reports of the condition in North America, which it received between August 2021 and July 2023. Of those, 299 had the electric parking brake unintentionally activated. Nineteen occurred while driving. However, Ford said it isn’t aware of any reports of accidents or injuries related to the potential condition.

The automaker will inform owners via mail by mid-September to take their vehicles to a dealer for inspection. Ford will replace worn harnesses with one that has a plastic protective shield to prevent further chafing. Trucks that don’t have damaged harnesses receive a different remedy – service technicians will install a protective tie strap and tape wrap to the harness to protect it from the axle housing.

The F-150 isn’t the only Ford model with a new recall this month. The automaker has issued one for 21,301 Escape crossovers and 17,394 F-Series Super Duty pickups. The affected 2023 models may have a digital instrument cluster that could fail to illuminate due to an improperly soldered module. It learned of the potential issue in March, and Ford will begin informing owners on August 14, replacing the affected part free of charge. 

A much smaller number of F-Series Super Duty models – 1,339 – have a recall for their windows’ anti-pinch feature. In a low-power condition, the function might not properly work and could fail to detect an object near the top of the edge of the glass and fail to reverse direction. According to Ford, the affected vehicles inadvertently shipped with incorrect software.