Ford Vehicles Could Unexpectedly Roll Away

Owners of certain Ford vehicles will be receiving notices with instructions to go to their Ford or Lincoln dealer to have the under hood shift bushing replaced. The problem could lead to a vehicle unexpectedly rolling away.

The vehicles affected include:

Ford has previously recalled the Hilex (Hytrel 4556) shift bushing component in certain vehicle populations due to increased failure rates. These actions include 18S20, 19S16, 21S24, and 22S25. After 22S25, Ford continued to monitor field reports with the NHTSA, including monitoring Hilex, Hytrel 4556 shift bushings that were not included in previous recalls. Even though the claim rates and projected failures remained low, Ford has decided to issue a safety recall for the remaining vehicles in North America with a Hilex, Hytrel 4556 shift bushing. Ford has identified 1,630 warranty reports and 233 complaints related to this problem. Six of the reports allege property damage and 4 reports allege injury.

According to the defect report, the bushing that attaches the shift cable to the transmission may degrade and eventually detach. If this happens, it will prevent the transmission from shifting to the intended gear position and if the parking brake is not set, the vehicle could unexpectedly roll away. The cause of the problem is still unknown, but heat and humidity seem to contribute to the breakdown of the bushing material.

Some warning signs that your vehicle is experiencing this condition include:

If the vehicle ignition is on, the instrument panel display position on the cluster will show the correct transmission gear state, which may not match the gear shift lever position.

The driver may notice the defect if they attempt to shift to an intended gear and the vehicle responds differently than intended based on the transmission gear state.

If a vehicle is turned off in a transmission gear state other than Park, regardless of the gear shift lever position, the engine will not restart.

Ford's number for this recall is 22S43 and the NHTSA campaign number is 22V-413.