The U.S. auto safety regulator has opened two new probes into potential defects related to Ford vehicles.
In separate releases issued Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) was looking into complaints about a seat belt retractor, as well as ones about loss of motive power in recent model-year Ford Broncos and Ford Mavericks.
ODI said it had received three complaints about the retractors in model year 2019-20 Ford Expeditions.
‘The complaints allege hearing a loud sound immediately followed by the seat belt rapidly tightening,’ the release says. ‘The complaints do not allege a crash or impact occurred that may have resulted in the deployment of the pretensioner system. Additionally, the seat belt remains in a locked position after the deployment event.’
ODI said that Ford already issued a recall related to this issue but that the Expeditions, as well as potential issues affecting model year 2018-19 Lincoln Navigator vehicles, were not included in it.
The separate motive-power probe is in response to 15 notices submitted by Ford vehicle owners about remedies to a previous recall that may have failed to effectively address the issue, according to a release.
Last week, Ford agreed to pay the second-largest civil penalty ever issued by the NHTSA to resolve charges that it failed to timely and accurately file recall information.
Ford, America’s second-largest automaker, has been beset by quality control issues in recent years, which CEO Jim Farley has said the company is focused on addressing.
A spokesman for Ford said in an email that the company is working with the NHTSA to support its investigations.
