Maverick Stop Sale Recall [Fuel Tank leak inspection issue]. Recall #21C35 (for Mavericks with spray-in bedliner)

[DryHeat]

The OP said the dealer told him it was a problem with the gas tank.

The "delivery hold" memo says there is a problem with an oversized extruded bolt hole.

I wonder if these are two separate things, or if the dealer just got it wrong.

(BTW, an oversized extruded bolt hole could happen mid-production in a lot of different ways. Somebody replacing a die on a stamping machine could have put in the wrong size, or somebody replacing a thread tap could have done the same. People make mistakes.)

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[The Weatherman]

It always surprises me when this kind of stuff comes up! How did they discover this issue? Was there a change in the production process? Change in material? If so, was some engineer assigned to figure out what the results of those changes would be? If so, why wasn't done prior to any change?
Not really searching for answers, just thinking out loud, but if anyone has any insights I'd like to hear them.

My Mav is in that group, build date was 10/13.

 

[Delzona]

My Mav is in that group, build date was 10/13.

I guess you'll be getting a call from the dealership pretty soon! Hopefully, it's something that can be fixed quickly.

 

[Mike6564]

My Mav is in that group, build date was 10/13.

Mine was built 11/13 also. On the train right now

 

[Mike6564]

Mine was built 10/13 also. On the train right now Sorry about that

 

[Old Ranchero]

This isn’t a direct answer but me thinking aloud in response to your thoughts.

-Vehicles have components sourced from dozens/hundreds of companies (original equipment manufacturers/ OEM).
-Ford has procedures to inspect for quality for those components.
-Each OEM has a quality standard and checks/balances to ensure those standards are met.
-Each OEM had to buy raw materials to make said products.
-Raw material companies have varying degrees of quality but also need to do deliver within the acceptable level of compliance for the order.
-OEMs could change the raw material suppliers at the drop of a hat.
-Each OEM can have multiple warehouses, workers, and suppliers. Any number of things could go wrong.
-Random vehicles are produced to strictly serve as a quality test vehicle and mannequin.
-Safety audits are performed at random by all parties involved.

At any time an issue could come up. Once the issue comes up a number of processes need to happen. They need to identify if it is worth fixing, the effected batches and the vehicles they were installed on. Along with a fix for what caused the issue and/or a redo the product’s engineering.

You would think with dozens of quality checks along the way everything would be perfect. However, Given the complexity of building a vehicle I would say it is actually surprising to see so few issues.

A good chunk of my career was spent in manufacturing including QA, QC, DVT (Design Verification Testing) , Environmental lab (where they deliberately stress things beyond acceptable limits), etc.

Parts suppliers are not allowed to just switch materials or methods anytime they want without close consultation with the Buyer of the parts. They'd have to formally notify Ford in this case if their widget suppliers told them they needed to switch materials because previously approved was running out or was going unavailable for some reason. Ford would have to approve design compliance, Material Data sheets, and receive some "1st article" samples of the new widgets and Quality dept in Ford would have to make sure it meets standards and sign off before Ford would accept the change in widgets using new material. Usually a trusted supplier will give a head's up they will need to make a change in "X" number of days/weeks/months they estimate until existing approved process can no longer be followed.

A couple other things can drive changes too: Companies like to have more than 1 source for supply of same parts and target a changeover date when the additional 2nd source parts are actually used interchangeably with original sourced parts. Sometimes revisions get mixed up there. Ford could have internally redesigned a part or asked for a new material to be used and contacted part supplier to initiate a new Revision for the part and start the process on their end. Yeah it could have been a result of test data driving a change, and it could even be a case of human error like maybe a newly trained person incorrectly installing or torquing a part.

Regardless, they always investigate 1st to find out exactly what happened and then determine the time frame the error could have involved so they can track those exact vehicles and fix or replace as needed.

 

[Sevesteen]

It always surprises me when this kind of stuff comes up! How did they discover this issue? Was there a change in the production process? Change in material? If so, was some engineer assigned to figure out what the results of those changes would be? If so, why wasn't done prior to any change?
Not really searching for answers, just thinking out loud, but if anyone has any insights I'd like to hear them.

I was involved in a potential recall at an auto maker that is neither Ford nor my current employer. Someone doing a spot check on the line found one out of spec vehicle, turned out to be a fairly serious structural problem. A moderately thorough inspection was made, no more were found...until a couple weeks later when another was found. They figured out that when a certain version was stuck at a certain station because of a dirty sensor, when the sensor was cleaned and that one released the next one wouldn't get all its welds because of an error in the program. Very few were actually affected but at first they couldn't narrow it down beyond "anything built after a version Foo", which was thousands. My job at the time was to find patterns and trends in measurement data, I was able to find a pattern that narrowed it down to under 40 with only a few in customer hands. This was below the threshold that demanded an official public recall, those few customers got replacements a model year newer.

 

[Turtle]

This is very common. If this scares you, I don't even know what car to recommend. Even the gold standard that is Toyota/Lexus have these things happen. I probably would have bought a 2022 Prius Limited before I even realized the Maverick was a thing. I put in an offer and the dealer said nope, can't sell it - stop sale due to recall, brake issues.

It'll be fine.

I have had Lexus where they had to recall the recall. Each one had my sc430 in the shop for a couple of days. However they are the gold standard for quality and standing behind what they sell. Also gold is expensive so I will settle for silver.

 

[Portcqb]

Hopefully it's just a simple thing like the tank strap may not be tightened that the dealer just needs to throw a wrench on and be done.

 

[HPR]

Hopefully its a loose gas tank mount, lol my truck has been making a thud sound at a particular speed when going over speed bumps. I have not been able to reproduce the sound while under it.

 

[Delzona]

I was involved in a potential recall at an auto maker that is neither Ford nor my current employer. Someone doing a spot check on the line found one out of spec vehicle, turned out to be a fairly serious structural problem. A moderately thorough inspection was made, no more were found...until a couple weeks later when another was found. They figured out that when a certain version was stuck at a certain station because of a dirty sensor, when the sensor was cleaned and that one released the next one wouldn't get all its welds because of an error in the program. Very few were actually affected but at first they couldn't narrow it down beyond "anything built after a version Foo", which was thousands. My job at the time was to find patterns and trends in measurement data, I was able to find a pattern that narrowed it down to under 40 with only a few in customer hands. This was below the threshold that demanded an official public recall, those few customers got replacements a model year newer.

Wow that's really interesting! It's great to know that this kind of processes are used to keep us safe and turn out a quality product!

 

[Deleted member 4163]

This is very common. If this scares you, I don't even know what car to recommend. Even the gold standard that is Toyota/Lexus have these things happen. I probably would have bought a 2022 Prius Limited before I even realized the Maverick was a thing. I put in an offer and the dealer said nope, can't sell it - stop sale due to recall, brake issues.

It'll be fine.

I am not as sanguine about this as too many are on here. Rationalizing away endless recalls doesn't cut it for me. I have had 5 recalls on my 2013 Sonata. One recall involved inspecting my engine for metal shards left in after production. The inspection signed off that the engine was fine, only to have it freeze up on me less than a year later while doing 45 mph on a fortunately not too busy street. Had I been on I-95 and doing 70 it could have been deadly. It is just not acceptable for the money they are selling these vehicles for, and yes, $20,000 is still a lot of money for me and most others out there. The Maverick XLT will ultimately cost me over $30,000 and I expect a lot better than "this is very common." It has become too easy to ask for forgiveness with a recall, rather than to actually provide a quality product manufactured correctly the first time. That replaced engine meant that the Ford dealership would only offer me $1500 for my trade in. I am giving it to my dad instead.

 

[Naranjita]

If it falls within the window they'll have you bring it back in.

Mine wasn't in the window. Lucked out.

 

[Benson]

Looking under my lariat it looked like the tank was plastic or some composite material…not sure

 

[vezpa]

Mine was built 10/21, one day after the recall cutoff ... this has disaster written all over it.

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