The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is superseding a previous recall for certain 2004-2006 Ford Ranger trucks to implement a final repair. Upon deployment of the driver side frontal air bag, excessive internal pressure may cause the inflator to rupture.
The risk
In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants potentially resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
Owners are advised not to drive their vehicles until the repair has been performed. Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the driver's frontal air bag inflator with an alternate inflator, free of charge. The recall began January 16, 2018. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 17S42. Note: This recall supersedes recall 16V-036 which was an interim repair. Vehicles that received a replacement air bag inflator under the previous campaign need to return to a dealer to have an alternate inflator installed.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Ranger | 2004, 2005, 2006 |
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ford Ranger | 2004 | 405 | 10 |
| Ford Ranger | 2005 | 289 | 9 |
| Ford Ranger | 2006 | 272 | 12 |
Other air bags recalls in 2017
90 of the 810 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2017 concerned the air bags; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 17V822000 20 Dec 2017 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 17V837000 20 Dec 2017 | Nissan North America, Inc. |
| 17V803000 18 Dec 2017 | Ford Motor Company |
| 17V818000 18 Dec 2017 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 17V813000 18 Dec 2017 | Bluecar SAS |
| 17V806000 14 Dec 2017 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 17V807000 14 Dec 2017 | Mazda North American Operations |
| 17V801000 13 Dec 2017 | Hyundai Motor America |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2017