The defect
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2020 Explorer and Lincoln Aviator vehicles. The Manual Park Release (MPR) cover may not be installed. In addition, the vehicles may be in Factory Mode, which disables warning alerts and does not display the transmission gear selected. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) numbers 114, "Theft Prevention" and 102, "Trans Shift Lever Seq/Starter Interlock/Trans Braking Effect."
The risk
Without the cover, the MPR lever may be unintentionally moved, allowing the vehicle to roll away. Being in Factory Mode, the vehicle will not display warnings and/or gear selection on the instrument cluster. Both conditions increase the risk of a crash.
The remedy
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect and, if necessary, install a MPR cover. Dealers will verify the instrument cluster is not in Factory Mode and clear any fault codes, free of charge. The recall began August 23, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19C06.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by MFR
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Ford Explorer | 2020 |
| Lincoln Aviator | 2020 |
Components: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM: INSTRUMENT CLUSTER/PANEL | POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:GEAR POSITION INDICATION (PRNDL) | PARKING BRAKE
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 Explorer | 2020 | 1,241 | 33 |
| Lincoln Aviator | 2020 | 110 | 30 |
Other parking brake recalls in 2019
6 of the 880 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2019 concerned the parking brake; Ford Motor Company filed 737 campaigns in all.
| 19V275000 5 Apr 2019 | PACCAR Incorporated |
| 19V195000 11 Mar 2019 | Mertz Manufacturing, LLC |
| 19V174000 6 Mar 2019 | Jayco, Inc. |
| 19V175000 5 Mar 2019 | Entegra Coach |
| 19V091000 15 Feb 2019 | Autocar, LLC |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2019