Transmission Software Issue Leads to Recall of 2013 F-150s
Nearly 108,000 2013 F-150s affected by the latest recall, joining the 1.3-million 2011-13 trucks already recalled for the issue.
The F-150 is the king of all trucks for a ton of reasons, including its ability to keep us safe on the road no matter where we’re going or what we’re doing. A lot of that is because of the quality and care that goes into building each F-150, no matter its ultimate purpose in life.
Sometimes, though, mistakes are made, which means Ford will recall affected F-150s to fix them; thus, continuing to keep us safe and loyal to our favorite truck. In this instance, Cars.com reports the Blue Oval is recalling 107,850 2013 F-150s over an issue linked to the six-speed automatic transmission.
The F-150s affected are equipped either with the 5.0-liter or 6.2-liter gas-powered V8s, and the issue involves the powertrain control module. If the module hasn’t had its software updated, the transmission could drop down to first gear without warning. Per the recall, the lack of an update also affects the malfunction indicator light, which may not light up “in the event of an intermittent transmission output speed sensor signal.”
Either way, should the update have not been applied, the sudden downshift to first could result in the wheels locking up, leading into a severe accident depending on the rate of speed traveled in a given affected F-150.
The affected F-150s were built between May 7, 2012 and October 27, 2013 in Dearborn, Michigan, and between April 18, 2012 and November 18, 2013 in Kansas City, Missouri. Owners are to bring their trucks into their nearest Ford dealership for a reprogramming of the powertrain control module with the updated software at no cost to the owner.
The 107,850 2013 F-150s join nearly 1.3-million 2011-13 F-150s also affected by the software issue, according to Consumer Reports. Those trucks were built in Dearborn between April 28, 2010 through October 28, 2013, and in Kansas City between May 18, 2018 through November 18, 2013. That recall, related to one issued in 2016 regarding 2011-12 F-150s, was issued February 13, 2019.
While no accidents and/or injuries have been reported with the new F-150 transmission recall, Ford said of the February 2019 recall that five crashes and one injury were reported over the issue.
Photos: Cars.com, Consumer Reports, and Autoblog
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