Another 2020 Mustang Recall: Dangerous Brake Brackets Breaking
Remember those old cartoons where the guy slams on the brakes and the brake pedal breaks in half? Well, when it is actually happening in real life it is not so cartoony. And that is where we are today with the 2020 Ford Mustang. The NHTSA is reporting that brake pedal brackets are cracking on Mustangs which increases the chance of a crash.
This recall is only for 2020 Mustangs with automatic transmissions
The good news is that this is only occurring on 2020 Mustangs without a clutch. Sudden stops are causing these brackets to start cracking. As of now, there have been no reports of injuries. For 2020 Mustangs Ford changed the pedal assembly to use polypropylene rather than nylon for pedal shaft bushings. Ford describes the defect as “insufficient design margins.”
The change in bushings started on March 4, 2020, and ran through August 13, 2020. This takes in most of the 2020 Mustang production with automatic transmissions which is just under 40,000. Though Mustangs are sold worldwide, all of them come from a single plant which makes it easier to track cars built there.
This is the third 2020 Mustang recall this year
This is the third 2020 Mustang recall this year. In May 2020 Mustangs models were recalled for misaligned front-facing cameras and also for “out of Park” warning issues. The camera misalignment can affect safety features that rely on what the camera shows. Pre-collision assist, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, and automatic high-beam headlights all rely on the images projected by the back-up cameras.
The “out of Park” recall included both 2019 and 2020 Mustangs and 2019 Expedition SUVs. The NHTSA found that the “Transmission Not in Park” warning and associated chime durations was shorter than were legal. Reprogramming the instrument cluster remedied the problem.
Of course, manual transmission 2020 Mustangs are shouldering their own special problems. In June a class-action lawsuit was filed by owners of six-speed manual transmission Mustangs. The transmissions in question are the Getrag MT82 and MT82-D4 manuals. It covers Mustangs from 2011 to 2020.
This lawsuit says that the transmission is inherently defective
Problems with the Getrag include shift forks, shift shafts, synchronizers, and clutch assemblies failing. The lawsuit says that the transmission is inherently defective. The experiences owners in the lawsuit describe are slipping, jerking, and clashing gears. Owners say these issues persist even after repairs are made by the dealers. And they claim that Ford has known about the defects for years but has not done anything about it. That sounds familiar to another class-action lawsuit Ford just lost.
Not to pile on but all of this is in the wake of the class-action lawsuit that Ford Focus and Fiesta plaintiffs won over faulty PowerShift transmissions. That verdict is expected to cost Ford well over $3 billion and counting. In that lawsuit, owners complained about their PowerShift cars randomly shifting into Neutral or not being able to shift into another gear at all. It too alleged that Ford knew about the problems for years and did nothing to correct the problem.
