Ford Recalls Nearly 420,000 Vehicles Over Inadvertent Seatbelt Lock Issue

The Ford Motor Company has issued a recall affecting 419,967 vehicles for faulty seat belts that may not retract or extend, resulting in failure to restrain an occupant and increasing the risk of injury in an accident.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported on June 3 that the recall involves certain 2018–2022 Expedition and Lincoln models, affecting seat belts in the driver and/or passenger front seats. The glitch may cause the belt to inadvertently lock, thereby prohibiting either retraction or extension.

Notification letters to owners are expected to be mailed out on June 8. Dealers will inspect and replace seatbelt retractors as necessary free of charge. In the meantime, owners may also contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford’s number for this recall is 26S34.

The automaker first became aware of the malfunction in early January, when the Ford Critical Concern Review Group (CCRG) launched an investigation to evaluate random pretensioner deployments outside of the recall populations for safety recalls on potentially corroded squib pins in seat belt pretensioners. At the time, the concern was that these affected pins could result in high electrical resistance or an open circuit.

At the time, Ford had not identified a root cause for the corroded squib pins that led to inadvertent pretensioner deployment.

The following month, Ford’s CCRG found that seatbelt deployments appeared to happen only in retractor pretensioners that used a specific combination of propellant and stabilizer. An additional probe discovered that the Tier 2 supplier had used a new micro gas generator propellant and stabilizer combo for both the Expedition and Navigator pretensioners.

During February and March, the automaker’s Restraints Engineering team conducted a comprehensive study to determine the behavior and properties of the propellant. They later found that the original propellant may become unstable when exposed to high temperatures. Over time, it can also degrade and produce corrosive byproducts, which could wear down the squib pin and bridgewire. The corrosion, in turn, can trigger a malfunction of the seat belt pretensioner.

By early May, Ford had completed testing a third batch of warranty-returned micro gas generators that contained the newer propellant and stabilized combination. These units proved to have higher chemical stability and minimal degradation compared to the original design.

Ford was aware of two warranty claims, two field reports, and one injury related to the issue.

According to Consumer Reports, Hyundai and Genesis issued a similar recall in April involving almost 300,000 vehicles with faulty seatbelts. That recall involved certain 2023–2025 Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric vehicles, 2023–2026 Genesis G90 sedans, and 2024–2026 Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid models.

The problem stemmed from a lower seat belt anchor that could be damaged during routine repairs and maintenance, causing it to detach from the seat frame. Hyundai was aware of six incidents involving malfunctioning seatbelts with no reports of accidents or injuries.

Kelley Blue Book noted that the same month, Land Rover recalled 498 2026 Defender SUVs due to malfunctioning third-row seat belts.

It reported that studs in the third row fractured several times when workers tried to tighten seat belt assembly bolts into them. An inspection determined that a shipment of studs was weaker than originally designed.

Land Rover was not aware of any reports of accidents or injuries related to this issue.