Massive Ford Recall Affects Over 4 Million Vehicles for Software-Related Brake Light Faults

Ford has issued its biggest recall of the year yet due to a software issue affecting pickup truck’s trailer brake lights, reports Motor1.

Included in the recall are the 2022-2026 Ford F-250, the 2026 Ford E-Transit, the 2022-2026 Lincoln Navigator, the 2022-2026 Ford Expedition, the 2022-2026 Ford Maverick, the 2024-2026 Ford Ranger, and the 2021-2026 Ford F-150. A total of 4,380,609 models have been recalled. The Ford F-Series is most affected, with 3.4 million units included.

The problem stems from a software defect, causing a potential race condition to happen between the ITM and CAN Standby Control bit. Race conditions are caused by multiple processes accessing shared data at the same time, with different results depending on execution order.

If a failure is prompted by a race condition, the integrated trailer module loses communication abilities, and drivers will see a message reading “Trailer Brake Module Fault” or "Blind Spot Assist System Fault.”

Though Ford became aware of the problem this past October, it closed an investigation into it within a few weeks—but during a monthly review with NHTSA that following December, the issue was brought up, and NHTSA suggested the company may be in noncompliance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards.

Ford reopened its investigation a month later, and after finding 405 warranty claims related to the problem, issued a recall.

The defect will be resolved via an over-the-air update being sent out to vehicles beginning March 17. Owners will be notified beginning in late March.