— A Ford Ranger blower motor recall has been issued for the second time after a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) blower motor recall in 2019 failed to protect the trucks from the risk of fires.
Ford says more than 5,800 model year 2019 Ford Rangers are affected by this latest blower motor recall because the replacement motors used in 2019 were just as defective as the original components.
The original HVAC blower motors were built with the wrong clearance levels between the electrical terminals and the conductive base plate slots. The faulty clearance levels could cause resistive electrical shorts that could then cause the blower motors to overheat, melt and catch fire.
The 2019 Ford Ranger recall was supposed to fix the problem, but in October 2019 Ford dealerships received at least six defective blower motors that had been used as the replacement parts for the 2019 Ranger recall.
Ford opened an investigation and the tier 2 supplier (OneGene) identified 300 suspect blower motors that were not properly quarantined and were shipped to the tier 1 supplier (Detroit Thermal Systems) for the 2019 recall. The tier 1 supplier then shipped the blower motors to Ford without knowing the motors hadn't been inspected.
Ford says 5,384 Rangers are recalled in the U.S. and 418 are affected in Canada, and although the HVAC blower motors could cause fires, the automaker says there have been no reports of fires, crashes or injuries.
Owners of 2019 Ford Ranger trucks will be notified in April 2020 and told to bring the trucks to dealerships to have the HVAC blower motor date codes inspected. Motors built within certain time frames will be replaced.
Ranger drivers may contact Ford at 866-436-7332 and refer to blow motor recall number 20S12.
CarComplaints.com has complaints about 2019 Ford Rangers and other Ranger model years.
