— Ford Mustang Mach-E battery problems caused a recall and then an investigation of the recall by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
However, the government has closed its probe into 2021-2022 Ford Mustang Mach-E high-voltage battery contactors that failed from overheating.
In June 2022, Ford announced a recall because the 2021-2022 Mustang Mach-E high-voltage battery main contactors could overheat and leave drivers with no drive power.
But owners continued to complain to NHTSA even after the Mustang Mach-E SUVs had been repaired during the recall. A "recall query" was opened in August 2023 to determine if the recall repairs fixed the vehicles.
The original recall repairs had dealerships updating the secondary onboard diagnostic control modules to monitor contactor temperature and reduce battery power to prevent damage to the contactor.
In addition, battery energy control module software was updated to monitor contactor resistance to identify an overheated contactor and reduce vehicle power to prevent further damage.
But due to the investigation by NHTSA, Ford issued another Mustang Mach-E in October for SUVs built May 27, 2020, to May 24, 2022, all equipped with extended range batteries.
Ford says preexisting damage to the contactors caused by heat and wear may reduce the effectiveness of the software updates performed during the first recall.
The new recall remedy is to replace the bussed electrical centers, or high-voltage battery junction boxes.
NHTSA has closed its investigation based on the second Ford Mustang Mach-E recall.
