The U.S. auto safety regulator has opened two new probes into potential defects related to Ford vehicles.
In separate releases issued Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said its Office of Defect Investigations (ODI) was looking into complaints about a seatbelt retractor, as well as ones regarding loss of motive power in recent model-year Ford Broncos and Ford Mavericks.
ODI said it had received three complaints about the retractors in model year 2019-2020 Ford Expeditions.
“The complaints allege hearing a loud sound immediately followed by the seat belt rapidly tightening,” the release states. “The complaints do not allege a crash or impact occurred that may have resulted in the deployment of the pretensioner system. Additionally, the seat belt remains in a locked position after the deployment event.”
ODI says Ford already issued a recall related to this issue, but that the Expeditions, as well as potential issues affecting model year 2018-2019 Lincoln Navigator vehicles, were not included in it.
The separate motive-power probe is in response to 15 notices submitted by Ford vehicle owners about remedies to a previous recall that may have failed to effectively address the issue, according to a release.
Last week, Ford agreed to pay the second-largest-ever civil penalty issued by NHTSA to resolve charges that it failed to timely and accurately file recall information.
Ford, America’s second-largest automaker, has been beset by quality control issues in recent years, something CEO Jim Farley has said the company is focused on addressing moving forward.
A spokesman for Ford said in an email the company was working with NHTSA to support its investigations.
