Michigan Vehicle Manufacturer Recalls 550,000 Trucks

Driving a car isn't a necessity to life as there are many different modes of transportation including public transportation that comes in a very affordable price. Everyone doesn't have access to public transportation or reliable transportation, but having a vehicle removes that barrier completely as you have means to travel to any place at any time as long as you have gas. Although one burden is lifted, cars can bring upon another set of problems that could be detrimental to yourself and your wallet.

Keeping gas in your car is only one small task to maintain a vehicle as there are several maintenance tasks required to keep your vehicle running in great shape. Things like new tires, oil changes, fluid refills, windshield wipers, insurance, registration, and other costs could make driving much harder to finance. On top of those issues, some cars have internal performance issues that occur during the manufacturing process, like what we're seeing from this Michigan manufacturer.

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Ford Motor Company got their start here in the Mitten state way back in the early 1900s as Henry Ford created the first motor vehicle, cementing the history of the automotive industry. Since then, everyone has followed his footsteps and revolutionized the vehicle manufacturing business as they try and compete with the Ford makes and models. One of the most popular models, the Ford F-150, has a recall out to help keep customers safe while driving.

Ford announced that they would be recalling 550,000 F-150 pickup trucks for an issue revolving around the transmission. They have found that Ford F-150 pickup trucks from 2014 have been experiencing issues where the transmission will suddenly and unexpectedly downshift to first gear. These trucks have six-speed transmissions. Usually, first gear is used to drive a vehicle at very low speeds, so suddenly shifting to first gear at high speed could cause the truck to slow rapidly or even cause the driver to lose control.

The 2014 model is the 4th model of the F-150 to be recalled for the same transmission issue, as Ford recalled 1.2 million F-150 pickup trucks from 2011-2013 which helped them find the root of the problem which is a loss of signal between a speed sensor and a control module that operates the automatic transmission.

There should be a malfunction indicator light in the gauge cluster to alert the driver of the issue, in some cases the problem will rectify itself as the car continues to drive normally and other times the truck will need to stop, turn off, and be restarted before the transmission would work properly. Ford dealers will update the trucks’ control module software at no cost to the owner and send out notice letters soon.

Although, that new software update to the repair the 2014 models may not be ready for another couple of months, so please drive with caution.