Ford recalls more than 462,000 crossovers globally for faulty rearview cameras

WASHINGTON — Ford Motor Co. is recalling more than 462,000 vehicles globally for rearview cameras that may not display images.

The recall covers Ford Explorer and Lincoln Aviator large crossovers from the 2020-23 model years and Lincoln Corsair compact crossovers from the 2020-22 model years, all equipped with a 360-degree camera. It affects nearly 383,000 vehicles in the U.S., more than 39,000 in Canada and more than 5,000 in Mexico, Ford spokeswoman Maria Buczkowski said.

Ford told U.S. auto safety regulators it is aware of 17 minor accidents allegedly resulting from the defect. It is not aware of any injuries.

“Recalls are an important way for us to keep our customers safe and with every recall we want to make the experience of getting serviced easier on our customers,” Buczkowski said in a statement to Automotive News. “With this recall, customers will be able to take advantage of mobile service free of charge with participating dealers to get the software update configured on their vehicle at their convenience.”

The video output on the recalled vehicles may fail, preventing the rearview camera image from displaying and increasing the risk of a crash while in reverse, according to a recall report submitted Monday to NHTSA.

“The video information from one or more of the 360 cameras, which includes the rearview camera, may fail to feed to the ‘Sync’ display screen during some key cycles,” the report states. “The issue is intermittent and may recover during subsequent ignition cycles. Once present, the issue will likely reoccur on the same camera(s) intermittently.”

As of Nov. 30, there were 2,115 warranty reports alleging a blue image in the rear camera display.

To fix the issue, dealers will update the image processing module software.

The U.S. unit of French supplier Valeo supplies the rearview camera and image processing module, according to the report.

Dealers will be notified starting Jan. 31. Owners will be notified starting Feb. 20.

So far this year, Ford has issued two recalls, affecting nearly 384,000 vehicles, according to NHTSA data.