Ford Motor Co.’s quality issues continue rearing their ugly head as the company just recalled nearly 605,000 SUVs due to a problem with windshield wiper motors.
According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents, the company needs to repair 604,533 small and midsize sport-utility vehicles, including select Ford Escapes and Explorers as well as Lincoln Corsairs and Aviators built between 2020 and 2022.
The affected vehicles have front windshield wiper motors where the motor’s cover terminal isn’t properly aligned with the brush card terminal. As a result, this can produce a poor electrical connection causing the front wipers to work “intermittently” before they stop working altogether.
Ford told NHTSA there have been 1,374 warranty claims related to the problems since 2021. After an initial investigation about the matter was closed in September that year, Ford reopened its query late last year as part of separate investigation into production problems for a different component.
“Between November 2025 and February 2026, Ford and its supplier collaborated to review historical teardown records, analyze warranty claims, and conduct replication testing to gain a deeper understanding of the onset of the failure mode. This analysis established the suspect period of production driven by the root cause terminal mismatch condition,” the recall report notes.
Owners will be notified by mail if they’re vehicle is part of the action. They’ll be told to take their vehicle to the nearest Ford or Lincoln dealer where the motors will be inspected. If faulty, they’ll be replaced at no cost to the owner.
It’s the second major recall by Ford in the last 10 days. On Feb. 26, the company announced it was recalling 4.4 million trucks, SUVs, and vans due to a problem where those vehicles could lose their brake and trailer lights while towing.
[Images: Ford, Lincoln]
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