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July 2025: Ford announced a massive recall of nearly 850,000 trucks, SUVs and latemodel Mustangs for a fuel pump failure issue.
NHTSA Campaign Number 25V455000 covers the following Ford and Lincoln vehicles:
Ford Bronco (2021-2023)
Ford Explorer (2021-2023)
Ford F-150 (2021-2023)
Ford F-250, F-350, F-450, F-550 (2021-2023)
Lincoln Aviator (2021-2023)
Lincoln Navigator (2021-2022)
Ford Mustang (2021-2022)
The recall was issued to address failures of the in-tank fuel pump module. A failure of the in-tank pump causes a loss of fuel pressure to the high pressure mechanical fuel pump mounted on the engine. This can result in misfiring, loss of power, reduced performance and/or stalling.
The in-tank pump is basically a supply pump for pushing fuel to the high pressure pump mounted on the engine. The high pressure pump then boosts fuel pressure and routes the ultra high pressure fuel to the fuel injectors. If the high pressure pump fails to receive enough fuel from the tank, it will cause a drop in pressure to the injectors resulting in poor performance, or stalling. A complete loss of pressure will prevent the engine from starting.
Fuel pumps that are dragging or binding and not spinning fast enough to generate normal pressure may also fuel vapor bubbles to develop in the fuel line during hot weather. This can cause a "vapor lock" no-start condition.
Ford says the pump failure may be due to one of two causes: dirt or contamination of the fuel inside the fuel tank (dirty gas), or incorrect internal fuel pump clearances that are too tight,causing the pump turbine to bind up.
These is no easy way to flush out or clean a dirty fuel pump becasue the pump itself is not made to be disassembled. You can remove it from the module assembly but you can't take the pump apart. Also, if it has been contaminated by dirty fuel, the dirt particles will likely be embedded in the plastic turbine and turbine housing, creating friction abnd drag that causes the pum to run too slow or to bind up. The only fix is to replace the pump with a new one.
If the failure is due to incorrect manufacturing tolerances inside the pump (too tight causing it to drag or bind), the fix is to replace the pump.
Ford blames its Mexican supplier (whom they won't name) for using components in the pump assembly that were made to the wrong clearance tolerances. The supplier supposedly fixed the issue but not until many thousands of pumps were assembled and installed in the 2021-2022 vehicles listed above.
As of this writing, Ford is trying to figure out how to identify the bad pumps (estimated to be about 8.9 percent of the 850,000 that were installed
in vehicles)
When a diagnostic procedure is developed to identify the bad pumps, Ford will replace the defective pumps under warranty.