Ford Recalls 605K SUVs Due to Windshield Wiper Issue

by Michael Strong

Published: March 5th, 2026

ford recalls 605k suvs due to windshield wiper issue

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]

Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.

#NHTSA #fordrecall #Lincolnrecall #nhtsainvestigation

Michael Strong

Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.

More by Michael Strong

Comments

Join the conversation

6 of 34 comments

Stellantis Guy on Mar 05, 2026

I LIKE INTERMITTENT WIPERS!!

Like Reply
EBFlexing on ur mom on Mar 06, 2026

Yesterday Ford had 14 recalls when I checked. Now they have 17. Built Ford Proud

Like Reply
- See 3 previous
- Stellantis Guy on Mar 06, 2026
  
  EBFlex, what color is your new Tesla going to be?
  
  Like
- EBFlexing on ur mom on Mar 06, 2026
  
  Your question implies I am buying a Tesla. I will never buy a Tesla or any EV.
  
  1
- FreedMike on Mar 07, 2026
  
  I bet EBFlex would buy the Totenkopf Edition. Boot it up, and a map of Poland pops up on the nav map, complete with the best invasion routes from Germany.
  
  Like
- EBFlexing on ur mom on Mar 08, 2026
  
  You’re recycling Jeremy Clarkson jokes from 20 years ago. MoscowMike this is sad even for you.
  
  2
- MaintenanceCosts on Mar 09, 2026
  
  Looking forward to when EBFlex is old and gray, because he will reject the electric wheelchair and insist on one powered by a two-stroke lawnmower engine.
  
  Like

Recent Comments

Vid169489471 The technology exists today to produce a variable color temperature (kelvin) LED lamp. It can vary from 2700k that soft orange look to 6500k the bright daylight with the bluish tint.Since everything in a late model car is computer controlled, it would be an easy task to write a few lines of code that enables your vehicle to not only dim down from hi to low beam but to shift color temp down to the 2700k range for oncoming traffic, then back up to 5000k once oncoming traffic has passed. For the operator it would be automatic and seamless. For older cars they could be retrofitted with LEDs that are 2700k on low beam and 5000k on hi beam. As far as standards, there could be a lumens max, and a minimum. Several States already have minimum lumen standards going back to the old incandescent bulbs. Why not update these to national standards.
Jam169859557 More regulation is needed for ALL vehicle lighting systems. [list=1][*]The lighting that is most blinding are the rapidly flashing red, blue and amber lights on emergency vehicles. The lights themselves are blinding, flashing so rapidly that it's impossible for even the sharpest eyes to adjust. What's worse, is the nature of the emergency requires a careful view of the area surrounding the emergency vehicle. There is something going on that needs to be seen. More flashing lights is not the solution.[/*][*]Brighter headlights need to be regulated. The tall riding vehicles do not need headlights positioned so high that they blind drivers in lower riding vehicles. And those heasdlights need to be aimed properly. When I first started driving my 2020 Subaru Outback, many drivers would flash their lights, hoping I would dim my lights. This stopped after I performed am easy adjustment that tilted the beam lower. Late model Subaru headlamps are designed with a sharp cutoff that project less glare above the hood line. When the headlights are properly aimed, other drivers are not blinded by the beam.[/*][*]Customized light assemblies make it more difficult to see the marker lights (tail lamps, turn signals and side marker lamps) that have been tinted. There are many municiple codes that prohibit this tinting, but these laws are seldom enforced.[/*][/list=1]Solutions: Tight controls on emergency vehicle lighting. In trying to make these vehicles more visible, a dangerous side effect is reducing the ability of drivers to see the surrounding perils.Headlight design regulations that reduce the height of the headlight assemblies. Just because a pickup truck has a hood that sits 4 feet abouve the pavement, it does not mean the headlights need to be so high. Owneres should maintain proper adjustments to their vehicle headlights.Establish and enforce regulation requiring a illumination standard be followed.
Stl170698708 as someone who hates big government, and their interference;but you can add me to the list of people that are blinded by the lights.unfortunately "the poop is out of the horse and no way is it going back in"They have had 5 years to make lights bigger, badder and brighter because in the vehicle work it is go big or go home!Trucks are the worst because so many people use them to express their dominance and that is big, big, big $$ both at the Original Purchase and in the Aftermarket world.If, we are so lucky to get some good government regulation on this it will also take some very good Court enforcement to get the aftermarket people with fines and lawsuits.Much like the EPA did with the Diesel Tuner Industry that felt emission regulations didn't apply to them.This is from someone that owns said pickup truck with the same bright headlights,but i only use the truck when I have too and always turn off the Fog lights when driving in traffic.
Art65765977 I saw a porsche 911 with the most amazing headlights from behind approaching the Sunshine skyway in Florida. The pattern was 108 degrees across sweeping the road like a broom. My brother and I were amazed. I don't know what it looked like from the front but i am sure it was better than American cars
Master Baiter This is what happens when you take a chance on a startup auto company. Designing and building cars is hard.