Autoblog and Yahoo may earn commission from links in this article.When it comes to recalls, Ford is the undisputed leader, but it's a reputation that the automaker is working to shed, and it's taking strong measures to do so. Speaking with Road & Track, Ford Essex plant manager Neil Wilson revealed that one of the steps Ford is taking to find issues and fix them is to tear down an engine every single day at every plant it operates. Operators at each plant take an engine off the line, run several tests on it, then disassemble the motor and inspect it closely. This is a big change from Ford's operating procedure before 2025, as the company used to tear down engines only every three months or when it suspected an issue might need addressing.Ford Is Being Proactive About QualityFordBy checking an engine every single day, says Wilon, whose plant is responsible for the Coyote V8 in the Mustang and F-150, as well as the 6.7-liter and 7.3-liter V8s for Super Dutypickup trucks, Ford is getting "real insight on how to protect quality, and it's no longer a reactive tool." He went on to say that this process is paying for itself in that quality is being improved with the first production cycle of an engine, rather than after it's reached customers. One might expect that engine teardown candidates are selected randomly, but Wilson says Ford is using predictive AI to check specific measurement points, identifying the "leading indicators of potential failures" and finding "abnormalities in normal process control."AdvertisementAdvertisementRelated: Hennessey Turns Ford Expedition Tremor Into A VelociRaptor SUV"And then our teardown people are prompted - when you've ran this engine for the duration of the test, go strip it down, look in this area specifically," said Wilson. "And our technicians are really relentless in how they do that interrogation of the engine. These guys literally don't go home until they find something that they can learn from." The new process seems to be working, with Ford claiming it has noted a decline in warranty claim metrics. A Ford spokesperson gave R&T the following statement:"We've seen the large number of recalls that we have. We've acknowledged that. That is from an older population of vehicles. When you look at the newer vehicles, this is one of the ways that we're really putting effort into making quality come first for the company."Ford Has a Long Way to Go to Improve QualityFordFord still has plenty of work to do to build a reputation for reliability after 2025 saw it break the previous annual recall record by nearly double. In 2026, things are still tricky for the Blue Oval, which is on track to recall more individual vehicles than in 2025. As of this writing, Ford has issued 45 recalls this year, more than double the 19 recalls of second-placed Stellantis (19) and third-placed General Motors (17). Hopefully, these daily engine teardowns will help improve the outlook for Ford, but it will take a couple of years for the benefits to be seen.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis story was originally published by Autoblog on Jun 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Autoblog as a Preferred Source by clicking here.