Ford Tells How It Plans To Reduce Engine RecallsJonathan HarperFord has a self-admitted recall problem. It broke records in 2025 for the most vehicles recalled in a single year, totaling 12.9 million cars from 153 separate recalls. The next closest was Stellantis at 2.7 million cars from 53 different recalls. That's a bad race to be winning, and it's one Ford is hoping to turn the corner on sooner rather than later.The solution won't come overnight, but the Blue Oval is taking steps to mend the situation. Road & Track recently sat down with Ford's Essex engine plant manager, Neil Wilson, and he detailed how things are changing (hopefully for the better) when it comes to engine quality and reliability. For context, the Essex engine plant is responsible for manufacturing the Coyote 5.0-liter V-8 for the Mustang and F-150; it also builds the 6.7-liter and 7.3-liter V-8 for Super Duty trucks.The big change seen at Essex—and Ford plants everywhere now—are daily engine teardowns. Every single day, an engine is stolen off the line; a bevy of tests are run on it before it's disassembled and inspected with a fine-tooth comb. Historically, Ford followed a once-every-three-months schedule for engine teardowns, or whenever it suspected there might be an issue. As of 2025, that strategy was shoved into the dustbin. And Ford claims it's already catching things that would've slipped through previously.AdvertisementAdvertisement"We're going after it," Wilson starts. "And it's providing real insight on how to protect quality, and it's no longer a reactive tool. It's something that we're leaning pretty hard into. And it's paid for itself, in the respect that, you know, we can make these things better, improve our first time through, ensure that the customers are getting the best engines we can potentially put out for them."FordFord says it got the idea by looking around the globe at its most successful engine plants, and number one in quality happened to be the facility in Valencia, Spain. That plant tore an engine down every day, so now the same strategy is being implemented everywhere. This takes extra time, resources, and, ultimately, money, but Ford is investing in all of those to make this happen.How it chooses specific engines to tear down is changing, too. They're not randomly plucked from the production line; instead, Ford is employing an artificial intelligence program to try and predict which engines might be problematic."We're also using technology—which is predictive AI based monitoring of specific measurement points of the line, key characteristics," Wilson says. "So we identify what we believe are the leading indicators of potential failures, and we have AI systems looking at abnormalities in normal process control."FordThe engine might be built with parts that are 100 percent within spec, but the part analysis capability of said AI tool throws up yellow or red flags that suggest there's an abnormality present. Theoretically, every engine that comes through the plant should be within spec and a good engine, but using this new tool is warning them otherwise.AdvertisementAdvertisement"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," Wilson explains. "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 results, Ford says, are present in a decline in warranty claim metrics. Ford extrapolates the number of warranty problems it might have over the life of the vehicle based on data from: three months in service; one month in service; and zero months in service. All three of these metrics have experienced a "rapid decline" since this teardown strategy was implemented, Wilson says. Ford believes this is evidence of success, and certainly hopes it's a positive start to reducing the number of recalls in the long-term.FordA Ford spokesperson reiterated the importance of this, directly addressing the recall issue. "We've seen the large number of recalls that we have," the spokesperson told R&T. "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 isn't disillusioned into thinking the recalls will stop overnight. That said, Ford is convinced this newfound tech and focus on teardowns will help it greatly reduce the number of recalls and quality problems in the long term.You Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State
