[Aditya]

Ford has recalled 16,444 units of the EcoSport in India to inspect and rectify a problem related to the rear twist beam bolt. The recall covers vehicles manufactured between November 2013 and April 2014 at the company's Chennai plant.

According to Ford, in some of the affected vehicles, there is a possibility that the rear twist beam (RTB) bolt may not be tightened to specification, which may cause the pivot bolt to break. This condition can potentially compromise vehicle handling and thereby increase the risk of an accident.

No accidents related to the concern have been reported.

Ford is writing to the owners of the affected vehicles, asking them to get their vehicles inspected at a local Ford dealer. If needed, the dealership will carry out necessary rework free of cost.

[vnabhi]

Didn't the initial lot of Figos also have an issue with the rear twist beam? Mine was manufactured in Aug, 2012, and luckily the issue was sorted out in those batches.

I think Ford should seriously place a quality check on the vendor who makes that part, assuming it is not made by Ford.

But it is good on their part to pro-actively issue a recall.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Didn't the initial lot of Figos also have an issue with the rear twist beam? Mine was manufactured in Aug, 2012, and luckily the issue was sorted out in those batches.

I think Ford should seriously place a quality check on the vendor who makes that part, assuming it is not made by Ford.

But it is good on their part to pro-actively issue a recall.

Sir, what I believe from post above is that there is no specific issue with the beam itself. Looks like a pivot bolt on the beam is not tightened to proper torque specification which may cause the bolt to give up under stress. Should be a simple fix job for Ford and should not cost much money and time for the company.

Regards,
Saket.

[arunphilip]

Visit https://www.india.ford.com/owner and key in the VIN number (found on the bottom of the windshield on the passenger side, near the wiper blade). It will show whether that EcoSport is in scope of the recall.

It might be worth checking this link over a few days (at least until someone says their EcoSport has been shown to have the recall), to ensure that the underlying database is updated with data.

[peterjim13]

I got an email from Ford : with my VIN addressed to me. It said the same thing.

Anyhow, mine is at the body shop getting some patches cleared (long story)

But I felt good being a customer in terms of the courteous email they had sent us, and also the respect they have shown by clearly noting down the issue and clearing customer anxiety.

But my ignorance does not help me understand what exactly is "Rear Twist Beam Pivot Bolt."

Can anyone help

[KiloAlpha]

AFAIK, the twist beam pivot bolt will be the bolt that holds the trailing arm to the chassis member. See image:

[bluevolt]

IIRC it was the Honda that started the trend of 'recalling' with its 3rd gen City recall few years back. Though Honda had to suffer because of the crisis it was facing that time due to stiff competition from Vento/Verna diesel and its 'petrol' only variant.

It was a new thing then, at least in India. People usually got afraid and went for other models instead of the one that was recalled but eventually with trend setting in, there is no such wave among customers/owners anymore.

Ford has done nice thing to initiate this recall, which might appear to be a hassle for some owners, may raise eye-brows of prospective future buyers but slowly this trend will only add to the goodwill of the company. Admitting and rectifying mistake is one of the best things one can do.

But it would be even nice if these issues can be tested and rectified in the R&D/pre-mass manufacturing of the cars when the cars are extensively tested on the roads prior to their mass release.

[coolboy007]

I was wondering that the new Fiesta and Ecosport share suspension parts and chassis so how come only Ecosport got affected? The Fiesta is not affected by this recall or Ford simply forgot about it, like they forgot to sell it.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

I was wondering that the new Fiesta and Ecosport share suspension parts and chassis so how come only Ecosport got affected? The Fiesta is not affected by this recall or Ford simply forgot about it, like they forgot to sell it.

This is not an issue with the quality of a specific part (that might be shared between models), instead this is an issue with how the rear suspension was subsequently put together for a specific series of EcoSports that were manufactured. In the email sent to customers, Ford have stated that (Ford EcoSport : Official Review):

In certain EcoSport vehicles, there is a possibility that the Rear Twist Beam Pivot Bolt may not be tightened to specification.

Also, while reviewers mention that the EcoSport is based on the Fiesta platform, we must not assume they are mechanically identical - which is why this issue hasn't been identified as affecting the Fiesta.

Originally Posted by bluevolt

But it would be even nice if these issues can be tested and rectified in the R&D/pre-mass manufacturing of the cars when the cars are extensively tested on the roads prior to their mass release.

In this instance, it is an issue of a quality control check on the production line that has failed to spot the issue, since its not an issue with the design that necessitated the recall, but instead an issue with putting together the rear suspension.

However, I agree with your sentiment. Ford - in particular - keep running test mules for well over a year in India before launching the car, so one would think that they would identify all design issues. But if you recall, within days of launching the EcoSport they had to announce a recall to relocate the glow-plug module for the diesel EcoSports to a higher location - now that is a perfect example of what you're stating: Ford knew they were advertising a specific water-wading capability for the EcoSport, but identified and fixed this issue only after the launch.

The one point in the defence of any manufacturer is this - we know through these recalls when something's gone wrong, but we don't know how often their processes worked right and caught something. It might be a ratio of one recall in the field for a hundred (or thousand, or higher) issues caught and fixed on the production line, which is understandable, though not any more preferable!

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

so one would think that they would identify all design issues

This is definitely not a design issue. This seems to be more of an issue with the calibration of the pneumatic wrench that is used to tighten most bolts on any automobile today.

Most pneumatic wrenches that are used these days on automobile assembly lines are connected to computers so that the computer can ensure that the bolt has been torqued correctly. If is a sensor on the wrench fails or if it is calibrated incorrectly such issues can happen.

This can also happen for a reason as simple as the pneumatic wrench not getting the correct/required air pressure from the compressor.

Pneumatic wrenches also have ratchets that start to slip once the required torque has been reached by the wrench. It can also be a case of a worn out ratchet which began to slip before the correct torque was reached.

In my opinion this is just a simple case of equipment failure which can happen on even on the best maintained assembly lines.

[arunphilip]

The Magnitude of the Issue
Reports state that affected vehicles were built between November 29, 2013 and April 11, 2014.

Let's take a look at the affected 4-month period from Dec 2013 - Mar 2014. In that period, Ford shipped 15,211 EcoSports to dealers (SOURCE (April 2014 : Indian Car Sales Figures & Analysis)). Now, adding in a few more EcoSports to cover the partial month of April, we can easily arrive at the reported number of 16,444. This means: the recall potentially affects every single EcoSport manufactured in the affected window.

NOTE 1: I know shipments in a month don't match perfectly to cars manufactured in a month, but the volumes are roughly 4k a month so this analysis is accurate enough for armchair analysis.
NOTE 2: 1201 EcoSports sold in Australia are also affected. I've not seen any info about a recall for the European market, though.

Also, we've come to know of this about 1.5 years after the last affected EcoSport rolled off the line. Given that the issue has been unearthed this late means that it wasn't a quality check on the production line that spotted the issue (otherwise the affected vehicles will have been manufactured until now), but it means that reports of excessive wear/damage from ASCs had triggered an investigation.

Originally Posted by vikram_d

This is definitely not a design issue.

You've misunderstood my statement and have quoted me out of context to make it seem like I've said this is a design issue . On the contrary, I'd clearly mentioned with respect to the current recall that:

In this instance, it is an issue of a quality control check on the production line that has failed to spot the issue, since its not an issue with the design that necessitated the recall, but instead an issue with putting together the rear suspension

The statement I made about design issues was to lead into my next sentence which said Ford had incorrectly located the glow plug module - which resulted in a recall immediately after the EcoSport launch.

Originally Posted by vikram_d

I seem to haver misunderstood your statement and for that I apologize. Cheers.

No worries.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

You've misunderstood my statement and have quoted me out of context to make it seem like I've said this is a design issue . On the contrary, I'd clearly mentioned with respect to the current recall that:

I seem to haver misunderstood your statement and for that I apologize. Cheers.

[laferrari]

My ecosport is November 2013 manufactured and I have received a call yesterday from Mody Ford Hyderabad about the recall. They were extremely courteous and insisted on booking an appointment ASAP. Shall visit them next week as am away from Hyderabad this week.

[laferrari]

Visited the Mody Ford Service Centre today for the FSA issued regarding the 'rear twist beam'.

The entire process took less than an hour. The SA attended to the issue immediately and the vehicle was duly delivered after a quick vaccum-clean done as a good-will gesture.

The technicians even let me hang around near the service bay while they were changing the 'pivot bolts'.