Ford stops sales of four-pot Ranger and Everest, Endura and Transit

[UPDATED (See below)]: Ford Australia has taken the unusual step of ordering dealers to cease sale or delivery of imported models powered by a 2.0-litre diesel four-cylinder engine.

The order takes effect immediately and applies to variants of Ford Ranger, Everest, Endura, Transit and Transit Custom models, some of which have already reached dealers.

Late last month, Ford issued a dealer bulletin advising that high-pressure fuel injectors for the MY19.75 Ford Transit and Transit Custom commercial vehicles were defective and could result in a misfire and "reduced engine performance".

Ford informed its dealers of this issue prior to the vehicles arriving in the country. The vehicles affected were built in the company's Kocaeli (Turkey) plant between May 18 and July 12 of this year. Ford instructed the dealers to abide by immediate 'Stop Sale' and 'Stop Delivery' orders.

Since then, Ford has issued another bulletin, placing a 'quality hold' on select Ranger, Everest, Transit Custom and Endura vehicles in the company's Vehicle Holding Centres. Ford undertook in the second bulletin, dated September 30, to investigate these vehicles for the same fuel injector problem. This 'quality hold' applies to:

• Ranger models built between April 23 and July 10 this year,
• Everest models built between April 27 and July 20 this year,
• Transit Custom models built between March 16 and July 10 this year,
• Transit models built between March 20 and May 23 this year,
• Endura models built between February 25 and August 6 this year

[Please note the date amendments in Ford's statement below].

Finally, a third dealer bulletin issued on October 7 ordered an 'immediate' suspension of demonstration or delivery of the vehicles mentioned in the second bulletin. Ford has narrowed down the production dates for the Ranger to those vehicles built between May 2 and July 10, but the range of Everest production dates has been expanded to April 27 through to September 17 of this year.

Ford Australia issued the following statements and clarified the exact number of vehicles affected by the fuel injector issues, early evening Friday (Oct 25).

Ford Communications Director, Australia & New Zealand, Matt Moran, told carsales: "Ford has identified a number of faulty diesel fuel injectors in certain vehicles fitted to 2.0-litre EcoBlue [turbo-diesel] engines built from February 2 and August 6, 2019.

"The issue has been traced to a batch of high-pressure injectors supplied by Continental that do not meet specification. The issue could lead to a misfire and reduced engine performance in affected vehicles. In total 2115 vehicles are affected in Australia. Any customer experiencing issues with their vehicle is encouraged to visit their dealer or call 13 FORD."

Moran also confirmed there are a number of affected vehicles already delivered to owners.

He told carsales: "This is a dealer-notified service action, not a safety recall. On impacted vehicles, customers may experience occasional misfires that have a negative impact on engine performance, but it does not lead to a sudden loss of power.

"Safety is nevertheless our top priority and given that any reduction in engine performance is undesirable, we are working to resolve the issue and repair impacted vehicles as quickly as possible."