Ford Motor Company has a new recall for its large SUVs and heavy-duty trucks for malfunctioning windshield wipers.
There’s a new recall campaign to watch out for if you own a Ford Expedition, Ford Super Duty truck or a Lincoln Navigator. The automaker recalled 422,613 vehicles for windshield wiper arm assemblies that could be defective. A wiper arm may behave erratically, fail to operate at all or completely detach, according to what Ford Motor Company told the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Naturally, a failing windshield wiper arm may impair visibility, creating a safety issue by increasing the potential for a crash.
Per the recall report, this problem largely impacts Ford’s Model Year 2022 and 2023 Super Duty trucks, which comprise 326,239 vehicles out of the total recall population (about 77%). Ford did not break out the number of affected units by model, but did note that all Super Duty models from the F-250 through the F-600 are affected.
Of the remaining vehicles, Ford says the recall includes 79,164 Expedition SUVs, as well as 17,210 Lincoln Navigator SUVs. All the impacted units were produced at the automaker’s Kentucky truck plant between October 21, 2021 and December 31, 2022. While the population is sizable, the company estimates about 3% of that population — roughly 12,678 vehicles — actually have the defect.
What caused the issue and what’s the fix?
As for the nature of the issue itself, Ford says the windshield wiper arm’s latch retention plate may have been incorrectly assembled at the supplier. The retention plate keeps the arm head properly attached by being “staked” (an interference or force fit that keeps two pieces together). Ford’s report says the “engagement between the knurl and wiper arm head may be reduced due to dimensional variability. Proper knurl-to-arm head teeth engagement ensures robust wiper arm operation.” If those two elements aren’t lined up properly, owners may experience issues operating their wipers effectively, if the wiper arm doesn’t come off entirely.
Ford says it first became aware of an issue on January 15, according to its chronology documenting the issue. As its internal safety concern group reviewed repair data from an earlier wiper-related recall (Ford number 22S26/NHTSA number 22V-250), it noticed a higher warranty claim rate for vehicles produced after that campaign’s production cut-off date.
Leading up to this new recall (Ford number 26S24 / NHTSA number 26V-204), Ford says it is aware of 1,538 warranty claims, 11 field reports and three customer service reports related to the problem. However, it notes there were no accidents or injuries related to defective wiper arm assemblies.
The company is still working on a permanent remedy and evaluation process. In the meantime, though, it has advised dealer technicians as of April 1 to inspect the wiper arms on concerned customers’ vehicles, free of charge. If those technicians don’t clear the wiper arm units as part of the inspection, it will replace the defective arms with new parts that are properly staked.
Notices of this recall should go out to owners between April 13 and April 17, 2026. This will be an interim notice, as Ford Motor Company is still working out the full fix.
