Botched Heat Treating Leads to Automotive Recall
“The Ford Motor Company has identified an issue affecting certain Escape, Bronco Sport, replacement 1.5-liter EcoBoost RFF cylinder heads, and replacement 1.5-liter EcoBoost RFF long blocks. According to the Dearborn-based automaker, suspect heads may have been produced with loose ball plugs. If any ball plug makes its way out of the cylinder head, the subsequent oil leak could result in a fire. Ford put the blame on the supplier of the cylinder head, Nemak Monterrey, for the incomplete heat treatment that led to below-specification cylinder head hardness.
The improper heat treatment came as a result of power failures at the supplier’s production facility, power failures that interrupted the heat treatment process. Based on documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Ford Motor Company started looking into this matter on March 20, 2025.
It all started with a warranty claim for a US-market 2025 Ford Escape specified with the 1.5-liter EcoBoost three-cylinder turbo powerplant. The claim in question cited a large oil leak cause by a missing head ball plug, which resulted in engine seizure. Another warranty claim followed suit on April 14, 2025 over a newly produced Escape at the Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky.
Although said crossover had only zero miles on the clock, the engine was found to leak oil due to a missing cylinder head ball plug. Both failed cylinder heads were sent to Ford’s Central Labs for analysis, where the improper heat treatment condition was confirmed. As far as the US-market Escape and Bronco Sport are concerned, an estimated 404 vehicles were produced with 1.5-liter EcoBoosts equipped with suspect heads.”
About; Nemak, S.A.B. de C.V., known as Nemak, is a global automotive parts manufacturing company headquartered in García, Nuevo León, a municipality next to the City of Monterrey, Nuevo León, México. The company manufactures a wide range of automotive parts and systems with primary focus on aluminum auto parts, mainly engine blocks, cylinder heads, and transmission components. It is a Tier 1 supplier to major OEMs and is among the 60 largest auto industry suppliers worldwide.[1]
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