Ford Recalls an Additional 222,000 F-150 Pickups Due to Failing Windshield Wiper Arms

Last year Ford recalled nearly half a million F-150s due to faulty wiper arms. It turns out the problem is more widespread than first thought.

To say the newest generation of Ford F-150 is experiencing growing pains would be an understatement. The truck is great, but the quality has been lacking. Ford has recently issued yet another recall against the 2021 F-150. This time it impacts 222,454 trucks. The issue is related to wiper arms that could potentially fail. For those keeping score at home this is recall number FIFTEEN for the 2021 F-150. One of the recalls (steering loss) is so severe that Ford has instructed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to alert owners to not drive their truck until it is repaired. Thankfully that recall impacts fewer than 300 trucks. But still, it is not great news for the best-selling vehicle in America.

The newest recall is NHTSA campaign number: 23V163000. In November of 2022 campaign number: 22V842000 was issued to recall over 474,000 F-150s for a similar issue. At the time it was thought that only the trucks with manual windshield wipers were impacted. However, it has since been discovered that the trucks with ‘smart’ wipers can also fail.

Description of Defect

According to the NHTSA recall “affected vehicles are equipped with suspect wiper arm head spline teeth that were produced out of design specification.” What this means is that a windshield wiper arm may become inoperable or even become detached from the truck. It goes without saying that if that were to happen while you are driving in snow or rain the reduced visibility could increase the risk of a crash. No crashes related to this have been reported. Although Ford is aware of 576 reports of inoperative or detached wiper arms. The trucks with this potential defect were produced from January 8, 2020, to August 16, 2021.

Owner Notification and Repair

Ford planned to notify dealers on March 13, 2023, of this defect with the wiper motors. Owners should be notified between March 27, 2023, and March 31, 2023. Owners should take their truck to the dealer to be inspected. The dealer will inspect the wiper arm build date and replace as required. However, keep in mind that in a bulletin sent to dealers Ford noted that parts to repair all impacted trucks are not available in sufficient quantities. So initial letters to owners will say that no parts are available. As parts become available owners will be notified in phases. The first phase of part availability notification is expected around April 24, 2023.

Recalls Piling Up

We love our Ford trucks around here. But there is no denying that having a truck with 15 recalls opened against it within the first two years does not instill a lot of confidence. No vehicle is ever perfect of course, but the Ford faithful are going to begin to lose some of that faith if they get recall notices every month. Ford might have the best portfolio of vehicles they have ever had in their history right now. But they must do a better job of ensuring that these vehicles are of high quality. Having wiper arms fly off your truck as you are going down the highway in a rainstorm is the opposite of quality.

Images: Ford

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the ‘70s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.