Ford Australia has issued a recall notice to the doubtless many owners of their popular Focus, particular involving certain cars made between April 12th, 2011 to September 29th, 2015, or roughly 43,000 cars sold locally.
These cars are Ford’s third-generation Focus, introduced in 2011 before being updated during a mid-cycle refresh in 2015, which is the car currently found new in dealerships. The problem does not seem to have been carried over to these newer cars made after 2015.
The issue surrounds a carbon canister which over time could become obstructed - typically by dust - blocking it during a purge cycle. This could then cause the fuel tank to reach vacuum levels that the exceed its design limitations.
If the problem persists, it could result in a cracked fuel tank, leading to a leak. And, obviously, that’s a problem. Ford Australia has published a list of VINs (Vehicle Identification Number) of the cars that are impacted by this recall, downloadable here.
They are also actively contacting owners to alert them to potential problem and informing them of the proper avenues to rectification. This would involve contacting their nearest authorised Ford dealer or Ford Customer Relationship Centre using the toll-free 1800-503-672 number.
A spokesperson for Ford Australia wished to emphasise the preventive nature of the recall and lack of incidents recorded so far stemming from this issue, telling the Daily Mercury “that Ford has not received any reports of fires associated with this recall. We do not believe that this potential safety risk requires customers to stop driving their vehicles.”
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